Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Monfwi.

I don't want to get into it, but I will do it later, okay.

Will the Minister of health commit to a medical policy review to ensure that residents who access care outside of the NWT, especially in urgent situations that require hospitalizations or treatments that are unavailable in the NWT, can qualify for medical travel? Thank you.

Thank you. Order. Oral questions. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of MACA. Can the Minister provide a reason why the Act hasn't been followed by his appointed administrator in Fort Resolution with respect to public meetings and community engagement? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when we did put a Minister in there, I did contact the MLA and explain that we would be doing this. Mr. Speaker, the first thing that the Minister had to do was find out about the deficit. Right now, we're at $2.5 million, and we're still looking into the situation. So that there is part of the situation. The other part of the situation is this past summer, we've had, you know, fires, evacuations. The South Slave staff has been pretty busy dealing with that, but we now have them back in and we will be working with them on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you, Minister. Will the Minister direct his administrator to follow the Act and to ensure meetings are in the public and public documents are being disclosed to residents and to work with chief Louis Balsillie, DKFN, and president Arthur Beck, Fort Resolution Metis Council? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, right now we're still doing the investigation on the financial stability of this hamlet. Like I said, $2.5 million right now, and we're still looking into things. What I can do is I can make a commitment is that with -- once we're able to, we will get our staff in there to have a public meeting to meet with the residents there. So we will make that commitment moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister also update the House, this House, on the status report on the issue that led Fort Resolution being placed under administration by the Minister and when will the hamlet of Fort Resolution return to the local government by local leaders? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I apologize to the Member. I may have missed his first part of the question. But I believe what he's talking about is asking when will we get the hamlet back up to be elected council.

As soon as we can address this deficit as we move forward, get the governance and everything in there. We want to be able to have an elected council that is actually on a clean slate. So once that is done and we're able to do that, we will make sure we have an elected council representing the people. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In Fort Resolution, we have a very high young population and we also have a beautiful arena that hasn't been opened for years. The GNWT and MACA spend a lot of money in the late '80s to tear down the Pine Point arena and to relocate it to the community of Fort Resolution and only to shut the doors to the young population years down the road.

Mr. Speaker, right now the hamlet in Fort Resolution are storing heavy equipment in the arena, and that may be hazardous and also a liability to the hamlet of Fort Resolution. Can the Minister commit to look at -- I know that he mentioned that we -- there is a deficit but at the same time, like I said, we have a high population but we really need help in that community to keep the kids busy and that kind of thing. So can the Minister commit to also to hire maybe a recreation coordinator and to open the arena in Fort Resolution to the public, maybe in November/December 2023, to keep the young population busy through minor hockey, recreation hockey, broomball, public skating, and to be used by the local schools in Fort Resolution. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, right now we're just trying to provide the basic services for the residents of that community. As the Member said, the arena was closed for a long period of time. To get it up and operational, there's some work that has to be done. We will work with the administrator to see if we can get the money and funds to have a position in there. We used to. But the biggest challenge right now we're also facing is the ability to find people to work. That's one of the challenges that we're facing. I've got numerous phone calls about water delivery and stuff like that, so. And I'm pretty sure the Member's received those phone calls as well. So we will look at this. We will have those conversations with the administrator as well as with the regional staff working with the community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday I asked the Minister of Finance and the Minister of ECC to come into this House today and bring with them their compassion, empathy, and a commitment for financial support for businesses and individuals impacted by the wildfire. I guess the answers to my questions, which will be asked, will determine if they did.

So, Mr. Speaker, has the Minister of Finance given any consideration for additional financial support for those that fled the fires and received no financial support for rooms and meals? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Members on this side, including myself, have received no shortage of information, contacts, and stories of folks who have gone through all sorts and manner of difficult times in the last while, and not for any lack of compassion or empathy that the circumstances and the supports that we have in place are what they are. There were supports put in place for rooms and for meals. I realize some people may have not been able to access them immediately or may have chosen not to for a variety of reasons. But, again, certainly it's not for lack of there being unavailability. It's recognizing, however, that, of course, as we've done throughout all of the emergencies we've had through this Assembly, that we can try to find ways to better serve residents and to better address the needs as we understand them and as they might evolve. But we certainly are turning our minds to that and continue to turn our minds to that. I'm not going to be announcing a new program here on the floor of the House, Mr. Speaker. But trying, certainly, to look at what collective of people were not or may not be able to access the supports that have been in place. That certainly is an ongoing consideration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister confirm if there has been any consideration for increased business financial support for the communities of Hay River, K'atlodeeche, and Enterprise based on the devastation over the past 16 months on those communities? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, although the immediate SEED directive around wildfires was created or established still in the midst of the emergency, and in the midst of the evacuation, we did quite quickly start to look at what other options there would be available. And I can say that I do expect, in the coming really short days, that we'll be able to singling some enhancements and increases to the existing programs and that that would, indeed, take into a consideration all of the affected communities but, in particular, looking at those that were affected by the most lengthy periods of evacuation over the summer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm pleased to hear that, and I think the residents and businesses of Hay River will be as well.

Mr. Speaker, will the Minister tell me if the criteria for financial business support will be flexible? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when we establish programs or modify programs with speed, it is most easy to do that within the context of programs we have, which is why we've done the wildfire within the existing SEED policy, which does have some parameters to it. That said, as well as looking at increases and modifications based on the impacts to different communities I would say that, yes, we are also looking at whether there's some additional flexibility that we could have in terms of what is covered as well as some additional flexibility in terms of the periods to be covered again taking into consideration the uniqueness of this last summer and its impacts on businesses across the territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Final supplementary. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, you know, I'm glad with those answers and I think the Minister, you know, heard the pleas, I guess, from, you know, people in the South Slave that have been really devastated over the last while.

So, Mr. Speaker, will the Minister confirm if she and her department continue to pursue additional financial support from the federal government for businesses and individuals impacted by disasters in the South Slave because we need their support as well; we can't do it on our own. Thank you.