Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, I had an expectation, given the Member's statement, that this was going to come up today and so I've already been engaging with the department about what the latest is, which is why I've assured that we'll be participating on a national level. But I can also say that in these short time since the Member's statement, I have actually had residents reach out to me and point out that, in their view, having an E-scooter might be more safe to be able to be on bike lanes and to be able to use E-scooters on the bike lane roadway as compared to relying on large vehicles, fossil fuel driven vehicles, providing alternative means of, you know, human motorized transportation, a healthier opportunity. So all of which is to say just when we think one thing is easy, it often doesn't prove to be quite so simple. So, again, we do want to look at what's happening in larger jurisdictions. It's quite common that smaller jurisdictions, not only ours, but others, will look to the larger ones, see what they're doing, try to avoid reinventing wheels, motorized or otherwise, and then try to strike the right balance when we go forward. So I'll certainly commit to going back and having that conversation - where is this at nationally, what are we doing, where do we see ourselves fitting in. But as far as creating a timeline in the space of two to three weeks, that's overambitious. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I won't go at length, but I'll say section 246, we talk about how bicycles are clearly not allowed on sidewalks. Section 252, it says pedestrians must look both ways to cross the sidewalk. So, Mr. Speaker, we're regulating pedestrians for goodness sakes but we're allowing E-scooters to proceed in a manner unregulated, which puts us at risk.

Mr. Speaker, my question back to the Minister is, is she willing to examine her authority as Minister to issue a directive to clarify the definition of "vehicle" and could she report that back to the House before the end of this very short session in the interest of public safety? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm happy to examine my authority in this regard. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services what her department is doing to improve staff morale and prioritize retention strategies for current frontline nursing staff? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Sorry, I didn't get the question, Mr. Speaker. If he could repeat it.

Thank you. Member from Range Lake.

Thank you. What is the department doing to improve staff morale and prioritize retention strategies for current frontline nursing staff? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know that this question came up in the last sitting, and there's things that the department is doing. I know within the NTHSSA, you know, they're doing a lot of communicating with the staff. The level of the communication that is required, I am not familiar of where they are and what is needed and so -- but then the other areas, you know, they've run a lot of different areas where they could support the morale and even to get staff in. I have a whole list of all of that stuff. I've said it in the House before, but I'd have to get back to the Member with all the other information. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that's useful to get that information. I left it open ended to see what we'd get back, but I think the nurses need to know what's going on. So will the Minister commit to an investigation, that her office will head up, into staffing conditions at Stanton and throughout the health system and provide an avenue for frontline workers to express their concerns and see some resolution about those concerns? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, every single time I meet with my DM or with the CEOs of the health authorities or the chair, the constant conversation is how are we supporting our staff. And so one of the things that, you know, I hear, you know, that they're not seeing their managers enough. The managers, you know, are tied up doing a lot of the stuff that they need to be doing with hiring and all of this other stuff. And so, you know, I think one of the things that I would like to do is, you know, the Member has invited me to a constituency meeting, you know, and, you know, I think as well as to hear from the Member exactly -- you know, we hear over and over different areas what the concerns are, and I bring this back to the department. The department, you know, NTHSSA, we go back and forth. And so every time an issue is brought forward to me, I bring it to NTHSSA. So I think this is -- you know, I can sit down with the Member and go over some of the things that he's hearing, and then I can bring those back to the attention and see if they can be resolved. So I'm willing to work with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that would be appreciated. So can the Minister commit to attending a town hall that we can facilitate with nurses in my riding or throughout -- anyone who wants to attend, so she could speak to them directly and answer their concerns? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what I commit to is if he invites me to a constituency meeting, I can attend a constituency meeting, as we do -- as Ministers who -- any Members that request one. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I very much appreciate that. Mr. Speaker, transparency around this is important as well. And I think proactive communication of wait times, daily number of patient visits, gridlock, status of flight availability, all those things need to be made available to frontline workers as well so they know what they're going into on a given day. So can the Minister work with the authority to ensure that staff are to be given more information about their working conditions before they start off on a shift? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you know, I hear the Member, and I know what the nurses get when they come onto shift. As a past nurse, I got shift report. The focus of the frontline nurse is to take care of their patients. You know, but they also need to know what the bigger picture is and that is what my understanding of the weekly emails and the manager's emails that are going to the staff, and if there's more information that they're requiring to do their job to take care of the frontline -- you know, to take care of the residents, you know, I'm always willing to bring that feedback back. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll try not to go on for 35 minutes again, Mr. Speaker, with respect to the budget. But on a high level, first of all, if the government has the fiscal capacity to invest in the Northwest Territories and in the people and the residents of the Northwest Territories over the long term in a sustainable way, then we can continue to provide all of the programs and services. We are running up ourselves right now against a situation where we don't have that fiscal capacity year over year and that one bad fire season can wipe us out with nothing left to show for it and nothing left to reinvest, so simply as a starting point.

