Colleagues, I'd like to thank Lillian Elias for the opening guiding words. It's greatly appreciated, and sets the tone for the day.

On a personal note, I'd like to thank you guys for yesterday for your indulgence with me as I had to leave and deal with my son, who had an accident, and to the Infrastructure staff in Fort Providence, the RCMP detachment, and the Fort Providence Health Centre, you guys done an amazing job and I have to thank you very much from the bottom of my heart.

Colleagues, let's get to work. Ministers' statements. Minister of ECC.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss a significant issue affecting the Northwest Territories: The historic low water levels that have been observed over the entire Mackenzie River Basin. Over the last four years, we have seen extremely variable water levels, likely related to climate change, from historic highs in 2020 and 2021 to record lows in 2023 and 2024. In this time of unprecedented variability, we are committed to giving residents, communities, and stakeholders the best information and tools we can to inform planning and decision-making.

As the ultimate downstream jurisdiction of the Mackenzie River Basin, we are also working with neighboring jurisdictions to ensure shared waters of the basin are managed in a way that maintains the ecological integrity of the aquatic ecosystem.

Current low water levels in the NWT result from a number of factors in the last two years over the entire Mackenzie River Basin, including high temperatures, low rainfall, and high evaporation rates. The consequences for residents and communities have included disruptions to marine transportation, reduced hydroelectricity production, and visible changes to aquatic ecosystems.

To inform the decisions and planning of NWT residents, communities and stakeholders, the Government of the Northwest Territories proactively provides up-to-date information. The Department of Environment and Climate Change closely monitors water, snow, and meteorological conditions and publicly shares important monthly and annual updates, including NWT Water Monitoring Bulletins and the annual NWT Spring Water Outlook. During the spring break-up period when there is a risk of flooding, and the department also provides regular, almost daily, spring break-up reports. Staff are also working with academic researchers and federal scientists to better understand how climate change and increased variability is expected to impact Great Slave Lake and the Mackenzie River in the future.

Mr. Speaker, communities at risk of flooding in the NWT are very interested in understanding how more variable water levels may impact their community's risk of flooding. In the ten NWT communities that are at high risk of flooding, Environment and Climate Change is working with Natural Resources Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada, as well as the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs and the Department of Finance's geomatics division to create new flood inundation and flood hazard maps.

Preliminary flood inundation maps, which can be used to inform emergency planning, have already been developed for Hay River, K'atlodeeche First Nation, Fort Simpson, and Aklavik and are currently being updated based on the review and input of community leadership.

Mr. Speaker, current low water levels serve to remind us that water in the NWT are affected by conditions in upstream jurisdictions. The Government of the Northwest Territories actively negotiates and implements transboundary water management agreements with neighboring jurisdictions in the Mackenzie River Basin. These agreements play a crucial role in protecting the quality, quantity, and aquatic ecosystem health of waters flowing into the territory.

Our ongoing collaboration with the Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, through bilateral transboundary agreements and the Mackenzie River Basin Board, underscores our commitment to protecting our shared waters. These are venues by which we can expect early and effective engagement, notification and sharing of information on developments and activities that might affect the ecological integrity of the aquatic ecosystem.

Mr. Speaker, through data analysis, research, information sharing and partnerships, the Government of the Northwest Territories is actively working to address the challenges low water levels currently pose for residents, communities, and stakeholders. We are committed to safeguarding our water and supporting community resilience in the face of environmental change. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of ECC. Ministers' statements. Members' statements. Member from Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday my honourable friend opposite, the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, spoke to the need to go -- for residents of the Northwest Territories to follow trusted sources when emergencies occur. And I think that is one thing we need to be very mindful of, is trust in government. When I talk to constituents, friends, and family, many of them tell me if there is another state of emergency, they will be reluctant to follow orders to evacuate. And I think that comes to the fundamental issue here. If citizens do not trust in their government to take care of them during an emergency, what do we have to do to restore that trust.

A motion was brought forward in the last sitting of this House to establish a public inquiry. That passed in February 22nd. Since then, we have had a -- we've seen the establishment order -- a draft establishment order tabled on the floor of this House, but what we have not seen is the efforts of the government to bring forward an after-action report. Residents of Yellowknife, at least, have seen their city take on an after-action report for an independent contractor. Many people have been interviewed, and many people have gone to public engagements. But they're still waiting to see what this government is going to do.

We had not heard an update about when the after-action report is going to come forward. The Premier has been silent on this issue. And I'm hoping today we can get some clarity on this, and we can see how far the government has come along to restoring trust. Because at the end of the day, if we are in an emergency, in a life or death emergency, and this government is not someone the public will respect enough to listen to, we will have -- an even worse crisis on our hands. We have to get this right. We have to respect our citizens, and we have to ensure that there's transparency, fairness, and accountability over how last year's crisis was handled. And I hope that the Premier will have good answers for me so we can move forward together on this. Thank you

Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Members' statements. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to share a story about health care staffing that's a good news story for a change - our family medicine residency program.

Since 2020, the program has accepted two doctors in training each year. They train as residents in Yellowknife with mandatory rotations to Inuvik and Nunavut. This is Canada's first ever family medicine residency training site north of 60. It's a partnership between the university of Alberta and the three local health authorities in the NWT, and the program was dropped with advice from the Indigenous Advisory Committee. It includes critical education on the importance of cultural safety in health care in the NWT.

