Members' statements. Member for Deh Cho.

Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Rosemary Gill retired June 8, 2020, after spending her working life in education, management, and career development, mostly in northern Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, and finally the Northwest Territories. Rosemary taught elementary, secondary, and post-secondary education and has worked in management and career development for provincial and territorial as well as First Nations governments.

Rosemary was born in Wrigley to Elizabeth and Albert Horesay. Her father moved the family to Fort Simpson to work for John Goodall when she was a year old and spent her formative years in the Deh Cho. She attended Thomas Simpson Secondary School, Sir John Franklin High School, Aurora College, University of Alberta, as well as completing an after-degree program, Aboriginal governance, at the University of Victoria.

Rosemary and her husband, Lyall, decided to give back to their community, thus moved home in 2000 to work for Lidlii Kue First Nation as the executive director and general manager for Nogha Enterprises. After two years later, Lyall was diagnosed with cancer and passed away in 2004. Rosemary then left abruptly, eventually ending up in the Yukon, working for Ta'an Kwach'an Council as their executive director. She decided to retire in 2009, spent a wonderful summer with her grandchildren but, without a retirement plan, was at loose ends and was soon enticed to help out a friend who was elected chief for his First Nation in northern B.C.

Rosemary returned home in 2011 and went to work for Education, Culture and Employment as a career development officer before moving to Aurora College as the program head for the Deh Cho region in 2011. It was in this capacity that she was seconded with full support of the GNWT to Dehcho First Nations as the senior advisor to the grand chief in 2019, a position she held until her retirement.

Rosemary stated, "My career success in a lifetime of interesting employment opportunities can be tied directly to the education I've taken advantage of." She firmly believes that education is the one factor that will mean success in life for our youth. We can no longer be complacent about the disparity between the graduation rates in the NWT compared to the rest of Canada. Creative solutions and best practices are needed to make a difference. We must place a higher value on education, as parents and members of our community, working as a team to ensure a positive experience for our students. Madam Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Our education system needs to expand capacity to accommodate not only preparing our youth for academic post-secondary education but to make investments to meet the demands of the trades and technology fields. A solid grounding in literacy, numeracy, and technology will serve one well, no matter the path one takes in life.

Rosemary plans to stay close to home during the pandemic, gardening, reading, and working on her house, but once it's safe to travel, she will see some of the places she's only read and is curious about. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I rise today to pay tribute to my friend, mentor, and collaborator, Lyda Fuller. Ms. Fuller is retiring at the end of this month, after a 35-year career with the YWCA, 23 of those years in Yellowknife. Ms. Fuller is originally from Baltimore, Maryland. After she finished her master's degree at Johns Hopkins University, she worked with vulnerable populations there. On a camping trip to Ontario with a friend, she met her future husband, Ron, and eventually married him and moved to the YWCA in St. Thomas to work as director of community development. While there, she spearheaded program and community development initiatives that led to improved services for women in various Elgin County communities.

Madam Speaker, in 1991, Ms. Fuller and her husband moved to Regina, where she became the executive director of the YWCA there. She provided leadership to the agency through a difficult period, after large losses threatened its viability. During her six years there, she added significantly to the agency's assets and extended its community involvement.

Ms. Fuller and her husband arrived in Yellowknife in 1997, at a time of significant change for the YWCA. The agency was moving out of Northern United Place into Rockhill, with both a change of focus and expanded service options, including the Alison McAteer House family violence shelter and after-school program, which is the largest licensed childcare offering in the NWT and a transitional housing program for families.

Madam Speaker, these have been eventful years for Ms. Fuller and the YWCA, from the high of opening Lynn's Place, which offers second-stage housing to women who have experienced violence, to the low of seeing the Rockhill Apartments burn down two years ago. The agency has not only survived but thrived under Ms. Fuller's leadership, for which she was awarded an Order of the NWT last year. Hawa Dumbuya-Sesay is now taking over as executive director, and I wish her every success.

Most of all, Ms. Fuller has been a champion for women who have experienced intimate-partner violence. She has expanded and improved the range of supports for women throughout the territory and has collaborated on important research on this issue. Madam Speaker, I wish Ms. Fuller a long and happy retirement, with her keen interest in the night sky and fossils. I would like to thank her for her service to the North. Thank you.

Members' statements. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5 recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Marsi cho, Madam Speaker. I would like to recognize my CA, Tommy Lafferty. He is here with us, passing through from Lutselk'e. He is originally from Behchoko. I want to say thank you. Marsi.

Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Item 6, acknowledgements. Item 7, oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Today, I was speaking about mental health in regard to the self-isolation plans for the travelling for the medical travel. Does the Minister acknowledge the added burden that the self-isolation requirements place on people who have repeated medical travel needs? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Member. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Thank you for the question, Member for Nunakput. I recognize that this is a terrible time to be facing a serious illness where it's necessary to travel outside of your community and outside of the territory on a regular basis for treatment, and I certainly do empathize with the people who are doing that and recognize that, in fact, this travel is a burden. Thank you.

Has the Minister considered making special arrangements with those who frequently travel for medical travel such as cancer, that small group of people, making it easier for them so that, when they're done their medical travel, they'll come back to the territory, do their test, once a test is available, for probably three days before they're allowed to go back home? Is that possible to happen with that group of people?

It's my understanding that the Chief Public Health Officer looks at these cases on a case-by-case basis. There is no blanket exemption policy in place for people who have regular medical travel. Having said that, I recognize that this is a hardship, and I encourage the medical travellers to be in touch with ProtectNWT to see whether they can obtain an exemption for more than one trip so that they have some certainty going forward about where they're going to stay.

I think we could make that change this year, with the Assembly ourselves, with this Minister, to go forward and try to make it easier for our people who we represent, especially in the small communities. The burdens of having to fly all the way to Edmonton, you are looking at a week there, then another coming back, two weeks, so you're almost gone for a month for a one-day checkup. With the Chief Public Health Officer, the Minister is the boss of that department. That being said, can she make that change, that positive change, once it's available? Just say yes.

I am a bossy person, but I am not the boss of the CPHO. I can't tell her what to do. I can make a suggestion, and she can weigh it and decide whether she wants to go along with it. She is a very compassionate person, and I am sure that she has looked at requests like this before. If the Member has specific constituents in mind who need this service, I would encourage them to contact ProtectNWT and seek that exemption.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. What time does the Minister anticipate rapid testing be available to the territory on a go-forward basis? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

There is a testing unit called Panbio that will be in place in every health centre by the end of October. It will provide rapid testing in the sense that it can be used at point of care and generate a result right then and there. It is a very simple-to-use machine; it is not only available to highly trained medical professionals. The thing is that, if somebody is not symptomatic, these machines are not necessarily the things that they need most. There is sort of a sequence of events. There can be a screening test: do you have COVID now? However, there need to be follow-up tests through the isolation period, which in any case is going to be 14 days. There is no change to that. The short answer is: rapid testing is coming your way. It says in my notes the end of October, so it should be there now. I will check to make sure that's the case. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It is important that the Premier accept some responsibility, good or bad, for how we are managing our small business support during these tough economic times. Therefore, I will direct my questions to the Premier. She can answer them, or she can direct them to the Minister who she thinks can best provide the answer. We have a long list of projects that need to be undertaken, so the first question I will ask the Premier is: how is this government ensuring that all of our small businesses are receiving work that will help them stay afloat during these tough and uncertain economic times? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Member. Honourable Premier.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. That would be best deferred to the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Thank you, Madam Speaker.