Ministers' statements. Minister responsible for the Status of Women.

Mr. Speaker, today is International Women's Day, an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women, to raise awareness of gender inequality, and to recommit to building a territory that values, respects, and gives equal opportunity to all women and 2SLGBTQIA+ peoples. Each of us can actively embrace the spirit of "Every Woman Counts" in the workplace, our homes, among our friends and communities. Each of us can challenge gender stereotypes, call out discrimination, draw attention to bias, and seek inclusion. From grassroots action to wide-scale momentum, we must work to support women and 2SLGBTQIA+ people of all ages and all walks of life.

Today, I want to recognize some grassroots organizations that are dedicated to this important work: The Status of Women Council of the Northwest Territories, the Native Women's Association of the Northwest Territories, the Northern Mosaic Network, the YWCA, FOXY, and the Black Advocacy Coalition. These organizations help raise our collective awareness of the equity issues facing many Northern residents today. Their hard work keeps issues of gender equality at the forefront of public discourse. Their boards, staff, and volunteers share the passion and excitement that comes with valuing and supporting difference. I would like to offer my sincere thanks to them and so many others for all of the work they do to address issues of gender-based violence, racism, and gender-based discrimination.

Mr. Speaker, the gender equity division has supported women in leadership initiatives over the life of this Legislative Assembly to encourage the participation of women in political leadership, equipping them with tools and supports to run for elected office. If we want to measure the success and importance of this program, we can simply look at all of the elected women in this room, and all of the elected women holding office across the Northwest Territories. It is an honour to be a part of the first gender-balanced Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories.

Over the life of this Legislative Assembly, Northwest Territories' voters have elected women in unprecedented numbers at all levels of government including chiefs, mayors, and councilors. And while I feel great pride for the progress we have made, I must also acknowledge that women and 2SLGBTQIA+ people continue to experience daily discrimination due to the long-standing systems that do not serve them. From unequal salaries and lack of financial independence to being victims and survivors of gender-based violence and domestic abuse, many women continue to face challenges that stem directly from gender bias and inequality. At this very moment, there are women across this territory who are stuck in cycles of poverty and violence, forced to make difficult choices every day that put their safety at risk. We all have a duty to identify and disrupt the systems that allow this reality.

Mr. Speaker, Indigenous women are 3.5 times more likely to experience violence, and we continue to hear reports of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and gender-diverse peoples. As the Minister responsible for the Status of Women, I reaffirm this government's commitment to address the evolving nature of work related to gender, including gendered violence and gender equity.

We are making progress on the 94 actions identified in "Changing the Relationship", our response to the Calls for Justice on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, and we continue to look to the federal government, our community partners, and Indigenous governments to work with us in ending this terrible crisis.

Mr. Speaker, we have much to celebrate on International Women's Day. It is important to acknowledge the work that has been done to honour and recognize women, 2SLGBTQIA+ people, allies, and grassroots organizations who have gotten us here today. The work to forge gender equity is not limited to women. We must all be allies to support the social, cultural, and political advancement of women and 2SLGBTQIA+ people in the territory. And, Mr. Speaker, I believe that together we can forge equality in a world where every woman counts. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Ministers' statements. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.

Mr. Speaker, addressing housing needs in the Northwest Territories cannot be done by any single government. We must continue to build and strengthen partnerships - partnerships with Indigenous governments, Indigenous organizations, community governments, non-government organizations, private companies, and the Government of Canada.

Partnerships is a theme I have spoken about many times since becoming Minister responsible for Housing Northwest Territories. But over the last three years, through our strategic renewal process, it has become more prominent. We have worked with our partners to deliver home repair and homeownership programs, develop community housing plans, deliver new units in communities, support those at risk of being homeless and, recently, we have developed a plan to address a lack of market housing in communities across the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, our partnerships with Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations are important as we address the territory's housing crisis. The Community Housing Support Initiative is a great example of how Housing NWT established this funding program to support Indigenous governments in implementing innovative and community-driven housing projects of their own design. We have partnered with a number of Indigenous governments to date, including the Salt River First Nation, Whati Community Government, and the Nihtat Gwich'in Council.

Mr. Speaker, for over 15 years Housing NWT has been partnering with the Yellowknives Dene First Nation for the operation and administration of public housing units in N'dilo and Dettah. We also provide approximately $1.5 million a year to the North Slave Housing Corporation for the operation and administration of 75 units to Indigenous people in Yellowknife. We have also been working with K'atlodeeche First Nation, providing them with funding to operate and maintain ten public housing units on the K'atlodeeche First Nation Reserve.

Additionally, our staff worked with the K'atlodeeche First Nation on completing their community housing plan, which was adopted on September 19, 2022.

In the Tlicho region, we work through the Tlicho housing working group which sets priorities and administers housing projects. During this fiscal year, Housing NWT is projecting to invest over $3 million on housing programs and maintenance and repairs of its rental units in the Tlicho communities.

Mr. Speaker, as part of finding ways of partnering with Indigenous governments under the renewal strategy, Housing NWT entered into three formal agreements over the last year:

• A Memorandum of Understanding with the Tlicho government;
• A Memorandum of Agreement with the Sahtu Secretariat; and, most recently,
• A Memorandum of Understanding with the Deline Got'ine Government.

These agreements provide a framework for intergovernmental cooperation on housing-related matters and may include such priorities as community housing planning, coordinating program delivery, information and data sharing. These housing agreements can also advance the implementation of self-government agreements, including the agreement to procure and enact laws related to social housing. Outside of the formal MOUs, Housing NWT is working with other Indigenous governments with less formal approach but still with the full intent to partner on housing priorities and interests.

Mr. Speaker, Housing NWT will continue to seek opportunities for partnership to leverage funding to address the needs of Northwest Territories residents. One example of this is with the YWCA where their capital project funding from Canada required an ongoing in-kind commitment from Housing NWT to provide operational funding and Housing NWT has provided a multi-year funding agreement of $500,000 per year to support the program delivery. Another example is our partnership with Habitat for Humanity, a global organization that works towards stability, affordability housing with the help of sweat equity. Our partnership with Habitat for Humanity began in 2013 and included capital contributions to their project but also includes supporting them to find locations for their builds and advertising for eligible clients. Habitat currently has an agreement with Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation and Housing NWT and will see ten units constructed. Housing NWT seeks to be flexible in partnership arrangements to achieve at the end of our goal of getting more affordable housing into our communities.

Mr. Speaker, a lack of housing options in communities across the Northwest Territories is a barrier for the recruitment and retention of frontline community workers. In response to this, a number of GNWT departments have worked together to present a future need for market housing rental needs. The joint effort has resulted in identifying the need for over 260 market rental units across the Northwest Territories. As the GNWT is a lead on this work, Housing NWT will work with Indigenous governments, local businesses, and within the federal government, to put a plan in place to develop these market housing units and supporting the recruitment, local economies, businesses, and employment in the Northwest Territories. Our renewal strategy continues to work with Indigenous governments, community governments, non-government organizations, and others to improve housing programs and services and expand in our collaborative housing portfolio in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, as this statement describes, Housing NWT has been putting a lot of emphasis on building and repairing relationships during the life of this government by continuing to deepen the relationships with our partners. We believe we can successfully address the Northwest Territories housing crisis. I would also like to thank the staff of Housing NWT for the collaboration and the work that they have been putting together within the time of this government. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Ministers' statements. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's good that the Minister wants to work together with the housing.