So having these family medicine residents present in our system has decreased appointment wait times for some teams by as much as 60 percent. It's improved primary care screening and helped us continue offering medical services at critical times like during the height of the pandemic. As of summer of 2024, six residents will have graduated from the family medicine residency program. One of the very first graduates was YK North constituent Thompson Gaunt who is Metis and born and raised in Yellowknife. Importantly, all of the graduates have gone on to practice medicine in the NWT. That is because young people who spend time living and working in the NWT for an extended period of time, and they get involved in community life and the diverse cultures and experiences the territory has to offer, are more likely to identify themselves as a northern physician and want to stay here and work.

So a very defeatist narrative that keeps popping up is that we'll never be able to fully staff our health care positions locally because health care workers just don't want to live in the NWT. Mr. Speaker, that is just not true. And this program shows that. The NWT Family Medicine Residency Program is one of the most popular residency programs in Canada. It has been very successful at attracting students. It even won the Premier's award for excellence in 2021-2022.

The NWT Medical Association recently wrote a letter to Ministers recommending that we work towards expanding the Family Medicine Residency Training Program from two to four residents per year. Mr. Speaker, I ask for unanimous consent to conclude my statement. I'm so close.

So close, but not there yet. Getting better.

---Unanimous consent granted

Okay. So expanding the program would help ensure a steady pipeline of new northern trained physicians who understand our system and our patients into our health care workforce. So I'm eager to see this government heed that call and build on this shining success story. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I'd like to talk about how we communicate. I'm going to talk specifics. The Northwest Territories emergency plan from April 2024 has an appendix B, which is the emergency communications protocol. One sentence on page 6 of the protocol reads: Within this model, departments and agencies are expected to implement their own communications tactics based on their own business continuity needs during an emergency.

Mr. Speaker, I'm hearing general concern that this will give GNWT departments the leniency to silo themselves in future disasters down the line. It's also a concern that coordinated communications only comes into effect during a state of emergency. As we all saw in 2023, coordinated communications is crucial before the state of emergency to better speak to concerns and help maintain public confidence in times of uncertainty.

Mr. Speaker, for many, it was felt that there was no certainty on who to get key information from in the government. It was incredibly frustrating having to jump around between department websites looking for relevant information. Even the new improved public safety page manages to maintain silos. It's just links to separate websites.

I think the GNWT tends to forget that the general public does not know how the government operates internally, and it's not reasonable or realistic to expect the public to know details regarding which department is responsible for what functions. A page of links that directs you to another list of links is a nightmare for anyone, let alone someone with limited literacy skills. The NWT alert page is a great concept but so far, the execution has lacked luster. When media asked about it at the first wildfire season briefing with the Premier and wildfire staff, the question was not truly answered. Mr. Speaker, I will have questions for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs at the appropriate time. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Members' statements. Member from Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the past weekend, I had the opportunity to have preliminary discussions with the principals of Buffalo Airways. Instructions to stakeholders on the Sahtu resupply is as important as the plan itself.

Mr. Speaker, we can no longer deny the reality of low water levels only minimizing repercussions of it. To bring into perspective, Mr. Speaker, last fall's barge delivery to Fort Good Hope seen a top-up to the winter road resupply season of 600,000 litres of fuel.

Mr. Speaker, January the 8th, 2024, Sahtu seen the costs of aviation fuel delivered to Norman Wells and emergency carryover to the heavy tanker winter road season delivery at a cost of $1.75 per litre . This amount cost to Norman Wells was $1 million. Now, adding further costs to transport the product on to Fort Good Hope, if it's the same volume as last year.

Mr. Speaker, this only one of many products essential cargo destined for the Sahtu. The Mackenzie River communities of Fort Good Hope, Norman Wells, and Tulita rely totally on the affordable Mackenzie River Marine Transportation. We have five grocery stores, schools, and health centres within these communities, and commercial projects, certainly an endless of customers and clients.

Mr. Speaker, MTS cancelled a 2024 sailing season. The Government of the Northwest Territories, an ambitious resupply plan, and in collaboration with Buffalo Airways' air barge, we cannot afford to miss the boat.

Mr. Speaker, in the Sahtu resupply, is the Sahtu resupply an emergency one? Myself, recognizing this, I cannot emphasize enough the extreme magnitude of the situation and, more importantly, the immediate need for a sound, logistical resupply plan. This approach is a short-term one. What is your government's long-term one? My conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I foresee the immediate need and critical --

Member from the Sahtu, your time is up.

Oh, thank you, Member from Sahtu. Members' statements. Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, MACA has recently released a new emergency plan, which seeks to better clarify roles and responsibilities for the GNWT, NGOs, and municipalities during emergencies and evacuations. I appreciate the department's work on this, and having read through the plan, I acknowledge that it is clear about roles and responsibilities; however, in terms of current reality, I think there is still a fair bit of work to do to figure out the fine details of how this plan will work on the ground, particularly in relation to local emergency management organizations. I also understand that some gaps still exist that we need to address, particularly who will be funding emergency response capacity building for these organizations and who will pay for it and coordinate evacuation of one community to another?

It is worth noting that the overarching assumptions of this plan were established in a time when community evacuations were relatively infrequent. That reality is changing, Mr. Speaker. And as evacuations and emergencies due to extreme weather increase, I think we need to step back and reassess whether we have all the pieces in place for this plan to work or whether changes to the plan or increased resources to implement it are needed it.

