Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, there has actually been quite a lot of public engagement in the last six years, quite a lot of feedback provided, not the least of which even includes the dialogue within this House. That is not lost. There's always public servants listening to everything that's said here. There's public servants that attend every public briefing in standing committee. There's been public servants involved in this work, again, since 2017, getting a very solid and thorough understanding. And now the work has gone through a process of co-development with Indigenous governments who also have gone out and done their own work to engage with their residents and those that they represent.

Mr. Speaker, I certainly make it my practice to try very hard never to turn down any ask for a meeting, any ask for an opportunity to submit letters or comments. And there's been open portals on all the various pieces of the Mineral Resources Act regulations as they've gone along. I'll continue with that process, Mr. Speaker. I'm always happy to receive things, whether through that formal process or through a less formal process, as are members of the staff and officials at ITI. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Thebacha.

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Minister responsible for Lands.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Member for the question. I can tell you right now -- she's probably not going to like the answer, but I'm going to tell you what it is. As we developed the regulations, lease costs are part of that process. It's been taking us longer because we're going through a new process called working through the intergovernmental council land and resource management legislation development process. So we need to be working with our Indigenous governments, and we're going back and forth. Lease fees -- and I can tell you right now, lease fees were the top issue that were identified in the public engagement on the Public Land Act, and the department will seek public review on proposed regulations once they are developed.

Mr. Speaker, I'm looking forward to sharing this information with committee, and I'm looking forward to their comments as we move forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Lands has previously stated that the government only increased lease rent fees was to create more revenue for the government. Well, can the Minister share with us how much more revenue the Government of the Northwest Territories has made since these fees were increased compared to the revenues before that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the 18th Assembly, this may have been said. I can guarantee you I have not said that; it wasn't part of what I believe. And as the Member said, I asked 83 questions - 72 times I stood up in this House to ask these questions, so. So just so everybody's aware, lease rental reviews are conducted every five years, depending on the start date of the lease. Since the lease increase in 2018, the Department of Lands lease revenue has increased by approximately $1.034 million. This does not include the 2022-2023 fiscal year and the COVID relief when we did that for that year, for the COVID relief there. And, again, some of this revenue is with new increases with new leases. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, will the Minister recommit to visit Fort Smith for a public meeting to discuss the issue of land lease rent fees and all related issues before the end of the 19th Assembly?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I'll commit that. I've already committed to the Member. We'll get in there to have a meeting before the 19th Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

At least I got one yes from him. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister give me a date for when he will visit Fort Smith for the public meeting? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can't make that commitment here today; I don't have my calendar. I don't have what the Member's calendar is. But our staff -- my staff and her staff can work together, and I'll work with the Member to get this done. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It seems to me that there are a number of solutions to make sure that the nursing licensing process runs smoothly. Ontario is exploring as of right nursing licenses for any other Canadian nurse. A number of provinces have issued ministerial directives with timelines in them. Perhaps some sort of temporary license while the whole process goes through is possible. Or, you know, perhaps it's as simple as accepting a less kind of formal version of the paperwork so we can make sure that these processes are running timely. I don't know exactly what the solution is, but I have to believe this is a solvable problem.

So my question for the Minister of health is she willing to work with the Registered Nursing Association of the NWT and Nunavut and make sure we have a clear and efficient process to get these licenses processed? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. So the licensing of nurses of all kinds is handled by the Registered Nurses Association of the NWT and Nunavut. So they're the ones who process the registration application. And the application does require proof of credentials, prior work sites, hours worked, and so on and so forth. That means that often they have to apply to the licensing authority where they were previously employed for paperwork. And as the Member said in his statement, in the case of Ontario it took a couple of months to get that lined up. So I don't know how the registered nurses association can speed up the process. It's something I can ask them about but they have the ultimate authority. And it's the authority we want them to have to ensure that nurses that we welcome in the NWT are qualified to work here. Thank you.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, I think there's a bit of a -- I appreciate the Minister saying that. And, you know, I think there's a bit of a -- first step is a meeting to kind of figure out if they recognize any processes they could speed up on their end. I recognize a lot of this is in other provinces' nursing associations hands. But it seems to me if this is just going to be the reality accepted, then some sort of larger step is needed. And whether that is legislating timelines, ultimately we do have control, whether that's a ministerial directive. I do believe that, you know, if they're not willing to make sure their process is running smoothly, the Minister has to look at other options. So I guess I'll just confirm the Minister's commitment that she will meet with -- or her staff will meet with the registered nursing association and see if there's anything that can be done in the short-term to speed up this process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm certainly willing to make that commitment to meet with the nurses association and see if there is anything that we can assist them to do to speed up the licensing. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to first ask some questions to the housing minister in regards to data collection as a whole for the organization.

Right off the top, Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if the Minister will commit to changing the current data collection practices of Housing NWT and commit to strategic data collection and analysis? Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. I'm always looking for different ways of doing things within this portfolio as well too, and this has been discussed already. And and answer to her question is yes. This is a focus of the strategic renewal that is currently underway. As an example, we are working with data with the Indigenous governments, looking at their distinction-based funding and how they are going to be spending it. Whether they want to have those discussions with us or not, it takes a whole of a government, and also the community governments as well too, to address the housing needs. But in order to identify them, we need to be working together in order to collect that data information. That's the first approach. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for that yes. I'm wondering, Mr. Speaker, if the Minister is working with ISSS to determine best practices and available systems for data collection, management, analysis, and use. If not, will the Minister commit to working with ISSS to determine a solution for integrated data collection management and use? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I hope the Member is going to be quite happy. This is going to be her second yes. Housing is already working with ISSS to complete necessary system changes. With the renewal and program changes, we are working on a number of areas. We are looking at also including a -- creating a data dashboard that will make the data collect more easily, accessible for the decision-makers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I want to thank the Minister as well. Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge that data sharing increases the risk of exposure as well as potential for bias. But there are existing frameworks that work to reduce this bias. The First Nations principles of ownership, control, access, and possession assert that First Nations have control over the data collection process. This is also known as OCAP and is the framework that protects Indigenous sovereignty as well as people at risk of or experiencing homelessness. In addition to those concerns, experiencing homelessness, or the broad structural factors that impact housing, is a traumatic experience. So will the housing minister commit to trauma informed data collection through frameworks like OCAP? Thank you.