Mr. Speaker, we only have public housing in my communities. I also have residents that are on income assistance and I have spoken about this in the House many times. But our residents are not always on fixed, stable income, that means the housing can be impacted. I thought we dealt with this, Mr. Speaker. It's income tax season, CERB emergency payments, that was not declared, are impacting my residents and it is going to impact all the residents across the Northwest Territories soon. They are being told that their rents will change; the housing is in jeopardy, Mr. Speaker. The government has advised this House that they would not consider CERB payment as income and will not impact the public housing and the income support program. But, Mr. Speaker, it is impacting both.

Being impacted, some in my constituency are in support residence in public housing. The Minister, I want her to work together with us in regards to getting this sorted out, the CERB payments and the income support with the Minister. Again, my residents are telling me, CERB emergency payments are being declared and counted as additional income. The people in public housing, including seniors, have their rents increased if they received CERB payments.

Mr. Speaker, the federal government gives so easily but it's time to claw back they're going to take full advantage of that. We have to help the residents in our riding. I need to make for sure my residents are not being punished for taking CERB. That was an emergency program through the COVID-19 program. This should not penalize the poorest people in our communities. I should remind the House that my communities have dealt with COVID outbreaks, isolation, and lockdowns. We need sympathy and we need our residents here, Mr. Speaker. Our residents are not recognized in this government policy. And another example of that we cannot have these emergency funds impact the most vulnerable people in the Northwest Territories in the small communities, Mr. Speaker.

11 o'clock the other day I had an elder call me. For not declaring CERB, he was going to be evicted from his house and penalized from income support for two months. 62 years old, Mr. Speaker. Unacceptable. Unacceptable. And I will have questions for the Minister at the appropriate time. Thank you.

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

Merci, Monsieur le President. Confusion continues to reign for northern taxpayers despite the Canada Revenue Agency having finally published lowest airfare rates for the Northern Resident Travel Deduction. The deduction is set by regulation and has been in place since 1987 with continuous problems ever since.

I've been raising this issue for years in this House, trying to get successive territorial finance ministers, to step up and work with the other territorial finance ministers to slay this dragon.

After a CBC story about how Northerners were being audited three times as much as our southern friends, the then federal minister of national revenue promised to look into it and fix it. There was even a public consultation on setting lowest return airfare amounts that closed in April 2019. Fast forward to almost four years later and viola, the Canada Revenue Agency then posts 14 less-than-user friendly tables for taxpayers to sort through to get numbers that don't actually make sense.

The CRA figures were apparently developed with a business travel service provider. I'm only going to pick on Yellowknife, but the CRA figures are as much as $160 higher in one case but mostly much lower, as much as $660 lower than comparable figures published by a local air carrier. I am going to use my crystal ball and predict that Northerners are again going to be subjected to unnecessary and unfair tax audits as a result of these discrepancies.

I've asked our NWT Member of Parliament for some help in terms of understanding this mess. The last time I raised the issue in the House was February 2021, and the finance Minister said, quote, "I'm happy to commit to checking in with my colleagues in Nunavut and Yukon to see if there is an issue that is of shared interest to us and to then consider whether or not a joint letter would be appropriate, but I'll make that initial engagement first." I'll have questions for the finance minister as to what this government is going to do slay the lowest-return-airfare dragon to help northern taxpayers. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, once again, I want to talk about affirmative action, an initiative that was put in place to ensure the GNWT public sector would be representative of the population it serves. We know that over the past 35 plus years, little has changed when we look at percentages of Indigenous Aboriginal people employed in the public sector.

Mr. Speaker, the current affirmative action policy has specific groupings of priority hires, more specifically, Priority 1, 2, and 3 candidates, with priority 1 being specific to Indigenous Aboriginal persons. The current policy defines "Indigenous Aboriginal persons" as, and I quote,.

"... those persons who are descendants of the Dene, Inuit, or Metis people indigenous to the present boundaries of the Northwest Territories and includes any Aboriginal persons resident at birth pursuant to Section 23 of the Vital Statistics Act and any Canadian Aboriginal persons who have lived more than half of their life in the Northwest Territories."

Mr. Speaker, the newly proposed Indigenous employment policy will change that definition. Such a change would only divide and reduce the number of Indigenous Aboriginal persons who are currently considered priority candidates. The proposed policy narrows the definition of "Indigenous Aboriginal persons" by removing those not deemed Indigenous to the present-day boundaries of the NWT, whether born here or having lived here more than half their life.

Mr. Speaker, Hay River's Indigenous population is made up of those who are Indigenous to the present-day boundaries of the NWT and many who are not but have either been born or lived over half their life in the NWT. Many of these persons about to be removed are fourth-generation Indigenous Aboriginal residents who have made the North their home. These persons I am referring to are many Indigenous fishing families who migrated to Hay River from southern Canada and who suffered the same disadvantages as all other Indigenous people.

Mr. Speaker, further dividing Indigenous people is not progress; it is colonialism. If we want real success, and knowing employment in the public sector requires formal education, let's

• Concentrate our efforts and resources on hiring Indigenous Aboriginal students straight out of post-secondary or trades;
• Consider decentralization of positions to communities where most Aboriginal people live;
• Use the training and mentoring programs we now have in place;
• Hold departments accountable in applying the policy; and, most importantly,
• Continue with strengthening the education system for both Indigenous and northern residents.

Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for my statement today, I want to talk about the status of the new territorial fire centre project that has been underway by our government over the last three years.

First of all, Mr. Speaker, there has been many rumors going around Fort Smith lately saying that the request for proposals for the construction of the new territorial fire centre has been cancelled. I would appreciate if these rumors would stop being spread because this statement is simply not true.

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, February the 20th, 2023, the government held an open house meeting on procurement and capital infrastructure projects in Fort Smith. At that meeting, the Government of the Northwest Territories gave an update on the fire centre, and it was noted that while the original procurement plan has been cancelled, Indigenous governments can still submit proposals to the public tender. The Minister of Finance has assured me that this project is still part of the infrastructure acquisition plan and will still be going forward but it's currently being reassessed. In addition, Mr. Speaker, the finance minister has told me that she will work with me to provide a timeline on the re-issuance of the request for proposal and look to see if it could be out by the end of the 19th Assembly. Depending how the process unfolds, there could be potential to get the fire centre funds moving so that the Fort Smith residents are aware that the work is underway.

Mr. Speaker, it is extremely unhelpful for people to spread rumors, both around the community and around the territory, that a major infrastructure project has been cancelled. This type of wrongful speculation only undermines the actual work being done being put into making this project a reality for the people of Northwest Territories. For these reasons, Mr. Speaker, I'm asking all residents of Fort Smith, and residents of the NWT, to stop spreading misinformation on the new territorial fire centre. While the timeline for this project's completion is not where I or Cabinet would like it to be, the public can be rest assured that a new territorial fire centre will be built in Fort Smith very soon. I will have questions for the finance minister at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Northwest Territories, unfortunately, is having a banner year for rabies and, unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, last year was also a banner year for rabies. And there's a couple of reasons for this. One is it's cyclical in the Arctic fox population so it tends to spike. The other reason is that with changes in climate and warmer weather, rabies outbreaks are becoming more and more common. And, Mr. Speaker, it's worth noting that rabies is one of those public health campaigns of the 20th century that we largely solved. There are still 60,000 human deaths a year from rabies, but they are largely in the developing world. In Canada, rabies deaths are very rare and that is thanks to the vaccination of canines. Yet, Mr. Speaker, we are well behind the rest of Canada in making sure that our dogs are vaccinated and that it's not passed to humans.

Rabies in humans is virtually 100 percent lethal if not treated, Mr. Speaker. It is an extremely deadly disease. And I think many of us kind of view this as a thing of the past, and that is because it was a thing of the past that we solved, and I don't want to see the Northwest Territories in a banner rabies year becoming one of the places where we are going to have the first human death in Canada in a long time.

Mr. Speaker, there's a couple things that need to be done here because although rabies doesn't care which host it kills, the government certainly does care. The fox population, many professionals have suggested a vaccination bait program. That would be ENR. Once it stops being wildlife, though, Mr. Speaker, the government -- ENR doesn't care but MACA has to care and that's through our Dog Act, Mr. Speaker. We actually have a Dog Act, and many jurisdictions have mandated that all dogs be vaccinated for rabies. We do not do that in the Northwest Territories. And lastly, MACA stops caring once it gets into humans and that becomes the department of health who have to make sure they have that antidote on hand and available in all our communities because absent treatment rapidly, it is very fatal in humans.

Mr. Speaker, I'm going to have some questions for the Minister of ENR, Minister of MACA, and Minister of health to make sure that someone is actually paying attention to this rabies outbreak and make sure that we're not just sitting or waiting around for someone to die. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member for Monfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in honour of International Women's Day, I want to speak once again about the importance and value of Indigenous women and girls within our society.

Mr. Speaker, in all of the country and all across the Northwest Territories, you will find many brilliant, beautiful, capable, and resilient Indigenous women and girls who have much to offer in this world. Not only that, Mr. Speaker, but in most Indigenous cultures, women and girls are highly regarded and they hold a very important role in the functioning in our communities. Besides the fact that these women are the primary caregivers for our children and elders, they are also natural leaders in everyday life. However, Mr. Speaker, in contrast to these very positive aspects of our Indigenous women and girls, it is unfortunate and quite sad that this same population faces a level of violence and death unlike any other population in the country. Bullying and collateral violence from our very own people also contributes to the harm done to very beautiful strong women and girls.

Mr. Speaker, since the founding of Canada, Indigenous women and girls have been forced to deal with racism, sexism, and colonialism on a daily basis. And it is from these systems of oppression where the entire issues of murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls began in the first place and continues to exist to this day.

Mr. Speaker, according to self-reported data from the 2019 General Social Survey on Canada's Safety, 26 percent of Indigenous women experience sexual violence by an adult during their childhood compared to 9.2 of non-Indigenous women. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Also, according to data from the RCMP, Indigenous women represent 10 percent of all missing women in Canada despite accounting for only about 3 percent of the total Canadian female population. And according to Statistics Canada, Indigenous women have a homicide rate that is almost six times higher than non-Indigenous women.

Mr. Speaker, on a day like today, International Women's Day, where we honour and recognize all the achievements of the women of the world, we also must remember the more troubling aspects of some of our women and girls. We must not forget the Indigenous women and girls who have never returned home who had such a great potential to live full lives to share with the world. We will remember them. And with that in mind today, Mr. Speaker, on this important International Women's Day, I would like to say -- I would like to send a message to all the women that are in here and to all the grandmothers, to mothers, to the aunties, to the daughters, to the nieces, that I would like to say be safe and today is an important day for all of us. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, International Women's Day has evolved since the women's rights movement of the '60s and '70s. Today, in 2023, we continue to celebrate the fight for gender equality, gender identity, our reproductive decisions, and the right to speak up and defend our emotional, mental, spiritual, physical, and financial well-being. We use our voices to say no to the bullying, the violence; no to the oppressive abuses against our right to decide, do, and say what is right for us, what is right for me. Being allowed to take responsibility for my life and my future and to support all who wish to do the same is my interpretation of this day.

As a settler, it is my honour, and duty, to support the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls movement that is working hard to bring attention and change to the systemic racism and colonialism that has oppressed Indigenous women and girls since the first Europeans set sail and still today, continues to traumatize individuals, their families, and our communities by the ongoing oppression of Indigenous female voices. Women have been held in high regard and honour in Indigenous cultures all over the world for their ability to create and sustain life. That is until the residential schools, the colonialism, bullying, and laterally violent systems that changed that and taught a different way of seeing and treating Indigenous women and girls.

We are doing our communities a huge disservice, missing out on actual solutions, by not listening to the contributions, suggestions, ideas, cultural knowledge and so much more, that Indigenous women hold simply because it does not fit into our colonial systems. On this day, we can commit to beginning a new dialogue with Indigenous women, one where we don't give the answers or constrain the conversation; a dialogue held in safe spaces where we listen to the hard truth. Until we truly listen to the voices of Indigenous women, any conversation regarding reconciliation is pointless and really can only be called lip service.

And Mr. Speaker, I just want to take a moment to acknowledge a very strong Indigenous woman in my life, and that is my constituency assistant Maggie Mercredi who has done an amazing job in supporting me, and I am learning a lot from working with her. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Members' statements. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Happy International Women's Day. This year's theme is Embrace Equity. Embracing equity is not about getting through the door and breathing a sigh of relief that you made it. It's about constantly reflecting and learning who hasn't made it through the door and what it takes to keep the door open.

Mr. Speaker, I need to be willing to be uncomfortable, learn, acknowledge how the status quo is benefitting me and ask how I can help others achieve the same. Changing what our businesses, professions, spaces, and even legislatures look like doesn't often come from the masses but creating momentum in any space starts with just one person. We can all challenge gender stereotypes, call out discrimination, draw attention to bias, and seek out inclusion. Opening the door and then keeping it open means broadening the threshold and actually embracing diversity and inclusion in our every day.

This term, I stand in the only Canadian legislature that is, for the first time, gender balanced. Equity means supporting the presence and voices of colleagues and identifying whose voice is missing. Mr. Speaker, there's no point being the first if you are also the last, and I hope to see the inclusivity of this space continue to evolve. Poet Illock, when speaking about pronouns, said, quote, "pronouns then aren't just about the ability to use a word like she; they are ultimately about our ability to be. This has never just been about who gets to speak. This has also been about who gets to live. Equity, therefore, also means changing our habits, language, and continuing to learn and do better."