As has been discussed extensively in this House, many of our communities, particularly our regional centres identified in the plan as host communities, are underfunded. They don't have additional capacity to take on the responsibilities laid out in this plan, either for building up capacity to respond to emergencies within their boundaries or to host evacuated neighbours. The plan speaks to how communities should look to local businesses and contractors where necessary to expand capacity to respond. But, again, building capacity within those businesses to be able to answer the call will cost money the communities don't have.

With regard to hosting evacuees, I think we need to step back and assess whether this really is something we can download on to local EMOs or whether we need to be seeking federal funding to establish resource reception centres for the regions.

Mr. Speaker, I believe we can identify a path which works for communities and the territory, but I don't think it involves leaving municipalities to do this work alone. We need to fund communities to build and maintain emergency response capacity. We also need to work with municipalities to identify how regional evacuation hosting is going to work and openly acknowledge that they can't take on that task alone. I'll have questions for the Minister at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as brought forward by my colleagues in this House several times over the past week, the transition of Aurora College to a polytechnic is in jeopardy of not reaching some of its milestone commitments. Mr. Speaker, as a government, we must ensure that we continue our commitment to this important work. One of those commitments, Mr. Speaker, should be to fund the centre for learning, teaching, and innovation, an initiative that the Aurora College brought forward during the transition process, and, Mr. Speaker, this program provides expertise to develop new quality control programs that will ensure the college meets the quality assurance requirements to become a polytechnic. It will allow the college to develop made-in-the North programming, Mr. Speaker. This important work was started through funding through CanNor but, unfortunately, that funding has come to an end.

Mr. Speaker, there was a transition team, as we're all aware, consisting of GNWT employees, senior employees, and college staff but, Mr. Speaker, once the new legislation was introduced and the new board of directors put in place, this team was -- this team was deemed unnecessary by this government. This team was funded, Mr. Speaker, through the surplus budget of the Aurora College but this funding has also been exhausted.

I can't help but think, Mr. Speaker, that if we continue to fund this important transition work either through additional funding allowing the college to have the necessary expertise or through continuing the transition team as it was initially designed, the milestones we were hoping to accomplish would be more attainable. Mr. Speaker, if you're a jet, you're a jet all the way, and if we want this transition to be a success, we must commit to it. And, Mr. Speaker, that will have to come with money. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Members' statements. Member from Monfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I'm going to be talking about drugs and crime.

Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about the increase of drugs and crimes in the NWT. It is disturbing to acknowledge there is a rise of homicide in the NWT right now related to drugs. There is more violent crimes, and the RCMP acknowledge the link between drugs and the unprecedented number of homicide that have occurred. I want to offer my condolences to all the families and friends who have been impacted by drug crime in our territory. There is one -- I do send my condolence to the families in Behchoko that are affected by this as well, and they are -- we're having a service today.

Mr. Speaker, we see the RCMP is trying to respond to these crimes and illegal activity. When dealers are arrested or charged, parents and grandparents are so relieved and so happy. Mr. Speaker, this is what we want to see. We want to see is the RCMP take control of the drug trade in the NWT. We want our communities to be safe. We want our children to grow up without being influenced by drug -- by fast cash and addictions.

Mr. Speaker, the drug trade is destroying the lives of our peoples. Our people are being shot, assaulted, abused, and intimidated. When are we going to stand up and let drug dealers know the NWT is not a place to do business? Right now, there are homicide cases linked to drug dealing with no updates. And in other cases, when charges are laid, they get off on technicality.

Drug dealers come to the NWT and pray on our vulnerable people. They take over people's homes and set up businesses in the NWT, which leads to more crimes like theft and assault. It leads to more addictions. It leads to more destruction, trauma, chaos.

Mr. Speaker, people in small communities are scared. Our communities do not feel safe. I am very concerned about communities without an RCMP detachment. Gameti chief and council had to take it upon themselves to remove a person who was known to be selling drugs. Mr. Speaker, can I have unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Without a consistent RCMP force, drug dealers with easily take advantage of small communities. This rise of drugs and crime is debilitating our communities and our territory. Mr. Speaker, who runs this territory? We need to make laws and take actions today because right now in the NWT, the drug trade is winning, and our people are losing. I will have question for the Minister of Justice. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Members' statements. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in 2023 fire season, I stood in front of the House here and thanked all the first responders in the Northwest Territories, including YKDFN and Lutselk'e Dene First Nation, for protecting our homes and community, and I thank you for your continued service.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I spoke about emergency planning and the devastation caused by a recent fire in Fort Resolution. There is certainly much to discuss in this Assembly regarding community administrator situation. But today I would like to revisit those events to highlight how well we all worked together despite the circumstances to save lives and to protect homes. I want to start by -- start off by thanking ministerial colleagues, MACA Minister, and ECC Minister, for doing their best to get, gather, and deploy all the resources they could promptly and effectively at a moment's notice. I want to thank the local community leaders, Deninu Kue First Nation chief Louis Balsillie and Fort Resolution Metis President Arthur Beck for all the work they done in those organizations' effort as well. I also want to thank the Housing NWT Minister as well for helping getting those displaced families into temporary housing quickly.

I want to thank the first responders, deputy fire chief Louis Balsillie, fire fighter Jessica Sanderson, Captain Joseph Ortea, Braden Lafferty, and lieutenant Sam O'Reilly. I also need to thank the hamlet staff Dave Pierrot, Don Pierrot, Louis Edjericon, Derrick Cross, Lyndon Stratmursch of the GNWT highways has provided the community with vital support as did the staff from ECC, including Scott King, Greg Lafferty, David Cardinal, Sammy Hunter, Joe O'Reilly, and of course the helicopter pilots who rushed to the scene. And, Mr. Speaker, including the RCMP in Fort Resolution.