Now, that said, Mr. Speaker, more specifically, the Department of Health and Social Services, for a very long time and continuing with this budget, receives one-third of the full operating budget of the Government of the Northwest Territories and receives the largest single addition this government had in this particular budget of some, I believe, $30 million. So in short, we are now still in a position where we're continuing to invest in health and social services. We have the health recruitment unit that is housed between the departments of Finance and Health and Social Services. That will continue, and that will continue to receive the investments in this budget and going forward through departments' efforts. It is seeing successes. We've actually achieved having a net 20 percent gain in recruitment to the health profession.

Mr. Speaker, I realize, and as Members noted, definitely on the last question, we do still have to address morale. We have to address retention. But we will be in a better position to do that when we have the capacity within the government. So, Mr. Speaker, I realize I've gone on probably longer than you want us to, and I'm going too fast, so I will stop there and wait for the next question. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And while I understand the Minister is the Minister of Finance, today is budget day, we're talking about dollars, we're talking about investments. I really want to get at the core of what she spoke to at the end of her answer, which is what actionable ways can we start looking at making sure our health care workers are valued in ways that are not dollars ways, that are supporting them to be serving the public in the best way that they can and make sure that their morale is increased? I don't think that necessarily means more people or more staff. I think that means ways of looking at the work culture to improve it. So how can the Minister help our health care workers feel like they are in a safe, inclusive, and stable workplace? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health and Social Services and the Department of Finance have met several times over the last short while. In fact, quite recently. I have also included meetings with staff from the health care profession. And in the course of those meetings, we are in a place now where we do need -- we've acknowledged, and we know that we need to work together. Taking the work that's already been happening in health recruitment, which has been successful, and now building on it to ensure that we can translate what's happening there and translate that success into one that is building on morale, improving morale, and making sure that the folks that we're recruiting are being retained. So, again, you know, we've had success with the health recruitment unit. That is continuing. That work is reflected in the work of the departments, which is what's reflected in the budgets that we have in front of us. But that is absolutely the next step.

So if I'm hesitant a little, there was a number of items that -- you know, again, it's not about making cuts and it's not about taking things away. We want to look at what we are doing better. One of the things we need to do better is retain -- retaining our staff and perhaps also, if I might, in the health care area, it's in questions of medical travel. Are we getting good service and good value for folks that are put through the system of having to go through medical travel? Those are two areas that are priorities for Health and Social Services and Finance. We are going to be working on them in the next few months. The business planning process for 2025-2026 starts in the fall. This year, we're a little off cycle, but that's only a few months away, and that is priority one -- or one of the priorities that these two departments are going to be working on as we work to right size the health care budget. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister commit to bringing back some actions that are tangible, pragmatic, and approach the concerns they're hearing from staff around the idea of morale, around the idea of management training, around the idea of, you know, making sure people are feeling heard and seen? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.