Thank you. Member.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I respectfully disagree with the Minister. I think what I heard my colleagues and myself -- I actually didn't ask it but my colleagues did ask in public briefing that it be local people who know the people on the ground in the communities and who are trusted and the people in the communities are comfortable with those people. I can guarantee you sending in senior bureaucrats from Yellowknife to small communities who are not filling a navigator position, you're just creating another level of governmental official coming in. So I do strongly suggest -- and I would never want it to come out of this $5 million, I suggest you find that money elsewhere. That's all, Madam Chair. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll that a comment, and we'll continue on. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to start off with the navigators. You know, having navigators go in to support the people and the victims filling out forms is, you know, a great first step. And what I would look at, though -- and my thoughts as well was to use local people for it. And when I was looking at the number of student hires, summer student hires, there seems to be a number of positions that could still be available. And that might be an area where we could utilize some local local people to go in and, you know, knock on the doors of the people that are actually impacted and, you know, provide some jobs for a couple of three months. So, you know -- so that, to me, I guess is kind of an easy fix for a short term, anyway. And I'm wondering if the department would consider something like that to solve that issue. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I -- let me just give that one sort of a strong maybe in the sense that I think there's probably a number of the departments that have a presence in the affected communities who may well still be in a position to hire summer students. Obviously, I don't have that in front of me here. But, certainly, as the Minister for Finance with HR under it, we are still very much wanting to recruit summer students, so. And as we've said, we don't want to take that money out of this five million. So let me commit certainly to follow up with all of my colleagues to see if we can't support that idea. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Member.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess the other -- you know, we're talking $5 million here. And I haven't heard any numbers on the number of people that have been impacted in each community or the number of businesses that actually have been impacted in each community. If the Minister may have that information, I'm not sure, but I'd appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you, Member. Minister.

Madam Chair, I do have some numbers here in front of me. My concern, though, is that I've also heard, literally just this afternoon, that some of the numbers are still changing and some of the estimates are still changing, and I don't know that it does anyone any good for me to give numbers here if they are still changing and not accurate. So, yes, the assessors are in the communities, the navigators are in the communities and I think the situation, as I understand in the north -- in the Beau-Del is still unfolding. So, you know, I'll commit that we'll -- it may not be tomorrow and I know session's over tomorrow, but that -- the information as soon as it can be more verified can go out to the Members. Perhaps it will go out with the variance that we put out monthly. Hopefully before that, though, is that I would think that those numbers will be shared sooner than that. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess one issue I had with the forms is that, you know, it's fine that the navigators may help the persons fill out -- the victims fill out the forms but if neither have the experience or qualifications I guess of assessing, you know, maybe damage to the building, which I'm sure will be in those forms, then it's kind of a lost cause. So it seems to me that -- you know, I know the assessor's going in there to assess the damage but that's different than assessing the building for what needs to be done to the building. Is the government going to have somebody in there to assist the victims and the navigators with ensuring that the right information is placed on the forms? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, that is partly the work of the disaster systems committee once its set up, or sorry -- that they are coming up with lists of eligibility of what types of damage and what property losses are going to be eligible for compensation and at what level. So that is indeed exactly part of the work that they would be undertaking. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Member.

Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, and looking at the disaster relief, I guess is that, you know, the reality is that it's not going to put anybody back to where they were 100 percent before they started, before this happened, and I'm hoping that, you know, that's relayed to the people so there's no false hope out there. It's very important that we do that. And I guess I just want to go to what the Member for Frame Lake was talking about and that was the -- you know, putting money in the pockets of individuals. And I guess when I look at that -- and I've been pushing that, and I've talked to the Minister of MACA about that, the Minister of ECE as well. And you know, it's just that when something like this happens, you know, people are displaced. And when you're displaced, I don't care if government's paying the -- footing the bill for the accommodation, meals, you're always out. You're always going to be out money. You might be paying for your own gas. You might be -- whatever it might be. And so there's always those extra costs and, you know, a lot of people, you know, they live paycheque to paycheque. They don't have a lot of funds saved up. So I think it's important that we take that into consideration. That's kinds of why I wanted the number of how many people are impacted, because I guess that -- when I look at what happened with the CERB, I think that's kinds of what that was, to put money in the pockets of the people right away. And I think that's what we're saying on this side is the same thing. You know, what can we do? I'm hoping it's not going to be, you know, a year down the road and we're still talking about putting money in people's pockets. I'm hoping that this situation gets sorted out fairly quickly and people get back in their houses and we solve this. So I think that's what we're looking for, and I guess ECE has already did -- provided some money, but we're looking for is a little more support than that to make sure that the money goes into their pocket and having the five million go towards the other, I've got no problem with that as long as there's money -- separate pot for people. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Minister.

Madam Chair, I can give you an estimate. I think we're looking at somewhere between, you know, I think 60 to 80 households right now. So at least there's a sense of the scale of what we're dealing with. And Madam Chair, again, the commitment that I'm making, I realize that it is not as specific as people want but it's an understanding now that the disaster system's committee process, while it exists, while it's a policy and it's a process and it has a way of unfolding, is going to take some time. That is why I'm making the commitment that Finance and MACA are going to work together to make sure that we get ahead of that committee process and get some money moving faster than what that process by itself will take. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister. Member.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And, yeah, I just -- you know, we have victims out there and I just want to see this dealt with quickly. We need solutions and, you know, and the solutions have to come from all of us and, you know, we always say money's tight but at the same time, you know, we've got to help -- we've got to put the money where the help is actually really needed, and we know where it is in this instance so, you know, instead of -- you know, instead of us, you know, sitting here and arguing about stuff, you know, if you have a solution, put it out there and hopefully, you know, the department can use it and help the victims. So thank you. And that is all.

Thank you. And I'll take that as a comment.

Any further questions comments? Member for Thebacha.

One comment. There's got to be some compassion here, okay. Compassion, it's our own people. These are people that are -- don't live in big houses that are worth $2 million and stuff, okay. And I stress to the government that we on this side know what compassion is, and we got to make sure the other side also knows that too, okay. And I don't want any cold answers when you're communicating to poor people and whatever, compassion plays a big part. And I've said that even at the beginning, that we got to listen to the people, okay. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Do you have any comment, Minister of Finance?

Madam Chair, the Minister of Housing has been very clear that she is committed to getting housing dealt with - ready, sorted, built, rebuilt, and when I'm focusing on the disaster assistance policy and the disaster assistance committee, it is not for lack of recognizing that we need to work outside that stringent process. I want people to know that there is a process, that it is in existence, that the committee is stood up, and you know, and will undertake its work and take it seriously. But, again, that's where -- I've made the statement today that we're going to be working together to accelerate something outside or in addition to that process. The challenge that I have, and I know it will produce frustration, is I don't have a final answer. What I know is that we need to move this five million out quickly. I know we need to move the five million into the hands of people who have been displaced, who may already be back from the evacuation centre. And, you know, we want to work within the processes we have as much as we can because they are there. But I want to send that message that I recognize that in the coming days, a method needs to be in place so that this five million can start to move out even if it's in some sort of advance ahead of the full rollout of the process. Thank you, Madam Chair.