I also appreciate the Northern store, the Deninu Kue store for their donation of water and sandwiches. I know Bedessa Sanderson and Crystal Bougie and Eric Lafferty brought food and water to the first responders as well.

The health centre also did a great job assisting those who were injured fighting the fire. So I wanted to say thank you to all their staff as well.

While the community is devastated, this disaster shows us once again the bravery of our first responders and the unlimited compassion of ordinary community members. It was -- Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my Member's statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. While the community is devastated, this disaster shows us once again the very bravery of our first responders and their unlimited compassion of ordinary community members. It was also an opportunity for these different levels of government to show how they can come together to meet any threat to the safety of the Northerners head on. Thank you, all, for this hard work and dedication to making the North a safer place, and thank you for your service. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Members' statements. Member from the Deh Cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during the last sitting, I did several statements regarding health wellness and health promotion by our government. My statement today will be similar with particular focus on health promotion in schools.

Mr. Speaker, it is critical that our government support the healthy learning and development of all our young people within every school across the NWT. Our government needs to ensure that our future generations develop skills and education necessary to have good healthy lives as they develop from adolescents to adulthood.

Mr. Speaker, as our children and our youth go through our education system, from code of conduct to high school, we need to instill in them such things as the importance of healthy, well balanced, nutritious meals, and about the dangers of harm of drugs and alcohol use, and to ensure they have sports and recreation so they stay out of trouble. In addition, Mr. Speaker, we need to ensure that students feel supported in terms of mental health.

There is a vacant counsellor position in my region right now. It is very important that our government works to fill those positions as soon as possible to ensure the students there have the mental health supports they need whenever they need it.

Moreover, Mr. Speaker, if a school is lucky enough to have a counsellor, high turnover rates for such positions makes it difficult for a student to feel motivated to seek help because it makes it that much more challenging for students to establish a rapport and build a positive therapeutic relationship with the counsellors.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, as a government, we need to ensure that all students in every region are supported physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. We must do more to help our students thrive and help lead them into futures they are proud of to look forward to in life. I will have questions for the Minister of ECE later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from the Deh Cho. Members' statements. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, midwives are more than just baby catchers. As a matter of fact, they provide counselling, they provide information on pregnancy, sexual health, they order tests, they provide -- order ultrasounds, they do PAP smears, prescribe medication. Mr. Speaker, the list goes on.

Mr. Speaker, they also provide continuing education during and after the birth. Mr. Speaker, they help with lactation consultation, infant feeding. And, Mr. Speaker, they have truly become a continuation of the health care system.

Mr. Speaker, if you're not convinced by the human side, well, maybe you're a dollar and cents person. I'm okay, I understand that. So here it is.

In Alberta and in BC, they respectively have saved $7 million and $60 million with the savings by using midwifery. But it doesn't just stop there. According to the Association of Safe Alternatives for Childbirth, they say they save $540 per birth. And then they go on to the overall continuation using the -- versus the obstetrics program, it's $2,000 cheaper. Midwives save money.

Mr. Speaker, Parkland Institute, which is associated with the University of Alberta, says you can save $1,200 per birth. And in BC, they even say over the 28-day postpartum process, it's over $2,000. This all adds up, Mr. Speaker. There's not a health care system that isn't evaluating itself asking how can we do business better? Heck, let's consider midwifery.

I'm a very pragmatic person, Mr. Speaker, as everyone knows. Health jurisdictions are asking themselves what's important. It's not midwifery versus obstetrics, Mr. Speaker. It's about the right fit in partnerships. There is money to be saved. Families, mothers, children receive less trauma. Patient care is increased. And sometimes, if not most times, medication is decreased, Mr. Speaker. All good things. It makes you wonder why the GNWT isn't do more? Oh, but they are, Mr. Speaker. On page 136 of the business plans, they're actually reviewing the regulations, Mr. Speaker. If you go to the mandate, the second bullet on page 5 -- sorry, page 5 on the fifth bullet, it points out that they want to continue the implementation of things like the Missing, Murdered, and Indigenous Women's Call to Inquiry, and 7.4 of that inquiry also talks about engaging the teachings of midwifery.

Mr. Speaker, I can't tell you any more than the fact it's that simple. Midwifery works, and we'll talk about why it's so important later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Members' statements. Member from Yellowknife South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, back in April, the Legislative Assembly played host to youth from across the Northwest Territories for our annual Youth Parliament, something I look forward to every year as we get to hear voices from youth and to hear what they feel is important to the next generation.

The following words in my Member's statement today are those that were written and read in this Legislature by Kagen Ball who represented Yellowknife South as the Minister responsible for Infrastructure.

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to talk about plans for the Mackenzie Valley Highway. The Mackenzie Valley Highway is a project that has been talked about for decades and will connect the Northwest Territories providing the possible expansion of communities and an increased stability to resupply those communities. So far in the project, 40 of the 42 bridges have been completed, and it is in the coming construction season we will begin construction on both remaining bridges. The planned distance for the highway is only going to be from Wrigley to Norman Wells, but once this project is completed it will be expanded to cover the communities and towns all the way up the highway, Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway.

This highway will give vital all-season supply routes to the smaller communities without the need to worry about low water levels where the barges might get stuck or how the big airport or landing strip for the supply planes is to land on, and it will help with further development and reclamation of old projects and infrastructure. My main focus with this project is connecting the Northwest Territories and giving the necessary supplies and assistance to communities that are currently hard to reach without large short-term investments, such as for crews and fuel for the barges and the planes that resupply communities along the Mackenzie Valley and further.

