N.W.T. ministers press feds to maintain Jordan's Principle funding through 2026

CBC News

· Posted: Jun 12, 2025 2:20 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

Northwest Territories politicians are lobbying national officials to widen Jordan's Principle backing done 2026. 

Earlier this year, Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), announced it would beryllium narrowing the scope of eligible requests nether the programme that was created to guarantee First Nations children don't look gaps oregon work denials due to the fact that of their identities.

The announcement has created uncertainty successful N.W.T. schools, wherever galore acquisition adjunct positions (EAs) are funded with wealth from Jordan's Principle. In Yellowknife Education District No. 1 (YK1) alone, schools are bracing to suffer 79 EAs. 

On a travel to Ottawa earlier this month, N.W.T. Education Minister Caitlin Cleveland said she and different N.W.T. furniture ministers stressed the urgency of the funding, successful arsenic galore meetings arsenic they could. 

"If you privation much tradespeople, if you privation to beryllium capable to truly absorption connected Arctic sovereignty, if you privation to physique steadfast communities unneurotic and beryllium capable to absorption connected economical improvement arsenic a country, arsenic 1 economy, it truly does trust connected children having entree to education," Cleveland told CBC News. "And that's what Jordan's Principle is about."

The changes successful Jordan's Principle travel aft immoderate reportedly utilized the backing for things similar location renovations, gaming consoles and, successful 1 case, a zip enactment kit.

Cleveland acknowledged those abuses of the programme but said that's not what's happening with acquisition bodies utilizing Jordan's Principle funds for EAs. 

"We are seeing acquisition bodies truly enactment hard to guarantee that they are carrying the tone and intent of the argumentation … and addressing the needs of Indigenous children," she said.

The changes would besides mean that each Jordan's Principle backing exertion indispensable travel from a referral by a health-care professional. N.W.T. Health Minister Lesa Semmler said that volition further strain a strategy already stretched thin. 

"When we look astatine the magnitude of children that are going to request assessments and referrals, that is going to enactment a immense burden," Semmler said. 

"And galore of our tiny communities wherever these children are getting supports don't person a wellness professional."

Cleveland said their national counterparts seemed to recognize their concerns erstwhile they met successful Ottawa this month. But she says the N.W.T. officials didn't perceive an answer, oregon a timeline for erstwhile they mightiness cognize whether the backing volition beryllium extended. 

"We simply don't person those answers, but we're going to proceed to propulsion the levers that we have," she said. 

Cleveland said they're besides successful the process of coming up with a contingency program successful lawsuit the national government does not widen the funding. 

"This is 1 of the things that surely does support america up astatine nighttime due to the fact that of the dire impacts that it could have. We person a fragile system," she said.