Thank you, Minister for Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As follow-up there to the cancellation of yesterday's disturbing news beyond our control, the cancellation of the MTS barging schedule. To answer some of the many questions that I've been getting so far is to get a grasp on how much cargo is sitting at the Hay River terminal destined for the Sahtu, and my question to the Minister of Infrastructure is if I can get that information to help and assist in providing options of shipment to the requests that I'm getting. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from the Sahtu. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, and firstly, absolutely happy to provide a more detailed inventory not on the floor of the House. I've already committed that our officials from the Department of Infrastructure would be reaching out to regional leadership, regional SAOs to have sort of technical conversation and at then looking forward to having a chance directly to speak with leadership and with the MLA.

At this point, the information we have is that there actually is only a small amount of cargo at the MTS shipping yard, no doubt owing to communications we've put out earlier about, you know, being aware that we were really watching and monitoring water levels. At this point, the options would be either to leave that cargo for arrangements on the winter road or to -- you know, to look to have it shipped up in some other capacity, particularly by going over the top which is maybe not the easiest at this point. But they can leave it there, or they could certainly leave it for next year. So that will depend on each customer and on what they have. Again, right now, there's not a whole lot there. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks to the Minister for that availability.

My next question is, will the Department of Infrastructure, MTS, be working with, say, Water Surveys Canada to analyze the depths of water between the Dempster Highway and the community of Fort Good Hope to get an analystic ease of comfort if there is water levels there to support the tug boats needed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Fort Good Hope is still on track and fully expected to receive their barging services coming down from the top. So at this point -- and we do work -- the Department of Infrastructure and ECE and their hydrologists do connect and receive water reports regularly, so I could certainly perhaps share that. That might provide some additional comfort to the MLA. And, again, through the leadership channels that was mentioned earlier to ensure that everyone's aware of what we're monitoring, what's able. But at this moment, the information I have fresh off of the moment is that, indeed, the Fort Good Hope shipment is expected to be on track. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My last question to the Minister is if she can cooperate with my office and identify or developing a protocol of communications for the customers in Fort Good Hope and south of the two sets of rapids, Norman Wells and the community of Tulita, on working with a communique with the air barge company. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am aware of the air barge offers that are out there. Again, it is a private company that is offering those services. So where and how exactly that might fit into a government communication, I want to be just a bit cautious on. That said, I know the MLA's office and my office worked together this past winter when we were adjusting the winter road season as well as when we were adjusting to fly fuel into some communities when there were some shortages owing to last year's challenges. So both of those occasions, those types of pathways actually worked very well, and I heard that ultimately the winter road season, because of the communications, was very successful, residents saw that they had their concerns addressed. So very happy to do that again. It worked well once, twice, and will certainly work well again a third time. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister for Infrastructure. Oral questions. Member from the Deh Cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And continuing from my Member's statement yesterday to the Minister of MACA, can the Minister explain what discussions have taken place with the federal government regarding supports for the displaced residents of Enterprise and also, specifically, which federal departments have been engaged on this? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Deh Cho. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know, I don't know, I try to temper my enthusiasm but it's hard. So excited. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

So, Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health and Social Services. And I'm sure it will be no surprise I'm going to ask a question regarding the nursing association and the fact that they put that obstructive wall of 1,125 hours in front of an internationally trained competent nurse, who could practice any day of the week here, any day, and they've been approved in Ontario and in Alberta but yet there seems to be some bottleneck about saying you cannot get a license in the Northwest Territories unless you already have practically six months of experience elsewhere, which is a shame.

Mr. Speaker, my question for the Minister is is what is she doing about this to solve this gatekeeper problem that's restricting people who want to live and invest in the Northwest Territories, grow their families, by being refused the opportunity to practice here? Because if they leave, they're not probably going to come back. Thank you.

Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'll give credit where it's due. Thank you to the Member for raising this issue and continuing to raise this issue.

I've actually had conversations with my department on this. I've had conversation was the Minister of ECE who deals with immigration. We are actually scheduling a meeting with CAN to go over a lot of the things that are under the International Educated Nurses and so we could fully understand what is needed in there. And I'll -- you know, I understand that this 1,125 hours is here. And one of the things with this is right now where we are as a territory is we are not Ontario. We are -- we are a small 40,000 population. And if an international educated nurse goes into Ontario, they have bridging programs, they have mentors, they have stable -- more stable workforce. Here in the Northwest Territories, we just talked about morale, we talked about burnout, we talked about all of these things that we're putting on our nurses that are here working. We have nurses that are here mentoring our Aurora College nursing students. And so we have to look at this, and we have to figure this out and how we can support it. So I'll just leave it there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister acknowledging we're not Ontario. But if Ontario can -- you can submit your application in the morning and have it licensed by the afternoon, I mean, maybe that doesn't fit us. That said, Alberta does. And we often look to Alberta as the option or similarities as to where we do. And the last point I'll make, Mr. Speaker, is I can't imagine a doctor being told go find 1,125 Canadian hours, even though you qualify everywhere in Canada but here, and then come back when you're ready. So we've refused them. It's about standard of fairness, Mr. Speaker.

So my question back to it is the department has relinquished some of its authority under Bill 77 under the last government. That said, what directive can you send to the nursing association to eliminate this useless barrier that doesn't treat people fairly. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you for the Member. And, you know, when we talk about doctors, doctors have mentors. They have programs in place to mentor new doctors. They have residency programs within the territory as well. So with this issue, you know, like I said, I will be getting more information. We will be getting with CAN. We will be discussing this. I am going along with my colleague as well so that we can make sure that we have a full understanding of what it is and what needs to happen for here in the Northwest Territories. At the end of the day, it's making sure that everybody that's working in our area in the health field -- and not saying that the people that are waiting to fall into this group of people that want to work in the Northwest Territories but, you know, that everything is met before we have them taking care of our residents in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm asking the Minister, are you committed to see the elimination of this policy; this unbiassed, unfair, and unreasonable policy, because we're talking about our friends, our neighbours, our community is suffering and hurting more because we cannot allow these people in. Is the Minister committed to the elimination of that policy?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, and I will repeat myself that we are looking at all the options. I will not put a nurse in front of patients unless we know that this 1,125 hours -- if it's not necessary, then I'll look at it if it's not necessary. But I don't have the full picture right now so I can't make that decision on the floor here today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, competency isn't the question here. So when you say I don't want to put a nurse in front of anybody who is not able to, no one here wants that. So let's make sure that's clear. If Alberta finds them competent skill wise, their international skills, whether they trained in the UK, India, Australia, United States, and they're supported in Alberta and Ontario, they must be okay by their standards. Can we not mirror their process because their competencies say yes?

Mr. Speaker, my question is this isn't a competency issue. This is they can be qualified anywhere else, but the Northwest Territories based on their screening. Why can't we mirror that? If they're approved elsewhere, approve them here. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, Ontario, Alberta, they have bridging programs, they have mentors, they have staff that will support new grads. We can't even -- like, that's one of the things in the Northwest Territories. One of the things in my past management job is new grads. We have to find ways for new grads to be mentored into the workforce. When the nurses come out of school, some of them don't have the experience. They have a lot of theory. You know, there's many different things in play. It's not about just getting a license. It's about getting a license and being put into the system. And we are looking at it, and that's where I'll end. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Colleagues, time is up for oral questions. And on that note, we'll have a -- Member from Frame Lake.