Another concern that is driving my wanting to focus on this project is climate change and how it is causing disruptions in the resupply routes through wildfire, low water levels that I mentioned in my concerns about the barges, melting permafrost, damaging the airports, and more. This highway will eliminate some of the problems faced by the existing resupply routes.

I know that for a few more years while we continue to work on this road, we will need to use the barges and planes to resupply unconnected communities, but the highway will connect them and eliminate the need for current methods used to resupply the communities along that route. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Kaegan for letting me bring his voice, once again, to the halls of this legislature. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife South. Members' statements.

Good afternoon, Colleagued, today, I would like to celebrate the life of Billy Alfred Deneyoua. He was born on March 9, 1968, to Henry and Bella Deneyoua. He was one of eleven children in their family. Billy attended Thomas Simpson School and was one of the lucky ones who did not have to attend residential school. Billy was taught to hunt, trap, and set snares by dad. They would go out to their cabin for weeks at a time where they would trap and bring home furs.

When people spoke about Billy, they would always say that he was a hard worker who loved to be outdoors. In the summertime he would be seen mowing the lawn, harvesting and chopping wood for the fall and winter seasons. As well, you could see him in the evening or on weekends working on his 4-wheeler. This was his mode of transportation to get around town and to get to work.

Billy worked for many years at Simpson Air with Ted and George. He was a fixture at the company. Passengers from the communities loved to chat and catch up with him. Billy was very happy with his sisters, or helpful with his sisters every year with their gardening. He would help them turn the soil, dig up the garden, sometimes he would help plant potatoes. In the fall time he enjoyed digging up fresh vegetables.

Billy loved his nieces and nephews as they were his own children. In return, they loved him so dearly. They appreciated that he would joke around with them, and he told them great stories. One of the stories was when two of his nieces saw his skidoo and try to start it. After a couple of pulls, it started and took off straight toward a tree. They could be heard saying Billy's gonna be mad, so they pulled and tugged on the machine until they finally managed to get it back to where they found it. They covered and hid the skidoo tracks and took off. A bit later, the girls ran into him, and he asked them why they bumped into the tree. Then he started to laugh about it. This was Billy always looking at the brighter side of things.

Billy was an amazing man who was understanding and when you needed a hand, he would be there for you. His family and friends are going to miss him. It is very hard to say goodbye to an amazing angel; they were lucky to have him in their life.

The family would like to thank everybody for their condolences and for coming out to say their final goodbyes. He is now with his parents and family members watching over the family, especially the young ones. He will be sadly missed.

Members' statements. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Replies to the Budget Address, Day 3 of 7. Reports on committees on the review of bills. Reports of standing and special committees. Returns to oral questions. Acknowledgements. Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of MACA.

Under the NWT Emergency Plan, the communication incident management team is only activated in state of emergencies. Can the Minister speak to what coordination will be stood up when communities have urgent concerns on public safety that may not yet be classified as emergencies? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister speak to whether he'd consider expanding or re-envisioning the NWT alert page to draw from GNWT corporate communications or any centralized mechanism that would be able to consolidate all relevant and robust public safety information in a mobile app, like the BC wildfire app. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. MACA has been working to expand the NWT alerting system. They've worked with the RCMP recently for the ability for them to send out alerts. MACA's always looking at improving the way we communicate. When it comes down to a territorial emergency, right now I think we're at the stage where we're using the NWT alert system. There's also other apps and devices out there, like Alertable, for an example where you can set your region for your ability to pick up those kinds of emergencies if there is any. But there's -- locally, I would have to say the best resources are your local community agencies, whether it be the community government, your community emergency response teams, whatever that might be. And for that reason is that's where you're going to get your experienced knowledge people for that area communicating and those -- that information would be utilized also for MACA to share or the territorial emergency measures organization to share if need be. But for the most part, when it's a local state of emergency and local EMO organization is running it, it would be the local governments, like a town or municipality doing the communication that may not go out everywhere on, like, the NWT alerting device. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not sure that really gets at the heart of what I'm getting at, but I'll try and ask my next question, which is will the Minister ensure that coordinated plain language information, including evacuation notice alerts and orders, fire bans, road closures, wildlife -- or sorry, pardon me, wildfire perimeters, air quality measurements, which are already there, road construction, campsite closures, by way of list of a small sampling could be made available through the NWT Alert Site? That's the new site that they've put up and stood up, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As this is a new development central focused area for getting communication out there, the department will continue to work on it and hopefully we can get as much information on there as we can like the Member's suggesting, and I think those are all great things. It's just a matter of working on the site to get the communication and the information on there that is needed. So we'll continue to work and develop that site to have more information. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions will be related to, or taking up where I left off on my Member's statement, with respect to midwifery.

Mr. Speaker, I was enjoying a good read. It's not a good read in the context of happiness, but it is a good report regarding the reclaiming power in place. It's the final report of the MMIWG. And I happened to notice a familiar name, Ms. Lesa Semmler in there. So I'm sure she's very familiar with the report. So specifically, I want to point to the page, without going into context, is it talks about the teachings of midwifery and postnatal care of women and children.

