Thank you. Madam Premier, did you have any comments? Madam Premier.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I will take that as a comment, and I am looking forward, also, to having measurable outcomes for a lot of areas in the government. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Madam Chair. I am really encouraged by this mandate, because it just says "small communities." The small community harvesters, they have harvesters' programs that help people go out on the road. Yes, we do have roadkill in Fort Providence. We get the bison. I have had it myself. We made dry meat out of it. It was all good.

This would really help if you had a survey of the hospitals or centres, institutions, of the people who attend those situations, what type of food they would like. It is different all over, for the Dene people, the Inuvialuit. They have certain types of taste, but even for the small communities, because I really hope that they have testing and inspection stations that are in the communities, because that is where the people are, who will do the harvesting and whatnot of the foods.

I am really hoping that that will happen. I just don't know if that is, kind of, the game plan moving forward, or else there is going to be a central station that you have to send your meat to so that it is harvested somewhere else and not in the small communities where you have a lot of harvesters there. We get lots of people who go out on the river, and they can make the dry fish, too, the dry meat out on the river. Plus, some of the elders, too, they like soft foods. There are soft foods like porcupine, the beaver. They like to have boiled fish, probably, in the hospital system. We have to think of all those areas when we are talking about increasing food security.

I am just wondering if you could paint a picture for me, because this will be probably some kind of report by the time that we are done our session. I wish that this could be escalated to move ahead. Can you paint a picture for me of what you envision from your department on how you are going to move on this mandate? Mahsi.

Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Madam Premier.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for the comments. The Member is absolutely correct. A lot of the harvesting happens in the smaller communities, fishing, hunting, et cetera, but we also have a market in the regional centres as well, for example, our community gardens. I recognize that it is totally different, so this mandate will go across all regions and all small communities.

We talked about how one of our mandates, as well, is regional decision-making, but it is bigger than that. It is about really looking, when we allocate positions, where they are best situated. Thank you, Madam Chair. We will take into consideration the needs of people in small communities as we develop positions.

Thank you, Madam Premier. Member for Deh Cho.

Thank you. Just a final comment regarding the regulatory framework, that I hope they really keep the small communities in mind when you are setting your legislation and everything, because I know that government has a hard time thinking of the small people and how they can move forward, when they are thinking about locally produced and harvested foods. Mahsi.

Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Madam Premier.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, we will take into consideration as we develop the programs, as we develop all programs, where they are best situated. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Premier. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. With respect to meat inspection, in the past, we had a pig farm there in Hay River, which provided that for sale, and there were regulations in place at that time. Are those regs still relevant to what we have in this mandate? Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Madam Premier.

Thank you, Madam Chair. If I can direct the question to the Minister of Health and Social Services on the current regulations. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Premier. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I do want to talk about, today, the agriculture strategy, which maybe some of the Members are referring to. It is the public health regulations. The question we ask ourselves is: what are we doing as a department to support the agricultural strategy and food security? Our department helps social services, along the Departments ENR, ITI, and Lands, we are all working together to implement the agricultural strategy. Our main goal here is to ensure that public health is protected in the production and sale of local foods. Also, our work supports the priority of this Assembly, of course, to increase food security by facilitating the local production of food and the sale of food.

If I can, I do want to speak a little bit about the Food Establishment Safety Regulations. Changes to the Northwest Territories Food Establishment Safety Regulations under the Public Health Act came into force on August 15, 2019. These changes supported the last Assembly's priority to move forward on this agricultural strategy and also support this Assembly's priority to increase food security. The changes made it clear that farm gate sales of locally grown, low-risk foods are allowed. It also makes it easier for people to sell locally grown and home-produced foods from home and at farmers' markets.

Those are some of the things that our department is working on. I know that we are responsible for the health act and the Food Establishment Safety Regulations, so I just wanted to bring that forward. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess the question was: the meat inspection regulations, are they still relevant today? I think they were in place when we had a pig farm in Hay River, and there was processing going on. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Madam Premier.

Thank you, Madam Chair. My understanding is that, yes, the meat regulations are still in place, but that is what we are going to be doing: reviewing and amending all regulatory frameworks to look at all barriers. We have to be conscious that safety has to also take a play in that. We are not just going to allow a free-for-all. There has to be a safety element, but some of our regulations might be a little bit too stringent in this modern age, so we will be looking at them all. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Premier. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The other issue, I guess, is we do have that agricultural strategy in place, and I am hoping that we do something with it. In talking to some of the growers in the area, one of the problems they have is that, in the South Slave, there is no access to land. It is a big problem. They are allowed a little portion there, and they tried to move out past their lot lines there, and I am sure that Lands will go after them at some point for that. I am just wondering if there is anything that we could do in the South Slave to allow some lands to be opened up, even if it is on a yearly basis, to assist in the development of that agricultural sector. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Madam Premier.

Thank you, Madam Chair. At this time, it might be a little bit too early to make a commitment on yes or no. However, Lands is also part of the process that will be reviewing all its policies and regulations to identify the barriers that impede local food production, so they are part of the review that is happening. Again, we have to identify the barriers before we can identify what regulations need to be changed, so I can't make a commitment at this time to say yes, that will happen. Thank you, Madam Chair.