Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, in respect to the local housing authorities and how they manage our service contracts at the ground level, I'm in full support of whatever they decide. Myself coming from a smaller community, I see that, you know, residency does become an issue. I've had where I've experienced some residents moving back into the community that were out of the community for X number of years that decided to return. I've had people within -- that were sitting on the waitlist for seven years, three years, and the number goes on. We need to maintain fairness and consistency when delivering our programming. We also see the effects with our students returning back to the communities, incarcerated people returning back to the communities, and we have to be fair when we're allocating these units. But in respect, we do have residents that have been sitting on that waitlist for quite some time that end up with -- that do have medical issues as well. The applicants come with different needs throughout the Northwest Territories, and we try to work within the local housing authorities and supporting them when making these decisions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I'd love the opportunity to respond to each of those points, but I think you'd cut me off.

It sounds to me like what needs to happen is a reassessment of the priority point system that's allocated to residents whose names are on the waitlist so that all of these issues, that the Minister is stating that add to fairness, are the ones actually being evaluated.

So will the Minister remove the community residency policy and instead look at revising the point system? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm open to a lot of different changes throughout the corporation. The Member has raised an issue that I see throughout the territory as well. And it could be something that's brought back. I'd like to bring that back to my department and look at that as well because we are under review of all policies throughout the territory. But like I had said, we need to maintain the fairness and consistency in our smaller communities respecting our service agreements that the boards and the chair people do provide for us on our behalf. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Kam Lake.

Mr. Speaker, I've been bringing this policy up in this House since February of 2020, and so I appreciate that the Minister's willing to go back and talk to the department and bring it back to me but after two years, my patience is wearing thin. So I just want the policy, really, to be reevaluated for what it is, because it isn't fair.

So I guess my next question for the Minister is how is it fair, then, if the Housing Corporation cannot stipulate how a waitlist is used however ECE can stipulate that anybody who wants access to income assistance must put their name on a housing waitlist even if they don't need housing? So I'm wondering why the discrepancy and when Housing Corporation can step in and when they can't. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have the conversation with my colleague as well in looking at that waitlist for income support. But I really want to stress that, you know, I hear what the Member is speaking about and it is an issue throughout the territory. But we have 2600 units throughout the Northwest Territories. We have a significant waitlist. The last number that I got a couple of years ago was 900 people on our waitlist. We don't have enough units to house every single person in the territory. That is why we need to maintain fairness and consistency with the policies that we do have.

But I will have this conversation with my department and really look at that point rating system as well too and how we could further accommodate people of the Northwest Territories. But I really want to emphasize one community, we could have 25 people on that waitlist, an additional 10 people coming back into the community -- I will bring that back to the department. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure who has lead responsibility for the 2030 Energy Strategy, and her department commissioned a recent research on biofuels in the NWT.

Now that we know the promise and the challenges that biofuels present, I'd like to know from the Minister what are the next steps and proposed timeline? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT recently commissioned a study on liquid biofuels, such as ethanol, bio diesel, and renewable diesel. The study found that there are significant challenges with ethanol and bio diesel in our old climate and our long-term storage requirements. The study did find that renewable diesel could be used as a diesel substitute in the Northwest Territories if the formula is right. However, right now, there is a limited international production of renewable diesel, and what is being produced is being sold under a contract and cannot be brought into open market. Once we get the renewable diesel that meets our cold climate requirements, we will attempt to get some -- perhaps to do a trial study. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. It's my understanding that there's quite a bit of unallocated money remaining from the federal Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund but that there's some conditions that prevent its use to fund trials.

Can the Minister tell us how much money is left to be allocated and whether her department will ask the federal government to permit use of these funds for trials of biofuels? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Right now, and this is subject to change as we have our yearend numbers, there's approximately $2.7 million available under the GHG grant program for buildings and industry until March 2024.

Under our federal rules, LCELF funding cannot be used for operational expenses such as biofuels. We have asked the federal government if there's any flexibility, and they have responded that there is not.

We do track federal funding programs, and we will continue to look for a program that might find funding for this type of project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. I'm happy to work with her to put some pressure on the feds.

