The Government of Canada is working with provinces, territories, Indigenous organizations, and local authorities to develop accommodations to appropriately address the needs of remote communities.

What are remote communities? In this instance for the NWT with the exception of Yellowknife, the remaining 32 communities are considered remote communities.

Mr. Speaker, air travel in the North supports our residents' medical and health needs, and it allows for one's well-being, and it supports community infrastructure of those remote communities. When I reflected on the answers received yesterday from the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Infrastructure, access to air travel appears to be, in part, at the heart of why unvaccinated people in the North will lose their jobs.

Mr. Speaker, for the past year and a half, the vaccine has been front and centre, and for good reason, while the issue of the need to accommodate workers has been pushed to the back of our discussions. It is the lack of this consideration for accommodation that will determine if some workers have jobs come December 1st. I understand we can accommodate those workers in jobs where travel is not required. However, we have workers who may be long-term employees with families that will be without an income, may lose their home, and be forced to relocate or find a position where being vaccinated is not a requirement.

Mr. Speaker, we allow those that are vaccinated and who are also potential carriers of the virus to travel into remote communities without self-isolating or being tested. On the other hand, we have unvaccinated persons who would require PPE and a negative test prior to travel.

It seems a bit like putting a gun with a single bullet in the hand of the vaccinated while we put one that we know is not loaded into the hand of the unvaccinated person who has tested negative and using PPE and send them into the community.

This may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it's to make the point that testing along with the PPE is important. The federal government has indicated a willingness to be flexible in developing accommodations for the unvaccinated and make timely adjustments as the situation changes. Including in this willingness is the use of a local molecular COVID-19 test by airlines at the gate. So there are options.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I will have questions for the Minister of Finance. Thank you.