Thank you, Madam Premier. Minister responsible for Homelessness.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish it could be that easy, but we do have 33 communities throughout the Northwest Territories that we do have to provide adequate housing to as well. And looking at the housing wait list throughout the Northwest Territories, I want to say significant investment has been made throughout this government.

For the Member's riding, we do have -- just a second, sorry. We do have $3.1 million that will be invested into the Member's riding for this current year delivery and constructing four public housing units and repairing 41 housing units, and $542,000 for homeownership repair.

For the 2023-2024 fiscal year, we're looking at $2.6 million addressing also new construction of public housing units and money put into home repair as well.

And we are also still working with the Salt River First Nation as well too and the Fort Smith Metis Council as well. They were a part of the distinction-based funding that this government had supported. So the message going forward to Ottawa was if you're not going to fund the GNWT, then recognize those Indigenous agreements and fund the communities and the Indigenous governments directly.

So with that, Mr. Speaker, we are working very closely with the community of Fort Smith. I know that housing is a crisis throughout the Northwest Territories, but we are doing our best to address these issues as a government in whole. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure. Can the Minister tell us has the Fort Simpson LNG redesign plans or relocation plans been decided upon by the Northwest Territories Power Corporation board that Minister did promise last sitting. And if so, what are the significant changes; is there anything changing with respect to the location or the cost? Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Minister responsible for Infrastructure.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe I heard about four different questions in that. So I'm going to just add that this is an important project that we raised with the federal government in the context of funding.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Infrastructure and Northwest Territories Power Corporation continue to assess the optimal project approach which will form a future federal funding application to the feds. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So if I think I'm hearing right, that means that we actually have not put in the ask yet to the federal government for more money, which I was under the impression through the last few sittings that when the plan did not go ahead last fall, like when I asked, that it was because the government was getting more money.

Can the Minister clarify whether or not they have gone for more money for the LNG plant, or are they still preparing the application? Thank you.

Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, we have funding for the LNG storage and power plant however we need to secure funding to move the current plant off the island. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My apologies for not understanding. I just don't find this to be very clear what has been going on. When I asked before, I think two sittings ago, what was going on, why the plant hadn't been started when the funding had already been announced for the LNG, the Minister told me they were going back to get more money from the federal government to create an entire LNG plant instead of the one that is supplemental to the diesel plant. Has that changed, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we're bringing some of the options to the board of directors meeting which is happening next month. That meeting will be able to determine some of the options and some of the federal funding that we need to apply for. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Great Slave.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the power corporation and infrastructure are working together to ensure that we have power in the community and, you know, as result of our meeting next month, I'm sure we would progress some of the plans. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are related to my Member's statement on the trades' safety tickets and their expiry dates.

Can the Minister responsible for Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission explain what organization or regulating bodies determine how long a certification is valid for and is there a rationale provided for that length of time? As a hypothetical example, why would chain saw safety be valid for three years, and another safety certificate be valid for five years? Mahsi.

Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Minister responsible for Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The determination of the certificate's expiry is at the discretion of the developer or provider and often with the input from the relevant associations or committees, such as the Canadian Standards Association, expiration dates are usually based on extensive research that are put into the competencies of that person being trained. Some of the areas that are considered when setting expiration dates may be the risk of the work, how often is this task performed, how often do practices change in order to keep the training up to date.

The differences between the length of the certification is related to the competencies. Evidence of the association or committees show that the person will lose their knowledge and gain -- that would lose their knowledge and gain during the course of over a period of time and their competencies may diminish. Best practices and technology changes are considered. Shortened certification requirements help to ensure training is kept up to date. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister is what role does Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission have in ensuring that safety certification expiry dates reflect the unique context of the NWT, including small communities? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Outside of first aid, WSCC does not have a role in the certification expiry dates. This would be the discretion of the provider such as the Northern Safety Association or other safety certificate providers. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain if it is possible for an individual to have the expiry date for their safety certificates extended beyond the expiry date without having to retake a course? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The only time this had occurred was during COVID when the person training was not able to be granted an extension under those circumstances. But other than that, first aid, which is legislated, is the discretionary decision made by those who have developed and provided that specific training. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when one takes a chain saw safety training course, you learn the safety aspects surrounding the use of the chain saw. You learn to fall the tree safely, when to use emergency chain lock, using Teflon chaps, safety glasses, and a helmet. So the next time you take the course three years later, it is all the same. The same thing with taking fall arrest training, elevated work platform training, confined spaces training, and first aid.

Can the Minister engage WSCC to look into removing the expiry dates for all safety tickets? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would have to bring this back to WSCC, but I want to assure the Member that we don't offer those training certificate programs for smaller communities and the programs that he has identified and looking at those terms and the expiry dates of those as well, too, that we don't have a say on when those certificates are going to be expired because we don't offer those programs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.