Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think this is a good example. Like I said, I'm just learning about it, but it's an example of many things that have happened in the Northwest Territories. There's been, you know, either there's been mines, like you used the example Giant Mine. There's been uranium mines in the Northwest Territories. One of the mines my father worked at and died of cancer, but he was also a smoker so I can't trace if that was smoking or if it was working in the uranium mine. But many people in the Northwest Territories have examples of cancer that have impacted us because of we're not sure what. So, and that's why we're so tough on the way we monitor our land and water and why we work with Indigenous governments to make sure that it's clear.

But what I can commit to -- I can't commit to a public inquiry yet because I need to find out what happened after this. Once I find out what happened, I'll get back to the Member and look at how we can move this forward and to see what responsibilities we can talk to Canada about. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Premier, for your response. Normally at the end of a public inquiry, through that process we also could look at, you know, compensation and also a public apology. So that's kind of what I'm hearing from the community, from the chief and council in Lutselk'e, and they brought that to my attention. So in our dialogue, I guess as we bring this out and look at it and how we're going to approach it, that's also something that the people are looking for. So just so the Premier knows about that so maybe if she could just add a comment to that as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Taken as a comment. Madam Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can't speak for the federal government, but I do believe in my heart that the federal government is talking about reconciliation and trying to figure out what that looks like. So, again, I'll look into what's happened with this, but I can't commit that the federal government would do a public apology. I'm just hopeful, I know they're listening that actually they will consider that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Premier. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Finance. Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Standing Committee on Government Operations put forward its report on official languages. One key recommendation from that report is to transform the GNWT as an employer into a creator of Indigenous languages speakers. This would be a game changer.

Mr. Speaker, the GNWT seems to have already started moving in this direction. The Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Action Plan includes a goal to develop an Indigenous language professional development program. So can the Minister provide a status update on this program, including targets for how many employees will receive training and when the training will become available. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister responsible for Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it so happens as that report was being read in yesterday, I asked for a status report on action 2.2. I can say that the Department of Finance and ECE are working together with the Indigenous -- or interdepartmental Indigenous languages committee. We are on track to have that delivered -- sorry, to have the program ready for delivery third quarter of 2023-2024. So basically that would be this fall. I don't know obviously yet how many residents or how many employees would be participating in that, but would certainly be looking forward to promoting that to the public service in due course. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that. Mr. Speaker, this is a good start but to reverse the decline of Indigenous language communities, the GNWT needs to do so much more. One key area for improvement is around the bilingual designation policy. The Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Action Plan talks about celebrating and recognizing employees speaking an Indigenous language but there's no reference to modernizing the bilingual designation policy, including to ensure that employees who speak or are learning their language are properly remunerated. So will the Minister make a commitment to revise and modernize the bilingual designation policy so that it better supports language revitalization as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what I'd like to say is I'm going to make a commitment to looking at the impact of the policy. I don't know exactly yet what the parameters of it or a full review would be or where it might fit. But I certainly agree that if a public servant speaks one of our official languages, they should be receiving some sort of recognition for that. And if right now we're not achieving that through the way that the policy is being applied, then from what I understand of the policy and its overall intent, then I certainly do think that we can look at better achieving that so that everyone that speaks an official language are being recognized and that employees are encouraged to improve their skill set to be able to be recognized as speaking an official language. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And just so that I'm clear too, and I think that sometimes different words mean different things to different people, and one of my concerns there is that the word "recognition" could be, you know, we recognize and appreciate that you speak your language, and one of the things that I want to make sure is that the language spoken is valued by the GNWT in the form of remuneration. So, Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to state that there.

But will the Minister also consider committee's recommendation to create a new category of bonuses for Indigenous employees who are learning to speak their language. So they might not be considered completely proficient right away, but they might -- because in order to be considered proficient, you need to be able to speak the language as well as write in the language. And there might be tiers or levels of where people fall as they're relearning their language and reclaiming their language. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not in disagreement and I don't think the department's in disagreement. I just want to figure out how to roll that out. As I said, I was listening, and the department was listening, I and was in conversation with them as we were listening virtually. So right now it's a $1,200 bilingual bonus paid to employees who have Indigenous language skills. But it's indelible employees, so someone who's in a position or a role where they can see some sort of benefit of speaking that official language.

