Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks for the Minister for that support. I am anticipating we're looking at a group of six. Will the Minister work with my office to help coordinate the logistics and planning of this road show promoting education for trades? Will the Minister commit to seeking employer time off for the employee trades to participate in this? For example, this government has beneficiaries in the Sahtu that would fit this agenda. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I certainly don't have control over the operations of departments, and I know that the Member started this conversation by referencing the Sahtu winter road, and I think it's worth stating that the Sahtu winter road really is a good news story at the end of the day. It is maintained by contractors that are local Indigenous contractors all the way up the road and, you know, these are private employers, of course. I wouldn't be able to dictate or determine whether or not they would give staff time off. But the good news is that what really we need in the Northwest Territories, when it comes to building trades, apprentices, is employers and those relationships with employers. And so I would love the opportunity to find out if there is space for added apprentices, and especially added SNAP apprentices, within those workplaces of those employers, and I think that would be a great start to building some new trades apprentices in the Sahtu. Thank you.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said in my Member's statement, I may only have one question for the Minister of Infrastructure. Would the Minister commit in this House to me, to the residents of Inuvik, to the former AOC Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, to finally pave the muddy, dusty bypass road in Inuvik when the paving project starts for the Inuvik runway project? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the paving project for the airport is right now expected to be over 2027-2028 and somewhere in the course of that, we will be able to include the paving of the bypass road. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. That was the quickest set of questions and answers.

Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm using my colleague from Mackenzie Delta's microphone; he's been very gracious.

Mr. Speaker, what is the Minister of Health and Social Services doing to clearly communicate to EHB applicants that they have payment plan options? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we've communicated this in different ways. So the application web page has information about the payment plan options under the EHB menu system. This is new. As this came about, as the changes started rolling out, we realized that -- you know, that some people were asking these questions so we started to make things available. We also have a series of EHB Facebook posts, if people are on social media. There are changes made to the introductory letter that are being sent, that are those that are being accepted into the program which does -- is going to be stating that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what benchmark does the Minister of Health and Social Services need to see demonstrated that the band cutoff as currently working is appropriate, and how is this monitored? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

So, Mr. Speaker, just to be clear, additionally, when the rollout of the program, we made a -- we made changes on, you know, when Regular Members had, you know, raised issues with this and rolling it out. So what we did do is we waived from September 3rd, 2024, to August 31st, 2025, the deductible for the first ten income bands to be able to determine what the annual costs, so those Members that fell within that band two to ten, so they could determine what their actual costs are for the year, and then they were aware of what their deductible would be coming up for September 1st, 2025. As for how we're monitoring that, you know, we are only into it two months now, I think just over seven weeks. So what -- we will be monitoring the program, collecting the data on number of applications received, number of approved applicants, and distribution of applications across the income bands. We don't have any claims data, but this will also become part of the information analyzed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm just frantically writing here.

Mr. Speaker, EHB was touted as a way to address cost savings by putting some costs back to those who could afford to pay a portion of their medical necessities. Can the Minister explain what cost savings we are anticipating based out on the rollout of this program extrapolating on the data collected to date over the last seven weeks, I guess. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned, we have less than two months of data so the information on that work is expected to take place after we have a year. That was the commitment, you know, that we would look at all of the data after a year of running the program. But our expectations of saving is geared towards the sustainability of the program. So as residents are sharing the cost of the benefits, total program cost to the government are offset which will help sustain the new program. It's also important to note that more people are now eligible for EHB than previously. As the costs of drugs and medical equipment were increased, residents' contributions will help to offset those. But we will continue to work to sustain the benefit program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So what I'm hearing is we'll understand the data after a year but we'll make changes after a year. It's a little unclear, but I'm happy to talk to the Minister further.

Can the Minister explain how we are saving money of the administration of the -- if the administration of the EHB program has been exported to Alberta Blue Cross? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the administration of the GNWT public benefit plan has been contracted to Alberta Blue Cross since early 1990s. So Alberta Blue Cross is a non-profit organization that processes benefit claims for multiple organizations, both government and private. And Alberta Blue Cross has the infrastructure, the adjudication expertise, systems to do this, whereas GNWT does not have the capacity nor the financial resources to deliver this service. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister for Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are in reference to my Member's statement with the highway, summer and fall. What were some of the factors that caused the deterioration of the Dempster Highway between Wrangling River and Inuvik this summer and early fall? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Member from Mackenzie Delta. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it has been a tough year -- or a tough season for a lot of the roads in the Northwest Territories, including this stretch of particular highway. There were some challenges this year with maintenance, Mr. Speaker. One of the contracts that had gone out -- it went out, and there was a request for a negotiated contract. That slowed down the procurement process. We were able to ask the existing contractor to continue to maintain the road but certainly not the same as having someone in place more permanently. So although the work was getting done, it wasn't getting done perhaps with the same frequency that it would otherwise, so add to that some snowfall and -- or sorry, some early snowfall and some wet conditions and it certainly made things a little more difficult. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What contingency plans, if any, have been put in place to address similar situations in the future? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we do have the relevant contracts now awarded and that will provide more consistency in terms of the maintenance that is occurring in that region. Mr. Speaker, there's also some particular contracts related to larger scale repair work, for example dip repair right at the crossing, so -- and along with a number of other projects. And, again, a couple of them certainly did get delayed over this summer season but I can say, again, that those are now awarded. And what I'd suggest with respect to contingency is ensuring that there's a wider degree of overlap in terms of the timing of when contracts come due for the maintenance so that we don't wind up in a situation where there's any gap in time or any reduced services. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the past, I suggested that major maintenance be conducted during the seasonal closure of the highway when there's less traffic and all maintenance can be completed, including dust control. Has this option ever been considered? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.