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Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by again expressing my gratitude to all health and social services workers in the Northwest Territories. These dedicated professionals have been serving the needs of residents through some very difficult times. I want to assure staff, as well as my colleagues here today, and residents of the Northwest Territories, that the Department of Health and Social Services is working hard to find solutions that will ease the pressure on the system.

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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about a heavy subject impacting many Northern residents and I acknowledge that my statement may be triggering for some people as it includes subject matter around suicide and mental health in the NWT. I encourage anyone who may find these subject matters to be triggering to take the necessary steps for your emotional safety, which may include stepping out of the House or muting my statement until I finish.

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Mr. Speaker, for the second consecutive year, several communities throughout the Northwest Territories were impacted by flooding. That flooding caused significant damage not only to homes and properties of residents, but also to the roads, buildings, airports and ferry landings they use regularly.

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Mr. Speaker, the transformation of Aurora College into a polytechnic university is often presented as one project, but it is in fact a collection of over 100 projects, spread over three phases.  The work has been a collaboration between Aurora College and the Government of the Northwest Territories, with wide-ranging and ongoing engagement throughout the process.

Waste Reduction Week starts this Sunday – and the Northwest Territories is joining the celebration.

This year, the Government of the Northwest Territories is encouraging awareness about waste reduction practices, drawing attention to successful community-led waste reduction projects, and supporting various community events planned by Ecology North.

Themes

Daily themes for this year’s Waste Reduction Week include:

The Government of the Northwest Territories will conduct in-person engagement sessions to better understand the needs of residents as they get older, and to help identify and address gaps in services for seniors living in the NWT.

Engagement sessions will occur throughout October. For more information on location and dates, please visit:

Ministerial Activities Advisory for the week of October 11-17, 2022

Ministerial Travel

Please note that travel schedules may change with little or no notice. This schedule is accurate as of October 10, 2022.

The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) is now accepting scholarship applications from both part-time and full-time post-secondary students enrolled in early childhood development programs for the 2022-2023 school year. This is the first time that part-time students are eligible to apply.

The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) is launching a pilot program to provide funding to Indigenous Governments and Indigenous Government Organizations to build capacity within the resource sector, as part of the GNWT’s mandate commitment to adopt a benefit retention approach to economic development.
 

While this funding has been available over the past few years, the formalization through a pilot program will allow the GNWT to measure where supports are needed the most, and how funding allocation and the application process can be improved.  

The attached is being distributed on behalf of the Union of Northern Workers (UNW) and the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT).