This is page numbers 5763 - 5826 of the Hansard for the 19th Assembly, 2nd Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was know.

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Julie Green

Julie Green 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.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Shane Thompson

Shane Thompson 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

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

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Julie Green

Julie Green 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.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

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Rylund Johnson

Rylund Johnson 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.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

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Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland 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.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

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Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek 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.

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The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson 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.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

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.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

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.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

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.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

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.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

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.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary.

Jackie Jacobson

Jackie Jacobson Nunakput

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.

Paulie Chinna

Paulie Chinna Sahtu

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.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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

Question 1450-19(2): Territorial Fire Centre
Oral Questions

March 8th, 2023

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Frieda Martselos

Frieda Martselos 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.

The Speaker

The Speaker Frederick Blake Jr.

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