So that said, Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of Health and Social Services is, how is the Minister meeting that objective of supporting midwifery in the Northwest Territories in line with the statement that ties to the report which also ties to the mandate which also ties to the business plan of the Government of the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I'm so glad that the Member, you know, in his Member's statement agrees with a lot of the things that I also agree with. And midwifery is near and dear to my heart. So one of the things that what -- you know, with all of the things that are happening in the Northwest Territories is what we are doing is we are focusing the midwifery on the programs that we currently have. So Fort Smith was the first program. We expanded into Hay River. But currently right now, Mr. Speaker, we are barely filling those positions in those two communities where there are no prenatal services and no other services that will be providing to those members in those communities that deliver. So this is where we need to focus on midwifery because midwifery is to be able to birth closer to home with your family and those people in those communities. That is where we want to make sure that these programs are successful so that's where we're refocusing that area to. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm really glad we agree. So then I am looking forward to the next agreeable answer from the Minister when she explains the role of the Midwifery Advisory Council on how the services of midwifery are being rolled out in the Northwest Territories to serve sometimes the first choices of expectant mothers to go through that process. At the same time, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to also hear how the Minister expresses the advisory committee's advice on how we do job postings and reaching out in recruitment of midwives. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. I think that's a couple of questions in there. So I'm going to turn to the Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the positions that are currently in the communities are government-funded positions and, yes, I hear the Member of how we would use a midwifery advisory, you know. We have created these positions with collaborations within the department with them and, you know, moving forward this is the thing, is we need to make sure that those positions in the communities that -- Fort Smith, like I said, and Hay River, which do not have birthing services. Inuvik and Yellowknife have birthing services right now, and so we're going to switch our focus to make sure that we can support those communities. And if it means working more with the advisory on how we do that better in those communities so that these programs are successful and women can birth closer to home in those communities. I also want to note that because we are, you know, having a hard time recruiting for the Hay River, which that community also supports Deninu Kue in their prenatal/postnatal supports. So by not supporting Hay River, you know, we're not supporting Deninu Kue for those people to have that prenatal and postnatal support. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question for the Minister is when is the last time there's been any recruitments in the Yellowknife area that can support the regional centres? And, again, Yellowknife represents half the population, so I'm coming back to what is the Minister looking at from a dollar and cents point of view of recruiting more midwives in Yellowknife to support community birthing options, such as midwifery? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The more support that I put in Yellowknife, the less people that I'm going to have working in the frontline that are actually doing the midwifery program. And so the support that we're leaving in place is to -- the one position to support the two communities to be able to be effective. You know, if we keep taking away and we put it in Yellowknife, then that's going to be taking away positions or midwives that could be working in those communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am very curious on how the Minister reconciles taking away from the communities by supporting the expansion or fulfilling the current program of midwifery in Yellowknife that supports the communities. So, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain exactly how this takes away from the communities, she keeps saying that, by not supporting the Yellowknife midwifery program? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the position -- there is still a position to support the two communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my statement, I spoke about the importance of the transition of the Aurora College to a polytechnic. Mr. Speaker, I spoke about the funding for the Centre for Learning, Teaching and Innovation that the college has been doing for the past three years. My questions are for the Minister of ECE. I'm wondering if her department would consider funding that centre to continue the important work that they're doing? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. So the Centre for Learning, Teaching and Innovation was established in May of 2020, closed in 2023. That centre was actually funded by CanNor, a project through CanNor. As far as I am aware, there has not been any additional funding through CanNor that has been given to the college for this centre. And I as Minister have not received a request for additional funding for that centre for Aurora College. It's not something that we could fund from dollars from within at this time. But if I were to receive a request, it is either something I could work with the college on either supporting them through negotiations with CanNor. CanNor has been very generous in their diversity of programs they have supported in the Northwest Territories, or I can have a conversation with the chair about what funding is required and if they even want to reopen the centre. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that. I can tell you the funding, I believe, was in the neighbourhood of about $500,000 per year. They did apply but did not receive the continued funding CanNor on that program. Having said that, Mr. Speaker, I've also addressed in my Member's statement the actual transition team and the important work that that team had been doing up until such time as the board of directors were put in place, understanding now that the college is an arm's length organization, but still much important work that we could do as a government to assist them, would the Minister consider funding a transition team, either with the college allowing them to get the expertise they need to continue this work to get back on track, or as a combination with GNWT employees as well?

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the transformation team for Aurora College was in place until 2023 at which time it was disbanded. At that time -- or sorry, in the life of the transformation, the $1 million that I've been speaking about with Members on the floor of this House this week and last week was agreed to by ECE senior management, along with Aurora College senior management, to be used for the purposes of transformation, and that's where it's at right now, is that Aurora College was going to use those dollars for that purpose. As far as putting -- kind of putting the band back together again, that's not a request I've received from the board of governors for Aurora College. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Minister. Yes, I'm aware of the $1 million in funding that was received. It was received and was to be used to develop the new Bachelor of Education program, which hasn't been rolled out yet. So what the college has been using that funding for was to develop the general studies program, which will eventually then turn into years one and 2 of the Bachelor of Education program and, if I'm not mistaken, the social work program as well. So that's what that $1 million is currently being used for.

My question is, and I believe the transition team at that budget was around $3 million per year. I think a little over $2 million in salaries for expertise and O and M. So would the Minister consider a request from the college to, again, look at funding that over and above the $1 million that's given for the Bachelor of Education program?