Last month, the National Indigenous Housing Network, along with the Women's National Housing and Homelessness Network, called for a state of emergency in the Northwest Territories when it comes to housing Indigenous peoples, particularly women and girls who have been left in the dark without safety or security as called for in the 2019 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Report. Equity, therefore, means stepping out of the status quo, identifying systemic barriers for others to survive and thrive and pushing for meaningful change.

Today is a reminder that I have an important role to play as an ally to equity and inclusivity. Learning is an important piece of this journey, and I would like to thank Kam Lake residents Inemesit Graham and Chelsea Backer for the education they openly share. Every day there are moments in time where we decide to remain stagnant or lift equity. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you very much, colleagues. Every day there are moments in time where we decide to remain stagnant or lift equity. Even just one moment where someone chooses equity has significance because moments in time strung together eventually become history. The question we must all ask ourselves is, Will my voice be part of this history? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Members' statements. Member for Range Lake.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge International Women's Day. This day is not only an opportunity to celebrate the incredible achievements of women around the world but also a time to end biases, raise awareness of issues impacting women's equality, and highlight that change is achieved through collective action.

Mr. Speaker, of the theme of International Women's Day is Every Woman Counts. This is especially fitting here in the Northwest Territories, with a territorial election just around the corner. If 50 percent of our population are women, then why would we not want 50 percent of our politicians to be women? We not only need to encourage women and gender-diverse people to make their vote count but we also need to see their names on ballots in every riding in the NWT.

Following the 2015 territorial election, only two of the 19 elected Members to the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly were women. This lack of representation was deeply concerning so then MLA Julie Green and I made it our mission to increase the number of women Members in this House. During our first term, we ran and participated in women in leadership programming throughout the territory. We used these forums and every opportunity to encourage more women to run for elected office. In 2019, after the final votes were counted, we saw the evidence that our efforts and the efforts of other strong women across the territory had a transformative impact on our political landscape. Since the election of the Member from Monfwi, ten of the 19 Members in this House are now women, and I am proud to say that the NWT is the first jurisdiction in Canadian history to have a majority women legislature.

Mr. Speaker, while this was an exciting milestone that we should all be very proud of, improved gender representation in the 19th Assembly is only the beginning. There is an urgent need for greater representation of women and gender-diverse people in leadership roles in government, industry, education, our communities, and beyond. We all have opinions formed by our different lived experiences, and only by having diversity at the table will we be able to adequately represent the population we serve.

Mr. Speaker, no one should be held back because of gender. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We all know that it is not a question of women and other gender-diverse people have the necessary skills to be successful. Look around the House. We can see that women can be great leaders.
I know that letting your name stand in an election is nerve wracking but it's also incredibly empowering. I hope that many of those listening to our proceedings today will consider running for office or taking on other leadership roles in their communities. You deserve to be heard, and the next generation deserves to see the promise and power of amazing women doing incredible things in the territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Range Lake. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, five years ago on International Women's Day, there were only two women in this House, myself and Premier Cochrane. We put forward a motion that day that set ambitious goals for increasing women's representation in this House. A special Assembly committee held public hearings in ten communities to hear why women's voices mattered and document the barriers that prevented women from running.

The interim report released a year later identified a variety of barriers from colonization that marginalizes Indigenous women's leadership to being away from home for weeks at a time and the cost of paying for campaigns. The report recommended important changes, including allowing caregivers to be reimbursed for work-related child care and making this building itself more family friendly. The final report set a goal of four women to be elected in 2019. We were all surprised when nine Members were elected that year and one more in 2021. Mission accomplished. Or is it?

As discussion ramps up about the next territorial election, I am concerned that while we've removed some barriers, others have appeared. There have been several high-profile resignations by women leaders in the last month. They have pointed to the toxic public discussion of politics as one reason to leave, along with burnout. The most recent resignation, and closest to home, is by Melanie Mark, the first Indigenous woman MLA and minister in the British Columbia legislature. She said working in the House was torture, and she wouldn't miss the character assassination she endured there.

Mr. Speaker, we too have a toxic strain to our politics that may deter women in the NWT from running. They may decide not to step into a difficult job made harder by attacks, particularly in social media. I am not talking about the usual cut and thrust of debate but about words that demean people and question their integrity. We can provide all the child care we want but who would want their reputation shredded in this new career that already demands so many sacrifices?

Mr. Speaker, we must continue overcoming barriers. The contributions made by women in the political arena are essential to decision-making that has positive change for residents. We need to ensure women's voices are heard and their ideas help shape the next Assembly as they have this one. Despite the obstacles, I encourage women to be champions for change and run for public office. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Members' statements. Member for Nahendeh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I rise in the House to talk about a Secret Santa who gave some youth late Christmas gifts this past January in the Nahendeh and Deh Cho ridings.

Mr. Speaker, I can tell you I received a phone call from a friend to see if I would be interested in receiving two pallets of toys worth approximately $20,000 for some youth in the Nahendeh riding. Of course I said I would be interested. I did ask who donated these toys and was advised that, in true Santa fashion, they wanted to remain anonymous.
As the January 16th News North article stated, "Christmas came and went without the toys arriving in time." Because of the weather, the toys were delayed. When Grimshaw Trucking heard this, they took action, delivered the toys, and donated their time to get the toys to Yellowknife. With the help from Grimshaw and Summit Air, Santa was able to deliver the toys shortly after Christmas. With the toys sitting in Yellowknife, we had to find a way to get the toys to Fort Simpson. Thanks to PR Contracting, the toys made their way to Fort Simpson.

As the toys were on their way, I reached out to several people to see if they could distribute the toys once they arrived in Fort Simpson. I would like thanks to Naila Cazon, Troy Bellafontaine, Daniel Gargan-Lacasse, Carolina Malloy, Cheryl Abraham, and Grace Berikoff for organizing the toys and arranging them to get to youth in Wrigley, Sambaa K'e, Fort Simpson, Fort Providence, and Fort Liard. I would like to thank Simpson Air and Hopes Ventures for getting the toys to Wrigley, Sambaa K'e and Fort Liard.

Mr. Speaker, these toys made it to youth in five communities in the Nahendeh and Deh Cho ridings thanks to the individuals I mentioned. They did a lot of work and came up with the plan. For this, I am very thankful.

Mr. Speaker, it's just amazing to have Santa provide Christmas in January for some of these youth. It's unfortunate that, through weather and other challenges, they weren't able to get this during Christmastime, but we thank Santa, the businesses, and my friend for extending Christmas into January.

