Good morning, everyone. Item 2, Ministers' statements. Minister of Lands.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Public Land Act received assent on August 21, 2019, at the end of the 18^th Legislative Assembly. The new Public Land Act consolidates the existing Northwest Territories Lands Act and the Commissioner's Land Act into one cohesive land management regime. To bring the Act into force, new regulations must be developed.

The Department of Lands is taking a phased approach to regulation development. Phase 1 is focusing on the essential regulations necessary to bring the Public Land Act into force in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2022-2023. These regulations will address public land grants and dispositions such as leases and licences of occupation, quarry administration, security requirements and restoration, and general rights to use public land. With the Public Land Act in force, phase 2 will then commence and focus on evolving the regulatory model to address policy approaches and needs. As the Minister responsible, I am committed to having these regulations in place as soon as possible. With that said, the process and the timelines must allow for meaningful involvement of Members of this Legislative Assembly, Indigenous and community governments, leaseholders, stakeholders, and the public.

Mr. Speaker, the first round of engagement, which began on December 10, 2020, introduces the project and invites comments and ideas for developing the regulations. As of January 22, the online engagement platform has seen over 1,200 visits and over 105 people engaging with the content. Lease fees are a key topic of discussion on the engagement platform. Lease fees are calculated differently under the two existing acts. The new regulations will create consistency around public land valuation and pricing, which is a key objective of the new regulations. The Department of Lands will also be reviewing the types of leases that can be issued with the objective of providing greater clarity for residential and commercial land users, including those in the agricultural sector.

Mr. Speaker, Northwest Territories residents have the opportunity to shape legislation that supports our decisions on how land and resources in the Northwest Territories are administered and used, both for current residents and our future generations. I encourage all residents to visit the Department of Lands website and click on the Have Your Say section to provide input on how the Government of the Northwest Territories regulates public land. This first phase of engagement will be open until February 12^th.

As you know, the Government of the Northwest Territories is looking at a proposed approach for how standing committees could be more involved in the development of regulations. The Department of Lands will follow the process and plan once it is developed. In the interim, I would invite committee Members to engage in this work over the coming months. A second round of public engagement is targeted for the Fall of 2021 and will provide an opportunity for public comment on the proposed regulations.

It is important to emphasize that we are all users of public land. Developing new tools for managing land and natural resources is an ongoing commitment since devolution. These regulations are part of that ongoing work. This engagement is an opportunity for the Northwest Territories residents to contribute to decisions about Northwest Territories land and resources according to their own priorities. Mr. Speaker, this is an important milestone for the Department of Lands and the Government of the Northwest Territories. Residents can be part of the history of the land management in the Northwest Territories by participating in the public engagement to develop the Public Land Act regulations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Ministers' statement. Minister responsible for Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.

Thank you, Minister. Ministers' statements. Item 3, Members' statements. Member for Thebacha.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a government, we have been working on addressing universal childcare for the people of the NWT, which is good and a much-needed service. However, I would like to suggest that we begin to address the care for seniors in a similar, across-the-board manner, at least in terms of housing and cost.

Mr. Speaker, right now, there is a policy within the NWT Housing Corporation called Core Need Income Threshold. According to the NWT Housing Action Plan 2019-2022, Core Need Income Threshold is the income limit for each community that represents the amount of income a household must have to be able to afford the cost of owning and operating a home without government assistance.

In essence, Mr. Speaker, Core Need Income Threshold is a housing policy which the NWT Housing Corporation uses to determine which individuals qualify for public housing, based solely on the applicant's income level. To be fair, the NWT Housing Corporation also considers adequacy and suitability to determine an applicant's core housing need. However, the Core Need Income Threshold has been a repetitive issue to a number of my senior constituents applying for public housing.

For example, there is an elderly couple in Fort Smith who are in their eighties, who have been married for 63 years and have lived and worked in the NWT for their entire adult lives. They have been trying for years to move out of their home into a more suitable home at that time will account for and address their mobility, safety, and social needs as seniors. This couple has been trying to move into NWT Housing Corporation's senior public housing in Fort Smith but have been denied eligibility to this facility because their combined monthly income exceeds the Core Need Income Threshold. Mr. Speaker, the Core Need Income Threshold is preventing this couple from even being considered a spot on the waiting list for the senior public housing. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

This is not an acceptable or just policy. The NWT Housing Corporation must start accounting for clients' age and mobility when determining their eligibility for public housing. It cannot be about income. On paper, this couple does have the ability, financially speaking, to own their own house outside of public housing. However, this does not accurately represent their whole situation. At this stage in their lives, they do not have the physical ability to own and maintain a multi-level home any longer.

Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I suggest the NWT Housing Corporation implement a universal flat rental rate to all seniors applying for public housing regardless of income, race, gender, or otherwise. They also need to consider the mobility level of each client when determining the client's core housing need. There can be no discrimination against seniors, period. I will have questions for the Minister of housing later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Members' statements. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. There are ongoing concerns with the environment due to the recent uncontrollable rising water levels. "Uncontrollable" could include natural variables such as increasing snow accumulations and melt. This could include the man-made dams south of us. Many of the residents believe the high water levels could be attributed to the man-made dams turning on their taps for whatever reasons beyond our control. Therein lies the problem. We just do not know when the southern governments will decide to release vast amounts of water at one time, and there are several dams. Mr. Speaker, this is overly concerning for the residents of the Northwest Territories, as we are impacted by the flow of the water into our tributaries. The ENR Department states that they are actively monitoring the water levels through monitoring stations in key areas leading to the tributaries.

Mr. Speaker, the residents are especially concerned with the Alberta tar sands tailings ponds during this period of uncontrollable high water levels. Mr. Speaker, the GNWT may have transboundary water agreements with the southern provinces, transboundary this and transboundary that. These agreements are meaningless when there are no active communications with each other. The southern provinces didn't provide any advance warnings should they let out waters from the dams. Heaven forbid we even receive any type of communications regarding tar sands tailings ponds leaking into the water systems from the Alberta government. Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the ENR Minister at the appropriate time. Mahsi.

Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Members' statements. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. This morning, when I woke up and got out of my vehicle, I had my speech all prepared for a business speech, but we have a business theme next week. Today I thought I would go off the script and speak from the heart with a message for the people. I thought about mental health, and I looked at the weather. It's going to be very cold this weekend, and it made me think about the Dene laws. One of the Dene laws states that we should always help each other. This weekend out there, if anybody in the public is out there and you see somebody who might be hurting or might be distressed, reach out to them. One of our staff told me before, "Words matter," and they do. Reach out. Help each other.

Mental health, this is going to be one of my messages here today. Pre-COVID, we had to deal with seasonal affective disorder, we had to deal with things like residential school trauma, and all of that is kind of heightened now with pandemic fatigue. That is something else we have to deal with. Before, we would just get up, book a flight or jump in our vehicle, and go and just escape for the weekend. Now, all we have are staycations. Now, all we have is each other. We have to reach out. All of these mental health maladies will be more coming to the surface now because of pandemic fatigue. I urge everybody to reach out and help out each other above all else and just keep that simple message out there. Keep it simple, and do not make it too complicated.

To conclude, I think I look back to our elders who keep busy. Even when it got dark, they kept busy. They kept their hands busy. They sewed. They told stories. I looked it up. I was doing my research before I got here. I was thinking about this, and it made me smile. I thought about the classic example of Grandma Moses. I don't know if anybody knows American history a little bit. I like to read, and I am a trivia buff. She was 78 years old when she started painting. She had the creative juices all her life, and she let it out later on. My message to all our listeners is to keep busy; never stop learning; never stop hustling; don't stop. If you are hurting, reach out. Reach out. I will have some questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Marsi cho.

Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Home insurance is proving to be a growing barrier to home ownership in the NWT, and we heard the Minister of housing actually say that literally minutes ago in this House. I've had constituents contact me about their inability to obtain home insurance. This past holiday season, we had our own home insurance cancelled by Aviva Canada after five claim-free years simply because we put in a wood-pellet boiler system five years ago. The cancellation happened outside of the regular renewal period. Luckily, our broker was able to find only one other insurer willing to take us on at a 40-percent increase in premiums. As bad as it may be in Yellowknife, I can't imagine how difficult it must be for homeowners in small communities to obtain insurance. I also met with Yellowknife Catholic Schools last week, who raised the same issue of the difficulties in finding an insurer for its schools and of rapidly escalating premiums that have increased almost 600 percent over two years.

I've raised this issue before, about accessibility and affordability of home and now non-profit-sector asset insurance in the NWT. Previously, I've mentioned the Saskatchewan Government Insurance, a Crown corporation established in 1944, that offers products in five Canadian provinces. It also operates as SGI Canada in Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario. It has operated in Manitoba since 1993, in Ontario from 2001, in Alberta since 2006, and in BC beginning in 2015. It offers home, farm, business, and even auto insurance.

