I would like to defer that to the Minister responsible for the Status of Women.

Minister responsible for the Status of Women.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. This is an item where there are a number of different things happening that are specific to women in the North and the response under COVID. There certainly has been funding that has been under specific pots of the relief funding that we received from the federal government that is required to go toward supporting vulnerable populations. That would be particularly people fleeing relationships of violence, certainly, the majority of which do tend to be women. There has also been funding that has been directed toward supporting women who would be more vulnerable, for example, by the provision of cell phones for women who would be in relationships that put them at particular risk, in a context where they would have less access to outside sources during the course of the pandemic in a lockdown. Staff who are involved with status of women are continuing to engage because we are actively doing the work around preparing for the national inquiry in our action plan. That has also been continuing to happen throughout the course of the pandemic, and that gives a further opportunity to speak to women in the context of the pandemic, as well. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

We have long heard of the efforts of the NWT to introduce third-party reporting of sexual assaults. What is the status of this work within the Northwest Territories, and what changes can we expect to see this fiscal year?

I would like to defer that to the Minister of Justice.

Thank you. Minister of Justice.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Sexual assault is underreported in the territory, and I'm sure really around the world. Many survivors don't feel that the justice system will help them, or there could be other reasons why they don't want to come forward to the police. As such, there are some jurisdictions that have a third-party reporting system whereby the victim can go to that third party and they will let the police know anonymously what happened. That person can then access the support services until such time as they are ready to report this. The GNWT has been looking into this. There were some meetings in 2019 and as recently as this August, and we are finalizing what that third-party reporting could look like. We have been in talks with the organization. I don't have a timeline on when we're going to see something roll out, but we are quite far along. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. During the 18^th Assembly, the then Minister of Justice informed this House that the Aurora Research Institute was contacted to identify best practices to prevent and reduce family violence. Domestic violence deaths almost never occur without warning. In most cases, there have been repeated instances of violence and indicators of risk, as well as opportunities for agencies and individuals to intervene before an incident that ultimately results in death. What can the people of the Northwest Territories expect to see as a result of the work done by the Aurora Institute? Thank you.

The GNWT Interdepartmental Working Group on Family Violence commissioned the Aurora Research Institute to provide an evidence-based report for the GNWT to use as a guide to shape the actions and the investment of the GNWT in responding to the crisis of family violence. The results of this report show that we need an integrated, community-based approach to appropriately support families and prevent violence. They identified five main themes: education interventions; cultural integration; the justice response; the clinical response; and system transformation. This will require a change to our system, and we started this change by creating a territorial director of family violence to coordinate this work. I look forward to working with our partners in responding to this. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Justice. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Our 2030 Energy Strategy is one of the key documents in making sure that our government is a leader in climate change. Specifically, one of my favourite sections is Section 4 of that strategy, which commits us to increasing our share of renewable energy used for community heat to 40 percent by 2030, essentially getting more and more of our homes and communities off diesel. Can I have an update on this section, Madam Speaker, from the Minister of Infrastructure?

Thank you, Member. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Yes, we're on track with the actions. In fact, I would say that we're doing very well. Of the 13 short-term actions in the strategy, we have successfully implemented 11, which is about 85 percent, and we still have a year left of our three-year plan. Currently, in the Northwest Territories, about 25 percent of heating is through renewable sources, such as firewood, wood pellets, and electric heat. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

I am glad to hear we're at 25 percent. That's pretty good, and we're on track to getting to 40 percent. I do note that the short-term goals the Minister refers to are to be completed by 2021, so that gives us one more year. Specifically, one of my favourite sections which I've brought up is the support the residual heat and biomass district heating section. Can I get an update on how that short-term goal is working and whether it will be completed by 2021?

We have the enhanced energy alliance programs to support biomass heating. Notably, the introduction of the community wood stove program almost doubled funding to the Arctic Energy Alliance's Alternative Energy Technologies Program to support things like biomass heating. We also introduced $8 million in application-based grant programs until 2024 to support larger-scale private and commercial biomass adoption through the Greenhouse Gas Grant Program for buildings and industry. Related to this, we also introduced smaller and community-scaled biomass heating through the Greenhouse Gas Grant fund for governments, which has over $7 million available until 2024. We continue to support improving the biomass chain supply through the GNWT's adoption of wood pellet heating through buying biomass heat from Indigenous organizations; for example, the Nihtat Energy Limited, which is located in Inuvik. As well, we continue to see great progress in installing biomass heating in government buildings under the GNWT Capital Asset Retrofit Fund, notably with the recent 2.5 megawatts of biomass heating installed at the new Stanton Hospital.

I am glad to hear all of those initiatives. I believe the money we invest through the Arctic Energy Alliance is some of the best dollars we have out there in regard to our response to climate change. I am also glad to hear that we're on track for some of the short-term goals in this section. However, the long-term goals set out in this section are really how we're going to get and meet this target by 2030. Can I have an update of how those long-term goals are and a commitment that we are on track to meet this target?

The 2030 Energy Strategy will be reviewed periodically so we can assess what works and what doesn't. When we do the review, this will assess our progress and reassess targets if we need to. The GNWT will look to address longer-term goals as it renews its 2019-2022 energy action plan in 2023-2024. Of course, we'll be engaging with public members and committee in developing the next new energy action plan.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Yellowknife North.

I have no further questions, Madam Speaker.

Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Madam la Presidente. I have some questions for the Minister of Justice. Back in June, we made some extraordinary efforts to pass something called a temporary, variation of temporary time periods COVID-19 Pandemic Measures Act. What this piece of legislation does is: it allows Cabinet, by order, to extend or adjust a date, deadline, or other time period prescribed in any act that our government has in place. I'd like to confirm with the Minister of Justice whether we've actually ever used this legislation. Mahsi, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Member. Minister of Justice.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Each department is responsible for following the laws of the territory, and I haven't been keeping track of which departments have used this. It's not something that centrally comes to me. I can check to see. I can say from my own departments, neither Justice nor ECE has used this, although I know that there are plans at ECE to use this. Thank you, Madam Speaker.