Mr. Speaker, the toys were a generous gift, and we know that the children and families who received them will be very appreciative. I cannot thank the Secret Santa, the businesses, and my friend enough. This was a moment the youth will remember for a long time. Mr. Speaker, I would like my colleagues to give them a round of applause. Mashi Cho, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Member for Nahendeh. Members' statements. Returns to oral questions. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be joined by constituents today Maureen Van Overliw and her children Holland and Everett. Thank you for joining us today on International Women's Day.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize one of the pages from Yellowknife North. That's Leo Ehrlich. And Leo came up to me and expressed the support for mandating a four-day work week and makes me glad to know there's at least one member in this House who does, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Kam Lake.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I understand while I cannot see Maureen Van Overloop, that she is behind me with her children, and I have definitely a soft spot in my heart for her children because I had the opportunity to photograph them both as babies. So I just wanted to say hello and welcome. Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Yellowknife South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, very happy to have pages in the House from Yellowknife South today. Rhiarnon Ackerman-O'Connor and Katelyn Browley are working very hard for us here, delivering many, many things. And, Mr. Speaker, I'm also going to lay claim to the fact that we have some young Yellowknife residents here. I understand they attended today because it's International Women's Day and was very happy that my CA was able to coordinate and that they are staying to see all of the exciting things that happen. That, again, is Maureen, Holland, and Everest Van Overloop. So no matter what gender that people may be, the fact that they're here on International Women's Day means there's going to be great diversity in this room, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife South. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Acknowledgements. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I told you in my Member's statement today that, you know, we have a 60-year-old elder that's being penalized from CERB in regards to housing and income support. I only have my housing minister here today, Mr. Speaker. What is the Minister, can she confirm that the government's position on counting CERB and other emergency pandemic payments as income for the residents of the public housing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question as well too. I'm quite surprised to hear this, that earlier to the pandemic when we were looking at the CERB payments they weren't to be calculated as earned income, and they should have not been calculated on the based rent. I'd encourage the Member to encourage his constituent to go back to the LHO and receive a rent reassessment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's really good news because I will be reaching out to my constituent and getting him to do that.

Can the Minister advise the department and the residents in the public housing to make sure not only impacted during the tax season for the pandemic support payments, to make sure that the CERB is not being clawed back and being penalized -- elders being penalized in the housing system? It's not fair, Mr. Speaker, especially when we were told at the start that the Minister said that we weren't going to be taxed on it during the pandemic because it was monies needed because there was no work and we all had to stay home. So people took advantage of that, Mr. Speaker.

Can the Minister just make sure that the -- what are we doing with the tax season? When they bring in their income tax, can they get reassessed that day and to be -- go, I guess, back in regards to getting it reassessed for like five or six months or until they took that CERB payment and making sure they're not having to overpay? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks to the Member for the question. I strongly encourage all documentation that has been collected or has been received in applying for the CERB program provided by the federal government, that they provide those documents to the local housing authority and receive the rent assessment. And for the elder that the Member had spoken about, I'd like to follow up with him separately. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that. There's a lot of assessments that are going to be done -- being done right now as to not include the CERB payments. Were received last year, Mr. Speaker. The CERB payments and clawbacks that are happening to the residents right now, they're being penalized from Housing, that's what I've been told, and from the federal government and from us in regards to income support. Income support's even worse, Mr. Speaker, when you're cutting off people who have nothing already, that are relying on that to feed their families, Mr. Speaker. We need to get this sorted out, and I'm really looking forward to working with my Minister and my Premier to get this sorted out for the people in my riding and across the territory, because it's not only my riding that's going to get affected with CERB, it's going to be the whole territory in all 33 communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I've said that the CERB payments should have not been calculated into the rent calculations. But I will follow up with my department, making sure that this message gets down to our headquarters and right down to the local housing authorities. Should there be any confusion, I will follow up with the department. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you know, the state of our housing across Nunakput is in -- we're in pretty poor shape. We can't keep up with the, to get them retrofitted. We can't keep up with the windows, the doors, the appliances that they have to pay the power to. We have to get on top of that, Mr. Speaker, especially the overcrowding that we are going through, right across the territory right now. Especially in my riding.

Mr. Speaker, what has the the Minister done in regards to overcrowding, to lessen overcrowding in Nunakput communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I was quickly trying to grab -- we do have a hundred unit roll out that is happening within the lifetime of this government. My apologies as I was not able to pull up that document right away, but we do have some builds that are going to be delivered in Nunakput. And overcrowding, Mr. Speaker, is an issue that we have throughout the Northwest Territories but we do try to work with community governments in trying to address this issue throughout the North, and I do understand the Member's riding as well too, that there is limited amount of housing and in most communities, we are the only housing deliverer. But I will follow up with the Member as well too and look at further solutions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the finance minister tell us when the revamped RFP will be going out for the territorial fire centre? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to have the chance to talk about this project a little more. It is a priority for this government. And while we were under a process that would have put the RFP out, expecting that it would go under lease programs and therefore the operations budget, Mr. Speaker, we are looking now at instead making that part of the capital plan. So that's why there is a bit of a delay here, is that obviously our -- I shouldn't say obviously, the next capital plan won't be out until August. Typically you wouldn't issue the RFP until the capital plan has been approved in this House. And so that's the sort of timeline that we are operating under right now. I certainly can work with the Department of Environment and Climate Change to see where they are at in terms of advancing this project. As I've said, it was under one set of budgetary -- under one budget and now it's under the other so that's what is changing the timing of this, Mr. Speaker. But, and that's what delaying my ability to answer the question a little bit but I am certain that over the course of time -- there will be an answer to this question -- or this project certainly continues to be a priority. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm that the supplementary appropriation bill will be brought into the House before the end of the August session that will ensure the continuation of the procurement process for the fire centre? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member has been a forceful advocate for this project and certainly I think has convinced many of my colleagues as to its essential nature which is why it was at the place it was at already with the procurement. And although the first way that we were going to go about it as an operations budget item has changed and looking at it as a capital budget, the priority place of it hasn't changed. Again, as I've said, at this point the RFP normally wouldn't issue until the approval of the budget formally in the House even though the project might remain on the plan. And so that's the state that we are in right now. And again, I can appreciate why there is some uncertainty in that regard because the public doesn't see the long-term plans, but I am certainly comfortable to say that it does remain part of that plan.

As I have said, and as I have committed to the Member, I will continue to keep her updated in a way that we are able to do here a little bit differently than what we might do in terms of publishing all of those plans for the public. So we are looking forward to seeing this on the next round for the Environment and Climate Change -- I am not used to saying that one yet, ECC's upcoming capital plans. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister clarify if the new fire centre, once complete, will be a leased building to a third party or will it be a government-owned building? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, so again on this front, the Member for Thebacha, as I have said, has been a helpful, very helpful actually, in moving this project along, giving us some opportunities to discuss and engage best paths forward. There was a time where the thought was to put in as a leased building and that was the initial RFP. When that process didn't bear fruit, the thought now is to move it into a government-owned building which would mean that the RFP would simply be for construction. And that, again until -- we will wait I think, at this point, to see how the capital estimates come out, the next round coming out, which do come out in August and with a look to be approved in August and that should provide some greater certainty to the community around the process moving forward hopefully. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, does the Minister have an estimated timeline for when construction of the new territorial fire centre will begin? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So actual shovels in the ground will depend on when the capital estimates are approved and then how those estimates and how the money that's appropriated goes through. But again, with the fact that we do approve our capital estimates early on an election year, we approve them in August, and depending on the way that comes out, I certainly don't want to presume any votes or any conclusions of that process, but as that process moves forward, Mr. Speaker, we will see what the next round of capital projects are, where they are at, and have a good opportunity at that point to flesh out the timelines associated with those approved projects. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are on the northern resident travel deduction for the Minister of Finance. And, Mr. Speaker, depending on the answers, I might be able to give the Minister a new portfolio, the Minister of Dragon Slaying.

