Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We actually have a few mentorship programs. We have a take a kid gardening program that is funded through the CAP program with Agriculture Canada. Recently we've announced an on-the-land program, which will include mentorship harvesting. I would echo that it's not only funding capacity but the capacity of our own government.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I wanted to mention that there's been a lot of investment in growing food. We've seen some success, even in our high Arctic communities, in growing root vegetables. I think the big challenge for us moving forward is storage and those storage options. Some of them were alluded to earlier.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I want to echo Minister Pillai's comments about supporting our regional airlines. We are obviously very jealous of the Yukon road systems. The majority of our communities are fly-in, so regional airlines would actually be a critical continued support for us. As well, on the impacts of climate change, we have a climate change strategy as well, and are keeping an eye on that, as there will obviously be continued impacts on our limited road systems.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  The translation kicked out during the question, but my understanding from Nunavut's response.... In the Northwest Territories, our food insecurity factor is about 21%. For us, it's about having sustainable, self-reliant options moving forward. Obviously, poverty, health and education all have links there.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. The challenges in the Northwest Territories, obviously, are the high percentage of food insecurity, as well as access to reasonably priced foods. The Nutrition North Canada program plays a role there, but our government is really focused on having programs and using programs like the CAP to make sure that there are training and skills built in order for people to get out of poverty.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  We work very closely with the Yukon government. Their agriculture sector is a little more developed than ours. We do have commercial operators here. We've seen through COVID the movement of food into grocery stores, which has been a big step. Our health department has done some regulatory changes that have allowed for that, and I mentioned in my opening comments that our government needs to do some work and is committed to doing work around meat regulations.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will try to be quick but clear. Thank you and good morning. I appreciate the opportunity to present the Northwest Territories' position on this important matter. I am pleased to be speaking to you from the traditional lands of the Yellowknives Dene, Chief Drygeese territory.