I have asked this government to approach SGI about possible expansion of their services to the NWT, to ensure our residents, non-profits, and businesses have access to insurance as there is a failure of the private market to cover our jurisdiction. I will have questions later today to see if Cabinet is serious about ensuring our residents have access to affordable insurance. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On Wednesday, the Minister of ECE advised that the department is producing a media campaign to promote women in trades. However, Mr. Speaker, a picture of a woman holding a pencil did not inspire my mother to become an architect any more than a photo of a woman in a hardhat inspired my colleague to become an engineer. Pictures of women holding hammers do not create tradespeople. Mr. Speaker, if we want our children to become tradespeople, we need to foster their curiosity, value trades education, and support employers and students. To foster curiosity, ECE has already developed a great tool, Take Your Kid to Work Day. However, the existing program has become stagnant. This past year, students either set up their own opportunities or they went to school. To revitalize the program, ECE needs to reach out to employers who have been and would continue to be involved and pair students with the right placement.

I also see great potential for summer camps through Aurora College, where students can get their hands dirty and see their own potential. As a northern high school student, I took religion, which helped establish and articulate a moral compass and is something I use every day here, but I was expected to have more credits from religion than from CTS. This sends the wrong message about the value of trades education. Trades is not a second-rate career option for those who do not excel academically. Mr. Speaker, the apprenticeship wage subsidy is too low and needs to be increased. ECE currently has a wage subsidy for employers set at over $13, but the hourly wage subsidy for apprentices is $8.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, we need to start universal childcare somewhere, so why not start with our Aurora College students. According to Childcare Canada, 16 percent of community college students are single parents and 75 percent of single parents are women. Numerous studies have shown that a lack of affordable and accessible childcare is keeping women with young children out of the workforce. According to Finance Minister Bill Morneau's economic advisory council, if women's participation in the workforce was increased to that of men, it would generate an extra $13 billion to Canada's GDP. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to discussing these ideas with the Minister later today.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to bring Paulatuk's priorities for today. For housing, there is a shortage of housing for our local population. People are living in overcrowded conditions, which makes COVID-19 a higher risk for the community. Also, the conditions in units people are living in are poor. People's homes are poorly insulated and cold. It drives up the cost of heating fuel and is dangerous when cold weather hits. We need emergency housing in Paulatuk. The hamlet and local authority, the housing authority, we are waiting to hear back on what is going on with our emergency shelter which was promised to us last year.

Also, for health, the lack of eye and dental clinics due to COVID pandemic could last a long time. The GNWT needs to come forward with a plan to bring dental and eye services into the communities, Mr. Speaker. When we get professionals coming into the community, they do not stay long, especially doctors. They come in on a Wednesday and leave Friday, so it's not long enough. They should be staying in a community for a week to see all patients, which would save our government a lot of money for flying them out. Due to high demand, it's very difficult to book appointments with doctors. They should stay the full week, like I said.

For MACA, the municipal funding gap affects the community of Paulatuk and all of my riding. There is a lack of forced growth for operational maintenance funding. We received a new water treatment plant last year but with no increase for the O and M. Likewise, for our operational funding for the hamlet, the SAO in Paulatuk has been there since 2017 and has not seen a funding increase in that community since he has been there.

Education, there is a lack of staff housing. Non-resident teachers are having to share housing, and it's becoming more difficult to attract qualified applicants. Can ECE and Housing Corporation see what the federal housing funding could do to fix these long-standing problems?

Alternative energy, the hamlet installed solar panels to generate power to the limit allowed by NTPC. They are interested in installing more. They also want to explore wind generation to move off of the diesel-generated power. NTPC constraints limit the use of alternative power sources.

Mr. Speaker, it seems to me that the needs for all my communities are the same and always a last priority. Small communities, it seems to me, are one of the last priorities to this government. Could we start helping us in taking all these same problems for the past few years? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Members' statements. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is becoming extremely difficult for Health Canada counsellors who are contracted to provide counselling services to Northwest Territories residents impacted by the Indian Residential schools, the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls crisis, as well as day school clients, to carry out their work. They are self-employed contractors and work alone with no supports. These trauma therapists, employed under Health Canada's Indian Residential School Resolution Health Support Program, often travel into communities to see their clients, adding additional barriers to receiving help in the COVID era.

