Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi to the Minister for that. In my statement, I also referenced another article. The executive director of Sport North was interviewed and stated that they didn't track the athletes' ethnicities so therefore, they did not know the number of Indigenous athletes. Does the Minister find that concerning given that the NWT is home to about 50 percent of Indigenous peoples? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier this year MACA undertook engagement with many stakeholders on a renewed sport and recreation and physical activity framework. Engagement included sessions with many partners, such as sport and recreation organizations, Indigenous governments and organizations, diverse and inclusive organizations, community representatives including coaches and athletes in territorial sport organizations. But also we worked with the Aboriginal Sports Circle as part of their work with the national framework that they're working on. As part of this engagement, we also work on the development of an evaluation framework which may include both performance indicators, monitoring as well as potential for evaluation of different programs and services. MACA is interested in tracking different performance measures such as gender equity, community participation and Indigenous participation, and we will be tracking this data in the near future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. That's twice now that the Minister had made reference that Indigenous athletes, you know, aren't very welcomed into the Canada games fold since he's deferred them over to NAG and the Aboriginal Sports Circle.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain what the GNWT is doing to increase both the Indigenous participation in small community athlete participation when it comes to major sporting events, such as the Canada Winter Games and the Canada Summer Games? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to correct the Member. I did not say our Indigenous athletes cannot go to the Canada games, Arctic Winter Games. I'm just telling you this is where our athletes go or where they're able to go. So I respectfully disagree with the Member.

In regards to his question, in the NWT we continue to see that smaller communities continue to face challenges and barriers with capacity building at the community level to have more sports development locally and the number of volunteers and sports leaders in every community needs to increase to young athletes to develop.

Municipal and Community Affairs is providing funding to the Sport North Federation to sport coaching development and to the Aboriginal Sports Circle of the NWT for leadership development. All community governments are funded to support recreation programs and the sport and recreation infrastructure development. Municipal and Community Affairs and the sport rec partners continue to invest in training and development of local recreation leaders. Combine all of these investments support athletes and support development in the Northwest Territories, and government must continue to work with stakeholders so that we are using this investment as strategically as possible to support athletes in all our communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and mahsi to the Minister for that answer. Numerous times I've asked the department to send their expertise, their staff into the communities and, you know, to get out of Yellowknife, not just sitting on their thrones here. And you know, they really need to get out there because we get changeover in rec directors in our small communities and they've got limited training and everything. So they really need that extra assistance.

Mr. Speaker, the Yukon seems to host large events such as the Canada Winter Games, the world men's fastball and world junior men's fastball tournaments. Of course, they may have engaged many major sponsors, including the Yukon government. I understand it takes a lot of effort to host a major event, gather and organize the volunteer base. Hay River and Fort Smith co-hosted in 2018 so it can be done by putting on the thinking caps.

Mr. Speaker, I understand Yellowknife turned down the offer to host the next Arctic Winter Games. Can the Minister provide some details as to why and what could the department have done to entice the offer? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first and foremost, the 2026 Arctic Winter Games, because of the situation in Ukraine, Yamale wasn't going to be hosting the games. So the international committee came to the Northwest Territories to see if we could move up our request. We're supposed to be doing the 2028 games.

So, Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct that the NWT has considered hosting these games in Yellowknife, and I can confirm that the GNWT has communicated to the Arctic Winter Games International Committee that it's not proceeding with hosting the Arctic Winter Games in 2026. We're not moving up in the schedule. MACA has provided information to the city about the benefits of hosting, including the budget from previous host societies and economic and social benefit studies that the Arctic Winter Games International Committee has commissioned over the years. Ultimately, the decision was the City of Yellowknife's to make, and I respect their decision. While this is a difficult decision, no successful Arctic Winter Games has ever happened without enthusiastic and committed community governments. While we were not successful with the 2026 Arctic Winter Games, I remain supportive of these games, and I know that the Arctic Winter Games International Committee has continued to clarify the future hosting rotation of the Arctic Winter Games, including when the NWT next to be considered.