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I absolutely welcome any conversation with the college about supports that they need in order to continue forward with transformation, which is a key part of their mandate and a key part of the mandate document that was agreed to between Aurora College and the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment of the day. That mandate document expires in July of this year, and I have no doubt that transformation will continue to be a key part of that mandate document and therefore, given that up -- like, for the last six months, we've had a great working relationship. I happily have had a great relationship with the chair for many, many years, and intend to continue that. So by all means, I welcome -- I welcome any dialogue whatsoever. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Minister. And, listen, I appreciate -- I know the Minister's passionate about this project, as we all are.

One final question, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister commit to -- given that I said in my statement that the timelines are delayed, they're going to miss some of the milestones that was originally laid out in a GAN chart that we've all seen, where they wanted to be. Can the Minister commit to tabling where they are and how those milestones have changed? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, absolutely, I think that that is something that will need to be publicly shared and reflected. I think it's also important that we reflect on the good work that has been done by the Aurora College transformation team as well as Aurora College. There are a total of 80 deliverables in this transformation, of which 66 of them were completed by the Aurora College transformation team. And since Aurora College has taken over, they have continued on the -- along on those milestones, and they've completed an additional three milestones in the last few short months. And so good work is still being done on that. And so I think it's really important that we also celebrate our good milestones as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Colleagues, we're 18 minutes in. Three people have asked questions. So, please, shorten your answers so we can get everybody through with the process. Thank you.

Oral questions. Member from the Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I emphasized the critical state we're in on the low waters here and the shipment down the Mackenzie River. My question is to the Minister of Housing.

In this new fiscal budget, can the Minister confirm the list of housing units destined for the Sahtu? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from the Sahtu. Minister of Housing NWT.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What Housing NWT can confirm, related to the cancellation of the MTS barge to Tulita, was that there was one new duplex scheduled for delivery into Tulita for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Moving on to my next question here, Mr. Speaker, on February the 29th here, I requested from the Housing NWT Minister housing inventory for the Sahtu. Due to the MTS cancellation, is there -- what is the new shipping alternative plans for materials as well as new units? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The cancellation of the barge is unfortunate, so we're not able to get much of the supply into the communities in the Sahtu. But what we're able to do and Housing NWT has pivoted to delivering the replacement duplex on the winter road and looking at building it to specifications for winter road travel, and shipping that unit on the 2024-2025 winter road season to Tulita. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And moving forward, there's always the cost of capital costs of delays so there's a factor to that, and I'm not too sure what that cost is because I'm not privileged to the materials, but I want the Minister to keep that in mind here, it may come back to haunt this government on the cost of capital or the cost of loss. All of a sudden your sheet of plywood already doubled if you went to six months in purchasing, for example.

My last question, an Indigenous made-in-the North to the housing crisis is being proposed by leadership of Fort Good Hope. Will the Minister accept my invitation and suggest proposed dates for the meet and greet of the leadership in Fort Good Hope? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to MLA McNeely for the invite. I've met with Fort Good Hope, the K'asho Got'ine Housing Society a couple of times on virtual meetings, but I'd be pleased to meet with them in person. We can discuss dates. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Oh, thank you. Thank you. Can the Minister answer my half portion to the last question, proposed dates, can the Minister come back to me on proposed dates; is it next month or July or August? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Minister of health suggested 2027. It will be definitely sooner. We'll talk over the next day or so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Housing NWT. I'm glad you didn't take the Minister of health's advice there. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to let the young people know the drug dealers and cartel do not care about them. With that in mind, the RCMP have been noted in the media saying they need a response unit. How can the GNWT support the RCMP to respond to the increase in drugs and crime with a response unit? Thank you.

Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister of Justice.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't quite know what I can say here. I know the budget is before the Committee of the Whole, so I don't want to speak too much about it. But I look forward to that budget passing and us getting our crime reduction unit up and running. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are communities in the NWT without consistent RCMP presence. Can the Minister explain what is being done to improve effective level of policing in NWT communities?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So in the communities without RCMP present all the time, they have -- there are RCMP who are dedicated to travel to those communities at regular intervals. And with everything that has gone in the past few years, I guess four years now, the intervals might not have been as regular as we would have hoped. But at the Behchoko detachment, there are two officers who are dedicated to going into Gameti.

In addition, the RCMP had taken new approaches to combatting the drug trade. We've seen the increase in drugs over the last four or five years and because of that, the RCMP have sort of adjusted their tactics, and we have seen just since last year a big increase, 30 percent increase, in arrests, almost twice as many charges laid, over twice as many drugs seized and taken off the street, a number of -- dozens of handguns seized. So a lot of work is happening to prevent drugs from getting into communities, and also we have those proactive patrols into communities. And that being said, there is more work to be done. I have more initiatives that I want to bring forward, work with the federal government on them. So there's a lot more work to be done on this. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, he's very right in all the stuff that he just said. But Gameti needs a detachment.

