The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput.

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The community of Tuktoyaktuk's been waiting for our new school for several years. The school's been in the books since 2007, the year when I first got elected. And Mr. Abernathy was a part of that, giving us the authority to move forward with it so I want to thank him and welcome him into the House. It's good to see him.

The GNWT secured $36 million, Mr. Speaker, to renovate the space at the school and support high school programs. The original contract was awarded in 2020 and estimated completion 2023-2024. Mr. Speaker, the final year of this project, the community has been waiting a long time, making due with a school that's less suitable. But the renovations are still not complete because a contractor needs to get inside to do the work. The school wants to let the contractors in so they could get the work done so they could have the school back that can accommodate the students.

Mr. Speaker, the renovation at the school's been so delayed. Magalanik School took it upon themselves the space the contractors need, the GNWT support, but not only that the contractor's support. Magalanik School needs four portables, Mr. Speaker, to be brought into the community. They're trying to rent space in the community, Mr. Speaker, from the churches, from Kitty Hall, from other spaces in the community, which is not right. They're taking away. We could find four portable trailers. We could find stuff, like for the capital, just like nothing so it should be the responsibility of the contractor, Mr. Speaker, to provide these four trailers, portables for the students, to get the education done properly and not going to the Kitty Hall or to the church or wherever the space is rented. It's not right. We need to find suitable accommodation for the students, Mr. Speaker.

The GNWT has provided portables in other schools for renovations that's been underway. Why can't we provide the students at Tuk with four portables, Mr. Speaker? I will have questions for the Minister at the appropriate time. Thank you.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Members' statements. Member for Monfwi.

Jane Weyallon Armstrong Monfwi

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Child and youth care counsellors. Mr. Speaker, March break 2023 is coming and a lot of youth will be looking for something to do and maybe exposed to drug use because of lack of activities in the communities. Yesterday I spoke of the need to work with community leadership to protect against drug use. Today I want to continue that discussion. There are many people dealing with addictions. In my region, crack cocaine addictions.

Mr. Speaker, everyone knows someone who is using crack in my communities. This is an extremely addictive substance and, as I have said before in this House, kids as young as 12 years old are experimenting with drugs. What is more disturbing is we have drug dealers trying to use these kids to sell crack cocaine. This is unacceptable, Mr. Speaker. How can we help our small communities grow and become strong if our youngest cannot escape the influence of drug dealers?

Mr. Speaker, we hear from parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles, siblings, in the communities who are doing their best but fear for their children and grandchildren because they might fall into the grips of the drug dealers. We are losing people, youth, and parents to drugs. As a result, we have children in care of child welfare system due to parents abusing the addictions.

Mr. Speaker, this is a crisis we must manage. The child and youth care counsellor positions can help this work and support our residents. However, we need to ensure that they are culturally sensitive and trained. They need to work with the Indigenous government to help share information about resources and supports available for our youth. Without this collaboration, the child and youth care position will not be useful in protecting our youth from the illicit drug trade. Mr. Speaker, I will have question for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Thank you.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.

Rylund Johnson Yellowknife North

Housing, housing, housing, Mr. Speaker. It's all we seem to talk about in this House. And, Mr. Speaker, credit is due that this Assembly has delivered more housing money than we have seen in decades, largely thanks to a lot of federal programs that have rolled out to both the GNWT and Indigenous governments. Yet, Mr. Speaker, we have absolutely no sense whether we have made any progress on ending homelessness in this territory, which ultimately is the goal, Mr. Speaker. And I suspect we have not made any progress at all, Mr. Speaker. I suspect, at best, we are trying as hard as we can against current tides of increasing rent, increasing house prices, increasing construction costs, and a high cost of living, just to prevent more people from become homeless, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we don't even know how long our housing waitlist is. The best evidence we have is from the Minister anecdotally saying in one of her communities it was somewhere between three and seven years, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, we have asked countless questions of the housing minister, but it's important to remember that this is not just a housing initiative. In fact, income assistance and the housing allowance it provides is one of the single biggest things this government does to prevent homelessness. In addition, many of the key NGO and shelter funding flows through health and social services. And, Mr. Speaker, it seems that despite all of this spending and all of this talk, we are just yelling and going in all sorts of different directions without any sort of coherent plan. And, Mr. Speaker, we were promised a plan. That was the homelessness prevention strategy. We were promised that plan in 2020, 2021, 2022, and here we stand in 2023, after having spent millions of dollars, and we still do not have that plan, Mr. Speaker. I will have questions for the Premier who is responsible for coordinating the Homelessness Prevention Strategy on when we can finally see the plan, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member for Hay River South.