So can the Minister tell us whether she is aware of the discrepancies between the recently published Canada Revenue Agency figures and those published by Canadian North, the one carrier that maintains regular service from Yellowknife to Edmonton? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am very motivated now to answer these questions the right way. Mr. Speaker, I certainly am aware of the recently published guidelines and certainly aware that there are some discrepancies around that. One thing that I want to note, Mr. Speaker, it's been alerted to me by the department actually that this is a pilot project, and I hope that's going to give me some openings to give some positive responses of where we might go, because pilot projects mean that they are ripe for some change. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I could probably make a pun there about pilots and planes and tax deductions. I won't go there, Mr. Speaker, but when I raised this issue of the lack of figures for the lowest northern airfare from CRA, our Minister of Finance committed to talk to her territorial colleagues in the Yukon and Nunavut in February 2021. So can the Minister confirm whether those discussions ever took place and whether there was any follow-up action? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is a point of frustration for many residents and certainly for not only the MLA but me as well. And I can confirm that I discussed this with my other territorial finance colleagues, that we did jointly raise the issue. I'd like to think in fact that that may be why there is now a pilot project, is that we have finally raised issue to a place that it received the attention that it required. Now, that doesn't mean that those to whom we raised it get it right the first time but, again, Mr. Speaker, we will be certainly following up again, and finance officials will be speaking with their folks -- their colleagues in the federal department, raising with them the challenges we are seeing and hopefully getting the pilot right before it becomes a final project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. I described this longstanding problem as a dragon that has been around since 1987 where Northerners have been subjected to unnecessary, and in some cases unfair, audits. So can the Minister tell us whether she has written a letter with other finance Ministers from northern territories on this, and if so, could she table that letter in the House? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, prior to the release of Budget 2022 by the federal government, the three territories did write on some shared priorities. I would be certainly happy to share that with my colleagues. I can't share letters penned by others without their confirmation but certainly can go to MLAs. With respect specifically to the issue around the airfares, whether it was in that letter or another, I will double check. Whether we raised directly at the finance Ministers', I can confirm with my notes.

With respect to this pilot project, again I am happy to look again at whether or not this is something we want to bring to the level of being raised on its own. I suspect there is a few issues that we may want to raise but I certainly can look to doing that. Again, Mr. Speaker, I don't want to overemphasize the fact of it being a pilot project. I only want to emphasize that this is a time where if the project's not working, if the way that they are doing now is not working, it's an opportunity for residents to provide feedback, whether that's direct to the federal government or to an MLA who may want to pass that on through to the federal government, to our MP, probably best place to raise that. You know, certainly I would think they want to get this right. I have sympathy, the airline prices change but they have gotten this far, let's get them them over the line to be that much better. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. No, there's a lot of good stuff there. I get her passion on this, and I too want us to get over the finish line.

But there's one other outstanding issue when it comes to northern residents tax deduction. It's the lack of indexing of the northern, the residency amount. I believe it has only ever been raised once in 36 years. So can the Minister tell us what has been done to fix this problem for northern taxpayers? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the Member and I are in full agreement on this particular issue. It's true. Mr. Speaker, this is a bee in our bonnet. I have asked about this one as well. I have certainly raised this one. I know certainly at the table, if not in letters or both. I was able to confirm with our department, indexing has not gone, even though not indexed, the deduction amount went up 1991, 2008, 2016, but incrementally increasing it in this way is not effective, it is not reflective, it doesn't keep up with inflation. I think I am certainly, again, preaching to the choir here with respect to this question. The challenge I am running into is that it is a national program. The northern residents deduction is not only for territorial residents, it is not only for the Northwest Territories, it does impact the situation facing northern residents in provinces. And while I don't have a crystal ball into what happens with the federal government, it is our sense that that is creating perhaps some of their challenge. I don't think we are done with this. I don't think it is not worth raising. It has such a tremendous impact on the territories as an attractive feature for us, as a way to increase labour market residents, so many reasons. So I am not done with it, Mr. Speaker. Just haven't quite solved this one yet. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, statistics going back to 1985, when the native employment policy was first used, confirms that the affirmative action policy has done little to move the needle beyond the 30 percent Indigenous participation in the public sector.

Mr. Speaker, the current definition of Indigenous person in the current affirmative action policy, in part, includes Aboriginal persons resident at birth pursuant to section 23 of the Vital Statistics Act, and any Canadian Aboriginal persons who have lived more than half their life in the Northwest Territories. Now this group is being considered for removal from the definition.

Mr. Speaker, will the Minister of Finance confirm that this is being done intentionally or was it an oversight, as it impacts a high number of Indigenous people in Hay River and is the Minister willing to continue using the current definition of Indigenous Aboriginal persons in any future policy revision? Thank you.

Thank you Member for Hay River South. Minister for Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the current language is still outdated. It is referencing Aboriginal persons, it is very old, and so that's where -- it is for that reason that we are looking for a new definition, not certainly to exclude people. The new proposed definition is around prioritizing descendents of the Dene, Inuit or Metis people who are indigenous to the present boundaries of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, I have had some conversations with the Member from Hay River around this and was surprised as I started to hear from him, from his constituents, about their concerns. Because it certainly is not necessarily the interpretation, and therefore certainly not intentional, that the new proposal should be exclusive or exclusionary of members of Inuit or Dene or Indigenous peoples from the Northwest Territories. So I acknowledge that there needs to be some refinement around the definitions to be more clear and that is the process that we are in now, is to get exactly this kind of feedback so that the definition can be clear and appropriate to the Indigenous people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Indigenous representation of public sector is at an all time low right now, at around the 29 percent. Can the Minister tell me what may be contributing to this as we have had a policy in place for some 30 plus years? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I firstly want to say that in no way do I want to simplify the issue and while I can give some responses from the perspective of the hiring department, it's an answer that does look back to everything starting from maternal health to education to mental wellness that the more people are ready, able, willing to work, trained to work and healthy to work, then there's more people available to be hired. So this is a responsibility for all of government to ensure that we are all doing those things to have -- to achieve those goals. As the hiring department for the public service, Mr. Speaker, that too, there's a number of things that we are looking at doing, looking at job descriptions, ensuring that they are not overinflated and ensuring that they consider equivalencies that may reflect the skills and the abilities of people in the Northwest Territories and what we actually need to accomplish with the jobs that we have, and to ensure that we are looking past internal biases, that we are looking past if there is a cultural awareness and cultural safety which training, again, is now mandatory. Everything we can do to change the mindset, often unconscious and often unaware, of who it is that we have in our roles and what we need. So, again, it's -- saying I didn't want to oversimplify and now I'm going to get a bit long. I will stop there, Mr. Speaker, just to say there is a number of fronts on which we are trying to tackle the issue. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, Indigenous representation of public sector in 13 communities in declining. Will the Minister tell me how will the department turn this around? Would decentralization of some positions be part of the solution? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are a number of programs, and just in coming up to the last question before this, what are we doing this to solve and what are some of the challenges. To the extent that training and opportunity is a challenge, there is a number of programs now, the Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Program, there's the Gateway Program, the internship program, student programs, secondment programs. All of those are opportunities to increase our presence within smaller communities and to increase awareness of the opportunities to work with the GNWT.