Again, Mr. Speaker, we're working together on it. They asked us to move it up. We worked with the City of Yellowknife to see if we can host it. They came back and said they couldn't with the parameters that we were asking for. So 2028 Arctic Winter Games is supposed to be scheduled for the Northwest Territories, and that's what we're looking forward to. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure about her recent trip to the US Embassy. Can the Minister tell us the purpose of this meeting and who else was there? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, on May the 4th, I attended a meeting hosted by the US Commercial Service of the Embassy of the United States of America. I was joined by two officials from the Department of Infrastructure and one official from the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs, who was already in Ottawa. The purpose of the meeting was a briefing by the Kitikmeot Inuit Association on the development of a road and a port in western Nunavut. While I don't recall seeing the final attendee list, in attendance there were representatives from the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, the government of Nunavut including the Premier, the Deputy Premier, and the Minister of Economic Development and Transportation, MP Lori Idlout from Nunavut was also there, Senator Dennis Patterson from Nunavut, along with officials from a variety of Government of Canada departments, as well as the representatives from the US Embassy, US Coast Guard, as well as Price Waterhouse Coopers Limited Canada, Jacobs Engineering limited. Mr. Speaker, these are the list of attendees that I recall being at the meeting. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Wow, that sounds like quite the meeting. These large boondoggle infrastructure projects with dubious northern benefits come and go but take away from what should be serious efforts to diversify our economy. So can the Minister tell us what the interest of the United States is in hosting such a meeting and was there any discussion of alternatives to large infrastructure development? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, this meeting was a briefing by the Kitikmeot Inuit Association specific to the development of a road and port in western Nunavut. The concept of a deep water port and all-season road project in western Nunavut, it's not new, has potential to help transform the economy from the North as well as connect to the national transportation system through Yellowknife, also help bridge the current infrastructure gap here in the Arctic. Such infrastructure, Mr. Speaker, would help advance interests of both Canada and the US, including the domestic supply of critical metals, Arctic sovereignty, Arctic security. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Of course, these projects also have the potential to destroy the Bathurst caribou herd. So I'm well on record as opposing any large infrastructure that will have irreversible effects on the Bathurst caribou herd, especially at a time when the numbers are critically low and without a balanced management response, and that's precisely where we are, Mr. Speaker, because there's been no efforts towards permanent protection of key habitat.

So can the Minister tell us whether there was any discussion of the impacts to caribou or other environmental matters during this recent meeting? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the presentations that was put on by KIA and the Nunavut representatives was more of a high overview of some of the local, regional, national, international, benefits of such a project like this. While there's no clear recognition on the importance of caribou in the environment and doing things right -- I'm sorry, there was a clear -- and let me just take that back, Mr. Speaker.

There was very clear recognition on the importance of caribou and the environment and doing things right. But this meeting didn't go into any of the level of detail regarding more of the impacts on caribou. It was more of the specific engineering and environmental considerations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. Of course, people on our side tend to be more concerned with caribou because where the people on this side of the boundary are the ones that actually tend to use them more often. But I mentioned in my statement that I love Cabin Radio because it so often scoops any effort by our Cabinet to communicate with the public and Regular MLAs, and this meeting at the US Embassy is just one more example. So can the Minister explain why there was no communication with Regular MLAs about this event before or after this meeting? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I note that my attendance at this meeting was through the publicly by the press secretary through our weekly ministerial activities notice. That's where I provided notice, Mr. Speaker, that I will be attending this meeting. The government has established the advancement of the Slave Geological Province Corridor project as one of our three major strategic initiatives in our mandate, as there are potential linkages to these Slave Geological Province Corridor Project, and any potential for an all-season road and a deep water port in the western Nunavut. So attendance at the meeting at a political level in this regard is nothing out of the ordinary, Mr. Speaker, within the scope of my mandate as the Minister of Infrastructure. That said, I hear a distinct interest from the Member on this meeting in particular. Mr. Speaker, I'd be happy to share a copy of the presentation, any of the materials that we have, to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister consider using the Trailcross building as a territorial aftercare and detox centre for the people of the NWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This facility can easily be converted into a facility used by all genders for an aftercare and detox facility. Does the Minister agree with that idea? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the question. We, as you know, have been working to strengthen both addictions aftercare and detox as to weak links in our continuum of care for people with addictions, and we are less focused at this point on where that's going to take place than what it is we're going to offer. And I think I may have mentioned in the House before that I don't think a single centre will serve the needs of the entire NWT. So Trailcross may end up being part of the solution but I don't think it'll be the whole solution. Thank you.