One of the main solutions to issues created by COVID has been to move things online or into the virtual realm. Trying to adapt to a virtual world and conduct therapy through telehealth is near impossible as there is no one in these designated communities to set up these sessions. Additionally, we know most people living outside Yellowknife do not have access to the Internet. When they do, it is extremely limited, given the high cost of data in the North. Internet speed and reliability in the NWT becomes a big issue when considering telehealth options. Those who do have cellphones are limited by the high costs of minutes and plans further creating barriers to accessing services.

Another barrier to receiving help is the lack of privacy in our communities. Many individuals are living in multi-generational homes or are in dangerous domestic situations and are afraid of being overheard by their abuser or abusers. We must ensure that privacy and safety issues are considered when trying to connect with people on a therapeutic level. We also need to work harder to gain trust in order to account for the trauma that colonization of Indigenous people has caused. Often, people in need will not contact health centres for fear they will be scrutinized for accessing services for mental health issues. Most prefer face-to-face interaction and are unlikely to leave a voicemail in a general mailbox asking for help.

Providing counselling services through telehealth also creates issues with documentation. We need to advocate and send people for trauma and drug and alcohol residential treatment, all of which requires documentation. Most individuals do not have means to send faxes and/or scan documents to initiate the application process. As trauma counsellors are deemed an essential service under the COVID emergency orders, they are asking that the Minister of Health please consider, for the safety and benefit of people and their communities, to prioritize COVID vaccinations for those therapists and all essential workers who work across the territory. These people work intimately with our northern population in an effort to provide essential services and protect northern residents while providing essential mental health support throughout this pandemic that is escalating the demand for their services. Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Members' statements. Member for Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to recognize and congratulate Max and Julia Trennert, who are celebrating their 60^th wedding anniversary today. Max and Julia first met 61 years ago in Inuvik. He was working as a surveyor and also managing the Mackenzie Hotel. She was a student at the time. They say it was love at first sight.

Max and Julia were married on February 5, 1960, in Inuvik. That's also where their first three children were born. From Inuvik, they moved to Fort Simpson, where their fourth child, Brendalynn, who most of us know, was born. Max and Julia then relocated close to Kakisa, where they owned and operated a gas station in K'agee. Max and Julia eventually moved to Hay River, where they retired and have lived for the past 15 years, and we're thrilled to have them.

Mr. Speaker, it's important to note that Max is one of the original wildlife officers in the NWT. He covered off the area of Nahendeh, Deh Cho, and the South Slave. Julia was a full-time, stay-at-home mom and raised a family she is proud of. She is also well-known for her artistry when it comes to tuftings, and I have her work hanging in my office.

Max and Julia now have four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. They are still very much in love with each other and they cherish their family very much. I wish them all the best on this special day. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Hay River North. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am glad to see that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People was a priority for this Assembly and was at the heart of many of our Premier's mandate letters to Ministers. I am thankful that direction went in to those Ministers. However, those words seem to have a disconnect with actual changes within the over 5,000 civil servants on the ground. Our mandate committed that, by summer 2020, a terms of reference would be developed, as well as a working group with Indigenous governments to create an implementation plan for the United Nations declaration. That work has not been completed. I have not seen a terms of reference, and I have not seen who is on such a working group. It is now winter 2021.

I am still confused about who is in charge of this work. I have yet to see any public announcement of what this mandate item actually means and what has been done to date. I have yet to see a piece of legislation that actually changes the system of laws we operate on and devolves powers to Indigenous governments. I don't think it is clear where we are going with this item, and I don't believe it is properly funded nor set out.

Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of work to properly implement the declaration. This was passed in 2007 by the General Assembly for the United Nations, and Canada, for over a decade, resisted implementing it. We in this House took the step of making it a priority because we see a different Canada and a different system of laws that truly gives Indigenous peoples their rights. I would like to see an education act that devolves education truly in the spirit of UNDRIP, to give Indigenous peoples control over the education authorities, their own curriculum, their own hiring processes. I would like to see a proper clause setting out free, prior, and informed consent. For decades, lawyers fought over what free, prior, and informed consent meant, and this is why we never implemented the declaration. I am still confused about what the GNWT's position is on that matter.

More needs to be done in this area. We need those terms of reference, we need that working group, and we need an implementation plan to see what those words actually meant in the mandate letter. I will have questions for the Premier. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.