Another thing that I'd mention though, Mr. Speaker, we do have -- this was again part of the remote work policy that was introduced. It would provide some opportunity to have people working not only in a headquarters or regional place but to be doing that work remotely. We saw in COVID that it's possible. It takes a bit of getting used to as a manager. It may be, we realize that. We want to work with our superiors and managers so that they can better supervise people to give them those opportunities for remote work, where appropriate, where operationally allowed.

So a number of things, again, happening all within the space of a last couple of years and I am hoping that they will start to grow fruit. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one bright spot, if we can see it as that, is that Indigenous representation in senior management has reached its highest level since 2013 and currently stands at a whopping 19.7 percent. Can the Minister tell me what may have contributed to this little increase and can we expect to see exponential increases going forward? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate calling it a bright spot. I think that's the fourth question so maybe I am getting a bit of an easy going there. I recognize that 19.7 is not really a bright spot, at least it's on the right direction though. Mr. Speaker, I can say that one thing that was launched 2018, and finally actually got significant up gait in 2019 and 2020, is the Indigenous Development Training Program, previously known as Indigenous Management Development Program. It's an important change in terminology to go from saying management to development because it doesn't mean only for managers and it doesn't mean only to become a manager. It means it's an opportunity for someone who wants to increase their career skills to move up in seniority, in whatever path that might be, that they can do so. And it is certainly our hope that that program will continue to the extent that we expect that it has been part of the reason for this, that people will continue to apply for it and not see it -- and see that it applies to them, that it applies to any public servant who wants to increase their skills. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My first set of questions is for ENR. I'm going to start with the foxes, Mr. Speaker. That's where the rabies are most present, and then they get into dogs, and then they get into humans. So can the Minister of ENR just tell us whether the department is presently concerned with their rabies outbreak in the current fox -- Arctic Fox population. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Member for the questions. Rabies, as the Member said, is a natural occurrence occurring, and it's always present in Arctic Foxes in northern Canada, particularly above the treeline. The disease goes through cycles, and more cases seen in some years. We have more cases in the Beau-Del this year and a case in the Sahtu. ENR regularly monitors rabies in wildlife across the NWT and will continue to track numbers of cases where they occur if rabies occur. Cases are confirmed near communities or in domestic animals; ENR provides information and support to the Department of Health and Social Services to avoid people being exposed to the disease. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that, and I -- some of the people who are most at risk are our hunters and trappers, especially those who are trapping foxes above the treeline. But many of them have dealt with this; they notice the signs, and they know when not to deal with a rabid animal. I'm wondering, some experts have suggested that a bait program be put in place, specifically around communities to kind of act as a buffer zone so that rabies does not pass to other populations. Is this something ENR is considering? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, given the vast geographical scope of rabies in the NWT, vaccination of wildlife is not currently a practice or an efficient option right now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of finance. It doesn't look it like it outside, but summer is coming. The sun is shining, and our university students will be home soon from university, and probably some will start to book their tickets and get on planes in just probably a few short five to six weeks. So I'm wondering if the Minister of finance can indicate how many summer students the GNWT plans to hire this summer. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's not a formal target in place. I will say that for the last three years summer student numbers have continued to go up. We hit 327 in 2022. So if there are some competitive supervisors or managers out there, they may want to try and beat that for the coming here. That would certainly be great. There is -- and I would just note, Mr. Speaker, it is early days right now, but they -- departments shouldn't hesitate in getting their papers going now and reaching out to the Department of Finance if they want to hire a student. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm whether or not there is a deadline that departments need to put forward applications for summer students by, and can departments continue to hire summer students into the summer months? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's not a deadline. Certainly if departments get their materials in by January, which I think is sometimes the idea of a deadline, what that does is it allows human resources to work with the department so that the student is ready to roll, that they would have all their paperworks ready. And in that sense -- or rather by February if they can do that. If they can't, though, Mr. Speaker, then the students might just be hired later, and, indeed, there may be students who would prefer to be hired a little bit later. So while, again, the targets are to have everything ready in February, it gives students a bit of leeway, there's not a deadline as to departments and hiring managers should not hesitate. Please check in with their client services officer because we'd much rather have the students the start late than not at all. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I understand that my next question might be a little bit out of scope for the Minister, but I'm wondering if the Minister will then work with the Minister of ECE, because Education, Culture and Employment has a fund, a subsidy fund, that employers can take advantage of to hire their own summer students outside of the GNWT. And I heard from Kam Lake employers that the deadline associated with this subsidy is actually prohibitive for them to be able to hire summer students. I believe the deadline for that program is January. And so what happens is employers when they're looking for summer students come -- you know, when the snow starts to actually melt, they've already missed the deadline. So I'm wondering if the Minister will work with the Minister of ECE to extend that deadline? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Sometimes, Mr. Speaker, we have a sense of some of the themes of what's coming at us, and I was just about to send a quick note over to the Member, but I've been kept busy today. So, Mr. Speaker, ECE, it's my understanding doesn't hold the summer subsidy program. These are actually quite a number of federal programs that exist, and there is a January 12th deadline, for example, for the employment and social development Canada summer jobs program, which might be the program that we're talking about. If so and -- regardless, if those are federal programs, what we could do, Mr. Speaker -- I'm sure that the Minister of ECE and I can work together on this. We both share responsibility for labour, with my ITI hat -- is get a list of the programs that are available, get a list of their deadlines, and at least -- at the very least get that out and put it out for employers to be very well aware of. To the extent that we can then perhaps go back to our friends over in the federal government and ask them for some flexibility, we could certainly see if there -- what options there may be in that regard. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that response. Mr. Speaker, one of the things I absolutely adore in the summer is seeing kids that I once knew as tiny little children in our community come back as university students and work in -- in even this building here. And it's great to get to see them gain valuable experience for what they're studying at school and what they might want to do when they come home. Unfortunately, this is an honour that is often reserved for either people living in regional centres or Yellowknife itself and that my colleagues from small communities don't have the same -- the same pleasure of seeing students from around the community come home and work for the GNWT. The GNWT does have a program called building capacity in Indigenous governments, and I'm wondering if there is a portion of that funding that is available to summer students so that summer -- or sorry -- the GNWT can work alongside Indigenous governments to provide summer employment in NWT's small communities for our post-secondary students. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Building Capacity in Indigenous Governments Program really has been quite a success. I'm happy to say it is oversubscribed. And that's good news because in this case, two departments actually are able to support two additional secondments. So it's oversubscribed, but it's being funded. So it's being fully utilized. It's an opportunity -- obviously I won't repeat the Member's visions of it. But we can't agree more; it gives an opportunity to expose public servants and an opportunity to build capacity with Indigenous governments within their public service. As for extending it further and creating essentially a new stream by which to accept funds, right now it is intended for existing public servants, for existing employees, not for interns. But I certainly can go back to the department and see if there's some opportunity for us to find new ways to recruit students back to the North to small communities and into the public service. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

