Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Actually, yes, we do have a lot of conversations with the Premiers, Premiers across Canada. We usually meet on a biweekly basis, if not weekly, depending on the situations. The Northern Premiers also meet regularly as well.

Those relationships are important. And we're in a special situation. The three territories actually were the first in Canada actually to get the vaccinations. Thank you to all Premiers across of Canada for that consultation. But we also realized that we are exceptional in that we're a little bit isolated; there's not as many entrances and exits outside, et cetera.

So we have made exemptions. We looked at the Nunavut that we have done. However, what I have to say is exemptions change. As soon as Nunavut had the outbreak, things changed.

So we were looking at one with Yukon, and then Yukon opened up, and things changed. Now Yukon is again back to the table. We're at the process, like the Minister said, that we're looking at agreements.

What I have to say, though, is anybody now has the same opportunity as people as anywhere in the NWT. People can go to the Yukon. They just have to come back and isolate. If they've got double vaccinations of vaccinations, they can get 8 days. If they don't, they have to do 14 days. That is the same privilege as every single resident in the NWT.

Now, recognizing that the Beaufort Delta is a little bit different, a little bit more isolated, we are looking at a special agreement. But at this time, people that are vaccinated can go in and stay the 8 days when they return. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm glad the Premier used the word "privileged" because it takes privilege and money to leave the territory and come back and isolate for 8 days or 14 or 30, as I've been hearing from some of my constituents.

Next, will the Premier commit to instructing her Cabinet to work with any northern airlines ahead of any agreements being made with inter-territorial or inter-provincial travel in order to gain their input and update any safety or screening requirements that I'm asking that the Premier instruct Cabinet and the rest of the Ministers to do so. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's nice to say that the Premier has privilege. A lot of people have privilege, and a lot of people don't.

Mr. Speaker, our intention when people come back and have to isolate is not about privilege. It's about accessibility. Anyone in the Northwest Territories that is going for medical or emergency or grievance, exceptional situations, will be covered by our isolation centres if they have no other safe place to isolate.

Everyone across the territories, people are privileged, people are not. At this point, we are not paying for the isolation centres for people that are traveling for leisure. That's about our safety things, Mr. Speaker. So every single individual is accounted in that, and I'm hoping that people who can't have safe place to isolate will contact us because that's what we're there for.

As for the airlines, it's not every Minister, Mr. Speaker, that would have that direction. It's the Finance Minister that has those conversations with airlines. But she doesn't. They're federally regulated.

So we did give some contribution because of COVID to Canadian North, and we're looking at an arrangement with them. I believe that going into the Yukon, it's a different airline, though. It's not even ours. It's Air North. So we can't tell Air North what to do. But what I can commit is that we will have discussions with them to see what they're willing to do, such as the discussions we've had with Canadian North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Without getting into too much of an argument with the Premier, I would argue that mental health travel that many people are suffering from now, including Members of her own Cabinet from what I've heard, would say that if they couldn't afford to come back or didn't have a job like ours where we can work from home, that it is a form of privilege. So the private sector would probably disagree with you, Premier.

Will the Premier advocate that "staycations" qualify as a travel benefit under our Northern Residents Deduction and make that retroactive to 2020-2021 fiscal year.

And I do understand that might take some pressuring of the federal government; however, if we want to see people moving around this winter -- or sorry -- this summer and dealing with some of these mental health burnout and fatigue I'm talking about, then I think this is a good move for our people. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, mental health is important. Never assume that somebody comes because they have a good job, that they come from a place of privilege. Sometimes people with good jobs have exceptional costs as well that are taking care of families. So I never go that way.

As for taxes, absolutely, Mr. Speaker. Actually, it's already covered. I'm just trying to look for that, yes.

So you can actually -- within our taxes at this point, you can actually use staycations for a tax exemption in the NWT. You can claim the lowest of the three following amounts: You can claim the value of the taxable travel benefit received from your employer; you can claim the actual amount that you spent on your trip; keep all your receipts and your supporting documents; and you can claim the lowest return airfare available at the time of the trip between the airport closest to your residence and the nearest designated city to that airport. For example, in Yellowknife, it might be Edmonton. So that's already in place. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Honourable Premier. Final supplementary. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess that comes back to those awesome communications, since I didn't realize that.

My last question is around communications. Will the Premier direct her Ministers to improve their communication in collaboration with any third-party entities that they may be responsible for.