Rocky Simpson Hay River South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I said I wasn't going to do a statement, but I can't. I just cannot do that. So I have to say something. So, Mr. Speaker, I am fortunate to have an office on main street in Hay River that's accessible to all residents and, Mr. Speaker, today I want to let those persons who stop by my office for coffee, and sometimes they actually ask for advice, I will be home Friday so when you see my truck outside come on in.

Mr. Speaker, a service I do provide to residents in Hay River is the preparation of wills, personal directives, and power of attorneys. I just want to let those who are waiting for their documents, expect a call next week to set up an appointment to review and sign off those documents.

And, Mr. Speaker, I would also like to let the shelter residents know that my office will be open starting Saturday at 7 a.m. so stop by for a coffee and let me know what I missed over the last two weeks. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Members' statements. Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes.

Lesa Semmler Inuvik Twin Lakes

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when the regional health authorities were dissolved and the one super-board was created in the Northwest Territories, I recall the message was to the Northwest Territories it was to streamline services, to share resources. And one of the main reasons was to be able to save costs. Well, Mr. Speaker, this is not proven to be the case.

Mr. Speaker, our health authority budget has increased every year since its inception, and it does not look like we'll ever be able to work within its budget. We have heard the Minister explain what the drivers are, and we see no way around these issues.

Mr. Speaker, we have increasing addiction issues. We have increasing mental health issues. We have increased the needs of CFS for our families, and our staffing issues increased where we have shortage of nurses, shortage of doctors. You know, we're turning to using agency nurses, which is a huge increase on our budget. Mr. Speaker, we as a government really need to look at this decision and maybe reconsider was this ever really a good decision. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes. Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.

Shane Thompson Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in the House to advise you that respected elder Jessie May Snider passed away on February 28th, 2023. I would like to thank her family and brother for providing me with her Celebration of Life which I will share with you here today.

Jessie May Hardisty was born in a tent in Pehdzeh Ki, somewhere around Xahndah, on June 2nd, 1945 to Adeline and Edward Hardisty. Jessie was raised by Granny Jessie in Wrigley. As Jessie grew older, she went to residential school in Fort Simpson, Fort Providence, and Inuvik. Upon finishing school, Jessie went to work at Lapointe Hall as a kitchen helper. After working there for a while, she moved to Yellowknife where she met her love of her life - Richard Snider. Sometime later, they moved to Calgary and as Robert said, "some of her kids had started to appear and they started to expand their family." They moved to another location to work BC and Manitoba and traveled across Canada. Jessie loved to see the country, its beauty, and other people.

Jessie did not like to live in the city, so the family moved to Fort Nelson, BC, to be with her sister Mabel. In 1980, they decided to move to Fort Liard. They stayed there until 1991 and then moved to Redknife. Living there helped her get back to her traditional lifestyle and, again, some more children somehow appeared. In 1997, they moved back to Fort Simpson and this where they remained and raised their family.

Jessie was so happy to move back to Fort Simpson because her brothers could provide her with moose meat. She loved her moose meat and berries that she would pick. As well, geese were on top of her menu when her son Darrell would bring it to her.

Mr. Speaker, Jessie's favorite pastime was to play bingo. As the story goes, she loved the number 10. Merle shared a story with Robert. One day she took her mother into town to get her bingo cards. As they were going back home, Jessie said, "Stop, I do not have B10 on my cards, so we have to go back and get a card with that number."

Mr. Speaker, Jessie was very successful at bingo. She won a couple of cars and several large jackpots. Besides her luck, she enjoyed connecting with friends and meeting them at these bingos and this was why she would travel the Deh Cho to attend bingos. She even attended a few bingo games in Las Vegas.

Mr. Speaker, all throughout her life she made many friends, and some were able to attend her funeral. The family would like to thank everyone who attended and those who sent best wishes. I can tell you her husband, children, siblings, extended family and friends will sadly miss her. Mashi cho.