I've got some more rabies questions, Mr. Speaker. So once we move on to wildlife, we get to pets. And dogs is actually the number one way that humans can contract rabies. In many jurisdictions, it's actually required that all dog owners have up-to-date vaccinations for their dogs for the rabies. That is not currently the case in the Northwest Territories. So my question for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs is whether he will consider mandating that every pet owner, every dog owner make sure that their dog has the rabies vaccine. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Member for the question. Getting your dogs vaccinated for rabies is an important way to reduce the risk for you and your community. Responsibility to immunize your dog with a rabies shot or provide any other vaccination is the responsibility of a dog owner. To date, MACA has not heard from community government leadership that is an issue. If this is a concern for community governments, Municipal and Community Affairs would work with NWTAC and LGANT to understand the community's desire to make rabies immunizations mandatory. Depending what we heard, MACA will work to support the request through the appropriate piece of legislation, which may not be administered by Municipal and Community Affairs. For an example, Ontario is the only jurisdiction that makes it mandatory for dogs and cats, among other animals, to be immunized against rabies, and this is done through a regulation of their Health Protection and Promotion Act. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the problems with this is that it -- you know, it's a relatively simple and cheap problem to solve. The vaccine itself is only a couple dollars, or, you know, the logistics of getting it into dogs is a bit more complicated. But what I found is that the people who care about this can't seem to get anyone in the GNWT to care about it. And I know perhaps we have to -- whether it's a human health act or a dog act, I don't really care. I just don't want anyone to die from rabies. I'm wondering if the Minister of MACA would coordinate a rollout of the rabies vaccines to dogs. This is traditionally something that Vets Without Borders and the NWT SPCA has done. I know in the past some of their funding has flown through MACA, but it's also one of those issues no one seems to want to take responsibility for. So can the Minister at least try and get the right people in the room to have a discussion about how we make sure that dogs are up to date on their rabies vaccine. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is kind of a MACA and ENR question. So I'll give him kind of an answer from both as the Minister for MACA and the Minister for ENR. Some communities have access to full-time or visiting veterinary service for their pets. But access to veterinary service remains a challenge in many small communities, as the Member talked about. In areas where rabies is common, including parts of the Beaufort Delta region, ENR has worked with the Department of Health and Social Services to help support access to rabies vaccination to communities that don't have local or visiting vets. So we do work on it; we do provide that opportunity if it's a bigger concern. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake. No. Sorry. Member for Hay River South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I had a chance to talk with the Minister of health for a bit, and she said she'd be willing to take some questions. So these are pretty straightforward. Can the Minister of health tell me why Hay River is consistently without a full complement of physicians or always a limited number of physicians. Thank you.

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

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, doctors are hired centrally through the NTH SSA. The NTH SSA has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority to facilitate that. So the long story short is that it is an extremely competitive field at this point, and we are having trouble attracting doctors to come to the northern communities despite various incentives that we put in place, competitive pages, very handsome signing bonuses, and efforts that are made by human resources to attend -- I don't want to call them trade shows, but career fairs and that kind of thing where they can meet with people who are about to graduate and pitch them on the idea of coming to the NWT. So we are aware that there should be a doctor in Hay River. As I said to the Member yesterday or the day before, we consider seven doctors the full complement for Hay River. So it's very unfortunate that we're not able to attract people there. But that doesn't mean we've given up trying. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Minister when physicians are hired through NTH SSA, what is the priority for determining where they will be located, and how is location determined. Are they given a choice, I guess, to go to Hay River or Yellowknife or Inuvik or Fort Smith, or is it just kind of they just say that, you want to stay in Yellowknife, or do we encourage them to stay in Yellowknife. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't think it's an either/or. I think it's an and so the doctor may have a preference to go to a particular community. There are locums who go to the same community time and time again. But there is also a triage applied to where doctors are needed. So the highest priority always is the Stanton emergency room because all of the regional health centres and acute care centres call into Stanton for advice on dealing with emergencies. So there is some discretion by the doctor and also some need to ask doctors to come to the emergency room in Yellowknife preferentially to serve the entire territory. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Minister what initiatives -- or are there any special initiatives in place or have been taken to recruit physicians specifically for the locations outside Yellowknife, such as Hay River. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think that when the human resources people go to the career fairs, they talk about the NWT as a whole, and then people when they apply can potentially be directed if they don't have a particular preference about where to live to areas of greatest need. As I said, I know that there are relationships that develop between locums, and they continue returning to the same communities over and over again. That is certainly the best outcome. But there isn't a specific Hay River doctor recruitment campaign. It is done for the NWT as a whole. And, of course, the -- or Hay River health and social services is an important part of that as the second largest community in the territory. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the other day the Minister said something along the lines of -- you know, when I asked her could Hay River -- I guess she said could Hay River do better, I guess, at hiring doctors than the NTH SSA. Well, I know we couldn't do any worse because we just don't have the full complement of doctors. We don't have enough. So I think it's -- you know, we have an opportunity. I hear the agreement is coming up between the NTH SSA and Hay River. And I'm just wondering if the Minister's willing to discuss moving physician recruitment to the Hay River's SSA and try it out and see what happens, because I think that if we're -- I'm hoping that if we're selling it ourselves, maybe we could do a better job at it. I don't know. But right now we've got to do something because, you know, health is important in Hay River; it's important to the people. You know, I hear more and more complaints, people not getting proper care. You know, I hear of people, you know, going south on their own dime now to try and find doctors that they could rely on. And so we've got to do something. And it's getting critical. And the other issue too is that, you know, without doctors, the staff are getting stressed out. And I'm afraid what's going to happen is that we're going to see some of them exit and go to places where they have doctors, such as Yellowknife or down south. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You did that yesterday too. Mr. Speaker, I don't have a full grasp on what is required to recruit doctors. But I think it's a fairly specialized -- a fairly specialized skill. NTH SSA has capacity to do it. They have contacts. They, as I mentioned, go to the career fairs and so on. So I guess my question about Hay River taking over the recruitment of doctors is whether Hay River Health and Social Services Authority has the capacity to do that. Do they have staff who are skilled and available. And my other question would be whether the economies of scale would work. So for the physician complement for Yellowknife -- or pardon me -- for the NWT as a whole, if I remember correctly, is around about 70. So, you know, we've got this one unit dedicated to doing that work. So it wouldn't work as well if we had people working on seven contracts at a time. It's a question that's worth answering. And Hay River health and social services, as the Member mentioned, has a Memorandum of Understanding with NTH SSA, and so there is an opportunity to discuss that when the MOU is renewed. Thank you.