We as Regular Members must have the ability to look at all areas of the government in order to ensure the voice of the people is represented properly. Always deferring and deflecting and saying you can't speak or even relay information is frustrating for the rest of us as Members, and I'd ask that the Premier start to work on that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm a bit confused on that question. I would ask that the Member actually meet with me in person later if she's willing to do that. My direction has been to Ministers since the beginning of this government has been that work with MLAs, work with stakeholders as much as possible. There will come times that we may have to fight. And ask any of the Ministers here. I can see the Member's shaking her head.

But you can ask any Minister here, that the direction has been work with people as much as possible. Pick your fights that you need to. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Honourable Premier. Oral Questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is related to my Member's statement recognizing a young family who had taken the necessary steps to improve their lifestyle without alcohol and drugs.

I also note that two young men have also taken the steps to stay away from alcohol and drugs. That's in my community of Fort Providence. And it's probably during this time of COVID that there's lots of reflection, and some of this is happening.

What I do note is that there's no campaign within my community regarding aftercare services. My question to the Minister of Health and Social Services: Can she provide an update on the aftercare strategy from the department? Mahsi.

Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.

Thanks, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm always glad to hear that people have taken advantage of the treatment options that the department provides and that they have been successful. That is obviously great news for them and great news for the community as well.

We don't have an aftercare strategy, per se, but recently, we asked community governments to apply for peer support funding which would enable them to design their own program to assist people to maintain their sobriety.

So I hope that your community has applied for that money and that they will be able to provide that specific approach in addition to all the other mental health and supports that the Department offers. Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Minister for that reply. I note she did say that the communities have to apply for the funding to provide aftercare services. I'm just not sure if there's enough funding within that program for the community to hire a counsellor, a wellness counsellor.

I'm just wondering, I also note that they do have a mental health worker within the community, and I wonder if these professional services could be provided to the First Nations, should they choose to pursue an aftercare program. Mahsi.

Yes, thank you. The Member is correct, that there is one counsellor resident in the community and one child and youth care counsellor. These services are available to the public regardless of what their need is, what their age is, where they were born.

And I know that the community counsellor provides the Matrix Program, which is a form of aftercare, and he does that every Wednesday from 4:30 until 6:00, and I understand it's very well attended.

So by all means, I would encourage the Member to make that known to the people who have recently returned to the community. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.

Merci, Monsieur le President. My question is for the Minister of Infrastructure. Yellowknife taxi companies are looking for relief from airport taxi stand licence fees to get through the hard times. Can the Minister tell us what analysis, if any, was done on passenger traffic volumes before the decision was made to rescind the waiver on these fees as of January 1st, 2021. Merci, Mr. Speaker,.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister responsible for Infrastructure.

Merci, Monsieur le President. That's great to hear the passenger traffic is increasing, but I didn't actually get a response to my question, as usual, Mr. Speaker. I asked for what kind of analysis was done before the waivers were rescinded as of January 1st.

But while these fees are significant for taxi drivers and their companies, I'm not sure that they're a vital revenue source for this Government.

Can the Minister tell us how many dollars were collected by charging the airport taxi stand licence fees at the Yellowknife airport and at all airports across the NWT in the last year and then the year before the pandemic. And I gave the Minister these questions before we got into the House today. Merci.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The annual rate for a taxi stand licence is $15,000, and it's payable in monthly installments of 1,250. There are currently three taxi operators at the Yellowknife airport making a total annual payment of $45,000. The taxi stand licence fees has not seen an increase since 2019. There are no other airports currently charging fees for taxi to be able to operate at the airports. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that information. It's interesting that these fees were only charged in Yellowknife, and it's only $45,000. I don't know why we can't do something about this. But, of course, we all look forward to the day when the pandemic restrictions are lifted and that we can get tourism going again. But if we don't have a taxi industry, how are they going to be able to serve the tourists that arrive here.

So will the Minister give that service sector the relief that it needs now and reinstitute the waiver on or at least prorate the taxi stand licence fees until we see the return of carriers and revival of passenger numbers to pre-pandemic levels? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the economic stimulus measures were initially introduced at the onset of COVID as a means to support small and local businesses. The relief was in place since April 1st, 2020, until December 31st, 2020.

I appreciate the Member providing me with his questions this morning, and I will review with the taxi licensing fees, and provide a written response to the Member within two weeks. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake. Final supplementary.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Now, I'm getting somewhere. This is great. No, seriously, though, I do appreciate that the Minister's willing to review the situation and she's going to get back to me in writing. So I appreciate that very much.

When I had an earlier exchange with her on this issue and I was told that, quote, from the Minister, "The YZF regional airport manager is continuing discussions in an effort to find a solution to alleviate the apparent challenge with these lease payments", that's great. But I'm not sure what else we can do besides prorate or reduce the fees.

But can the Minister tell us what other measures or supports might be provided in addition to the continued airport taxi stand licence fees. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.