Thank you, Honourable Premier. Final supplementary, Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. There are actually a lot of people in Yellowknife who don't have access to a computer or cellphone, either. We have got to find ways to reach out to them and provide the service. Here is another idea I would like to toss the Minister's way. We have a great Service Canada storefront operation here in Yellowknife. I have used it myself for passport applications. It would seem to make sense that maybe there is a way to get that office to offer information about GNWT services. Would the Minister commit to investigating whether the Service Canada office in Yellowknife could offer access to GNWT services? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

At this point, we haven't actually thought about putting a single-service window in Yellowknife. I have no problem asking Service Canada if they would consider keeping some of our brochures. I am not sure if I would want to go to the point of asking them to keep all of our application forms, the information, all of the different aspects of every department because, even though people in Yellowknife or in the major centres may not have access to internet or telephone, there is access to government buildings here that they don't have in the smaller communities. My priority will be on the small communities first. After that, I am open to new ideas. I do think that we need to have more interest, but my priority at this point is making sure that the small communities where they have no government offices have single-service windows. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Honourable Premier. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I have questions for the Education, Culture and Employment Minister. Mr. Speaker, does the Department of Education, Culture and Employment have sensitivity training in regards to local workers in our communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Client service officers undergo quite a bit of training. They participate in statutory training which includes review of the legislation, regulations, policies, code of ethics for income security employees, code of conduct, and service management. They are also trained in certified service professional, mental health, first aid, motivational interviewing, verbal judo, non-violent crisis intervention, and, starting in May 2020, all CSOs and managers will be training in trauma-informed practices. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As part of ECE service-level commitments, the department's website says they conduct periodic customer satisfaction surveys to ensure services for the community such as fuel, rent, wood for our elders. When was the last time these surveys were done on the needs for each community?

I don't have those numbers on hand, but that's a good question, so I will find out, and I will get back to the Member.

Thank you, Minister, for that response. I have a lot of people on income support in my riding. I think a survey would be really needed. We are privileged to have that income assistance because people go through tough times in our small communities right now. Will the Minister commit to having a client satisfaction survey in my riding of Nunakput and maybe the whole territory or northern communities?

I will speak with the department, and I will find out how they go about doing these surveys. This is relatively new, the service standards. It's an exciting initiative to post in a government office that: this is what you can expect; we are going to treat you this way, and, if not, then, there is recourse for it.

If the Member has issues with income assistance, if there are service issues, I am always happy to hear them. I have gone to the Member's office, and we have put constituents of his on the phone, and I've heard directly from them. I am happy to do that. If there are enough concerns, clearly there is probably something I have to look into. I commit to doing that with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the issues with having municipal, territorial, and federal government is that we control the legislation for municipalities, and we often take our time to deal with it. My question is for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Will the City, Towns and Villages Act be brought forward during the life of this Assembly?

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The legislative priorities for the 19^th Assembly have not been finalized. At this time, MACA has identified the Fire Protection Act, Property Assessment Taxation Act, Seniors and Disabled Persons Property Tax Relief Act. At this time, we have not identified the Cities, Towns and Villages Act for amendments during this Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I believe this is why persistence is key, because without bringing the City, Towns and Villages Act to the floor in the life of this Assembly, a Yellowknife city charter is not possible. Is the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs willing to begin negotiations with the City of Yellowknife to hear their concerns and see what a possible city charter would look like?

With the negotiations for the charter amendments or the charter act that is proposed by the City of Yellowknife at this time, it's a southern model that has not been initiated in the Northwest Territories. We are looking at it. We are in conversation, but we have not implemented anything. We are far from that. Going forward, I really want to be mindful that, in the Northwest Territories, we do have self-government negotiations going on right now, we do have land claims that have not been settled. Looking at this new approach would definitely need a lot more conversation and a lot more thought into how this would be integrated in the Northwest Territories, but we also have to be mindful that we do have Indigenous groups that are currently in negotiations.

I am very mindful that we have ongoing negotiations, and, in many ways, this goes to the heart of what the future role of the City of Yellowknife looks like once we have devolved our powers into the smaller communities. This is what these conversations largely are about. Would the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs be willing to provide the Northwest Territories Association of Communities and the City of Yellowknife of what a process would look like to ultimately have a city charter?

This approach is very new to the Northwest Territories, and we have detailed, in conversation. MACA is preparing to receive information from the City of Yellowknife on the charter proposal. We are open to meet with them in discussion and concepts, but I think the key is to better understand the specifics of this area. The city is seeking to increase their authority through the city charter. We will, of course, also want to gather other relative information that the city would offer so that we can begin to build a full understanding of what is being discussed and proposed. As I said, this is a very new approach for the Northwest Territories, and I would like to be very mindful of how we are going to start speaking with the City of Yellowknife in making sure that going forward it is done correctly, and mindful of the Northwest Territories as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. In light of the existing tar sands projects and the legacy tailings ponds, and the proposed $40 billion tech resources tar sands projects, and the possibility of a $40-billion worth of tailing ponds, I wanted to touch upon the Transboundary Water Agreement, specifically the implementation site. Agreements are important to both upstream and downstream communities in that they help to ensure that upstream activities do not unreasonably harm the aquatic ecosystem of downstream waterways. Water-quantity and quality monitoring is necessary to ensure these commitments are being met. My question to the Minister of, I believe it's ENR: do these agreements include any provisions for monitoring and testing of water quantity and water quality? Mahsi.

Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The department's bilateral agreement or the Government of the Northwest Territories' agreement with Alberta does actually have that. It is actually part of the evaluation. It's the quality and quantity there, and it is actually at the Slave River and the Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Minister, for that answer. Are there currently any reports of any findings of all this quality testing available?