Mr. Speaker, there's always a benefit in speaking that official language, and that's I think the point that we want to convey. That's the place we want to get to, is that when the policy's applied that that bonus can be applied to anyone that's speaking a language. And then where in terms of the language learning state that an individual might be at, when they should get some sort of recognition financially or otherwise, I certainly would like to take that away and look at it. I think we can do better to encourage employees to go out to get training, to participate in ECE's programs, to participate in mentorship, and ultimately to participate in the programs that we're looking to develop here so they could start to speak their own languages. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thanks, Mr. Speaker. I'll try to be very, very short. Does the GNWT plan to identify positions that can and should be staffed by Indigenous language speakers? Right now there are some French specific positions within the GNWT. There might also be a small number of Indigenous language specific positions but there's not a large number of them. And I'd like to know if the GNWT plans to be a lot more proactive in identifying positions where they'd like to see Indigenous language speakers and grow them in those positions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't know that that's a specific action item right now under the Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework, but it is certainly in keeping with the spirit of that framework. So certainly, as I've said, we do right now track, through ECE's official languages guideline, a list of communities that have different needs for languages but our understanding of the role of language and the place of language as part of delivering public service, I think is only ever improving. We can certainly continue to do a better job of that and to expand. So I'll certainly take the committee's recommendations away and the Member's questions away and hopefully have a more robust place to go with this in the life of the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, these questions are for the Minister of health.

Mr. Speaker, every day when I'm back in Hay River in my home office, the issues that I deal with are -- or many are related to addictions. It's quickly destroying individuals, families, and it's only getting worse and we're seeing more people dying. So, Mr. Speaker, the 2022 Auditor General's Report states the importance of equal access to addiction and aftercare treatment. Can the Minister of health confirm what initiatives and progress has been made in this area when it comes to residents of the NWT? Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister responsible for Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the questions. So in the work plan attached to the response to the Auditor General's Report that was tabled in May of last year, we made a commitment to engage with Indigenous governments and communities to inform approaches. First of all, to define what is equitable and what do people want in more detail. So I've met with the NWT Council of Leaders to begin that discussion. And in the next year, according to the work plan, we will be establishing a territorial addictions working group with key stakeholders and to develop a work plan to implement activities that will reduce barriers and improve service delivery. So that is not a commitment to building a treatment centre.

A treatment centre, I want to strongly urge everyone who's listening, should be a priority in the next Assembly, or at least if not one treatment centre, which we have had trouble sustaining historically, then multiple regional approaches to treatment so that people can achieve treatment closer to home which is something we hear consistently that they want. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister. Colleagues, before we continue, I'd like to recognize Chief Danny Gaudet from Deline. Also former Chief Leonard Kenny, also from Deline. And also Joseph Kochon, president from Colville Lake. Welcome to the Chamber.

Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, an important component is northern culture -- is a northern culture treatment component for Indigenous persons is vital to success. And that cultural component must be based on the person's traditional culture and not that of another Indigenous person's culture.

Mr. Speaker, will the Minister confirm what southern treatment facilities under contract with the department provide the cultural component that best reflects Indigenous peoples northern culture? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm going to take the liberty of recognizing my constituent Stephanie Irlbacher Fox who is in the gallery today with the Indigenous leaders.

Mr. Speaker, we do not have a treatment facility that is based in Indigenous culture. We do have treatment centres that provide Indigenous content in their treatment. All of our centres are AA 12-step-based facilities, which would be very familiar to people in the North.

I think the Member is aware that Poundmaker's withdrew from providing treatment last fall and that we have been on a journey to find a new treatment centre. We didn't receive any successful proposals in our last round but that doesn't mean we've given up on it. And I hope to be able to report progress on this in our next session. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Clause 21 of the TRC Call to Action states: We call upon the federal government to provide sustainable funding for existing and new Aboriginal healing centres to address the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual harms caused by residential schools and to ensure that the funding and healing centres in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories is a priority.

Mr. Speaker, has the Minister's department begun the process towards meeting objectives of this clause; more specifically, establishing a healing centre or treatment centre in the NWT? Thank you.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's my view that this recommendation to the federal government by the TRC should be pursued by the Indigenous governments. That's what's happening in Nunavut, and I would encourage the same thing to happen here. Instead of having us interpret what the Indigenous government organizations want for treatment from this TRC recommendation, I think it would be more effective if they took the lead and we worked with them. That's something we have talked about at the NWT Council of Leaders, and I look forward to progress on that in the coming year. Thank you.