So a significant portion of the carbon tax paid by large emitters goes to fund installation of greenhouse gas reduction infrastructure but switching to biofuels doesn't really require any infrastructure. And it's not clear what -- whether the retained carbon tax money set aside for GHG reductions can be used to purchase biofuels.

Can the Minister confirm whether any of the GNWT-retained carbon taxes and/or the large emitter trust funds can be used to purchase biofuels for testing and use in the NWT? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Finance administers the Large Emitter Grant Program. However, I do want to perhaps, with my colleague's permission, speak a bit about the program.

It is an application-based program that allows large emitters to receive grants up to the amount in their individual account for projects that reduce their GHG emissions at least 5 percent from the baseline business as usual. If a switch to biofuels from regular diesel will reduce GHG emissions by 5 percent on an ongoing basis, then the large emitter may apply for a grant for those costs of the switch. The cost of the liquid biofuels itself would not be an eligible cost.

The Large Emitter Grant Program does not include grants for research. However, if the research is applied and produces a 5 percent reduction in GHG emissions from the baseline, then large emitter may apply for a large emitter grant.

Retained carbon taxes going to general revenues and are allocated based on government priorities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. That's probably some of the best reasons I've ever heard to change the large emitter trust account and the policy around that. I talked to the Minister of Finance about it. She committed to review it. Nothing's changed. Nothing.

But I want to turn to the report on biofuels identified that 75 percent of the territory's emissions come from industry. I understand that De Beers is a large emitter, as a corporation has committed to carbon neutral by 2030. Yukon government is relying on biofuels as part of its climate change work. The feds are working on clean standards. There's a lot of things working together here. We just need to get our own government on board.

So can the Minister tell us whether there are any plans to partner with industry or other governments to conduct a trial of biofuels in the NWT? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We would gladly partner with industry for such a project. Unfortunately, as I mentioned, the availability of Arctic-grade product is a challenge. We understand that there are several renewable diesel refinery projects that are under development in Canada, and we hope this will lead to Arctic-grade renewable diesel becoming available for purchase soon. You know, when this happens, we'll be able to look to partners to be able to trial this project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The last minimum wage report was never made public, and I understand the Minister's position and he told the committee that the work they would do would remain confidential. But I understand that we're now looking at reviewing the minimum wage again. And I just don't want to be standing here at that time asking that question once again.

So can the Minister speak to what the process is going forward for the next minimum wage review? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Generally what happens is every two years the minimum wage committee is struck, and it does a review of the environment in the territory and produces some recommendations for the Minister in regards to the minimum wage. The department mentioned to me that they were embarking on that process again and I said, just wait. I'm not sure if that's the route I want to go.

The committee does a lot of great work, and I appreciate the work the members put in but, you know, given the criticism by the Members about that process, I might be taking a different approach. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm sure the Minister will keep us apprised of his different approach.

One of the things I would really like the Minister to look into is tieing our minimum wage to inflation. I know we have the second highest right now, but we're kind of in a tie with Yukon and BC and it looks like Yukon's going to pass us on April 1 when inflation goes up. And so we're kind of in this constant battle where we have a political choice to raise the minimum wage as opposed to many jurisdictions who just automatically raise it with inflation. Is pegging the minimum wage to the consumer price index or an inflationary measure something the Minister is willing to do? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We haven't done that in the past, and I don't want to speak for the previous Ministers, but when I was elected, that year minimum wage was $10. I've only been here six years. So it went from $10 up to $15.20 in a relatively short amount of time. So we far outstripped the rises to CPI or inflation. And so we haven't been in a position where we would want to do that. You know, if this is seen as adequate right now, this minimum wage, then it would make sense to tie it to the CPI. But I'm not sure if this is adequate. You know, there needs to be a bit more analysis. So am I willing to look at that? Yes, we always look at that. The minimum wage committee has traditionally looked at that. But it's just one factor that we have to consider. Thank you.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I spoke earlier that we lost the wage top-up program which brought many workers up to $18 an hour, and then I think this year we are going to see one of the highest inflations Canadians have seen in years, and the cost of living is not getting any cheaper in the North. I just worry that, you know, we in the NWT are heading down a path where making a living wage is just getting harder and harder for other people.

Can the Minister speak to what plans the department has to ensure that NWT workers are making a decent wage that, you know, keeps the pace of the cost of living and inflation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.