The RCMP have also noted publicly there is an inability to hold offenders accountable. What can the GNWT do to assist the RCMP to hold offenders accountable? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the big issues now is that over the last number of years, you know, in the last 2010s, there were changes to the Criminal Code, there were decisions from the Supreme Court, all of which have resulted in people who are arrested not being remanded into custody but granted bail. And they're arrested, they're back out later that day. And some of these offenders, you know, they are innocent until proven guilty, but then they're arrested again the next day or the next week, and they continue this pattern. And so we are seeing that the deterrent of not being remanded is not working. So what I have been doing, along with all of the other Ministers of Justice and many Premiers across Canada, have been lobbying the federal government for bail reform to ensure that we can better protect our communities. And later this year, I will be hosting all of the Ministers of Justice in Canada for one of our annual meetings, and this will be raised there as well. So there's continuous lobbying efforts across the country to address this, because this is not just a territorial issue. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Justice. Final supplementary. Member for Monfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is sad to see our young people, who were once full of life, now look defeated. We can just look in Yellowknife downtown. You can see that, you know. And even in the small community as well. So what can the GNWT do to make it difficult for drug dealers to operate in the territory? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, you know, me and my spouse are from the territory and sometimes we'll run into someone who went down that path, and we can see that impact where, you know, our paths diverged and someone has gotten into that life and it is -- it's tough. It's tough on us to see. And so I know that when it's in your family, when it's someone close to you, when you see it every day in your community, it is difficult. So this is a serious issue that we are all feeling the effects of one way or another. And so there's a number of things that we're working on to try and address this. Looking at ways to shut down known drug houses. That's one way. We want to introduce the SCAN legislation, which would allow premises to be shut down as opposed to evicting the residents. So it's a different process, another tool for the RCMP. There is the civil Forfeiture Act, which I will be bringing forward, which will allow the government to retain proceeds of crime without a conviction in certain cases. So we are taking steps, both the government and the RCMP, to address these issues. Ultimately, I always say this, drug use is a public health issue. It's a tough battle to fight. I always look at the United States. They spend over a trillion dollars on the war against drugs, and they're not winning either. So, ultimately, we need to work on the demand side of things because if there's a demand, the supply will make it in. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Justice. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, how is the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs proposing to deal with the lack of capacities communities have to deal with the increasing number of emergencies within their boundaries? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So with the capacity issues within communities, the department is working with local governments to establish what more resources are needed, and if there's an opportunity for a local government to -- or if there's a need for a local government for more resources, then MACA will step in and ask for more assistance or get more resources and tier it up to the point where we may need to call out to other communities or other businesses to assist with capacity issues. But for the most part, it's up to the communities to realize what their capacities are and what needs they might have, and the department's always there to assist them in building these plans for preparedness. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm happy to hear that MACA is there to kind of help communities identified. But in the interim, we're in a situation where there is a bit of a gap. So, Mr. Speaker, how is MACA coordinating with communities for the current fire season and ensuring existing gaps, particularly related to hosting evacuees, are addressed in the short-term while we work on these longer term solutions?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not aware of any gaps in hosting. And if there is any, the local communities need to reach out to the department to work on these gaps that the Member's bringing forward. During his Member's statement, I have access to the documents, obviously, but I went online to make sure it was on there. I word searched on the document, and I searched up something for an example, like, reimbursement costs, which took me right to the page, annex A, section 8, where it talks about full reimbursement costs. So if a local government is unsure, they could go to the emergency plan, they could resource and look at all the information that's required, and reach out to the department to clarify what help could be more used from the department to assist in, for an example, hosting. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for the answer. So I think the Minister's touched upon something important there, and that is that the communities currently -- the way the plan is written, communities can come for reimbursement but, Mr. Speaker, this doesn't get at the issue of the costs of capacity building for communities to respond to these emergencies. So communities are in a position right now where they are taking on responsibility that I don't think was completely clear that they needed to take on. I think that that was very clear during the wildfire season last year that the gap is what we saw last season.

So, Mr. Speaker, is MACA doing anything to address the gap? That's what I'm speaking to right now, and that is the capacity of these communities to build up this capacity to respond as the plan is articulated, because it's assuming the capacity is there. I would argue that right now it's not. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess if the Member says there's a gap, and I'm not sure of it, I don't see or hear the gaps. I only see and hear of the lack of communication and the lack of responsibility from the department but, at the same time, I'm told by my department that they're working with community governments to make sure that these avenues are all filled up and everything's being communicated clearly. So I would hope there's no gaps and, if there is, I hope the communities reach out to the department to clarify where the issues are and how the department can assist to clarify these or clean up these gaps. I do hear what the Member is saying, and coming from a community where we've done local evacuation -- I shouldn't say local evacuations -- isolated evacuations within a community, for an example evacuating an island, Vale Island to the main town, which is what we call New Town in Hay River. We've always set up a reception centre. The Town of Hay River's never gone to the -- or has never gone to the department for -- or to the territorial government for full-blown assistance other than the local government assistance. So in small, little areas like that, they're always working on bettering the problems they find out from every evacuation and setting up those little processes with, like, evacuation centres. So that's where you start seeing the little gaps that you might be talking about but at the same time, Mr. Speaker, the department's there to assist, and the government's there to assist with filling in these gaps if they're aware of them. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Final supplementary. Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I think that my last question I'd like to say let's imagine a scenario where a community comes to MACA this summer and says, we don't have the capacity to host other communities, but other communities' local EMOs are saying they're going to be evacuating to that community. So how is MACA going to manage that situation if a community is telling them we don't have the capacity to host?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would hope no community would turn away any other community for assisting them in an evacuation. And I would hope that, you know, a local community would reach out to the department in assistance in hosting evacuation or hosting another community. But that being said, I know other communities have reached out to other -- you know, between communities, reached out to each other to assess and set up evacuation centres based on their evacuation plans, which has no involvement of the departments, especially MACA. They've done that on their own. But there is that assistance from the department if need be. So I hear what the Member is saying, but at the same time I don't think there should be that neglect -- or I know you want to call it neglect, but the wanting to refuse another community to evacuate to your area. I would hope that the communities would be willing to assist other communities in the territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister for Municipal and Community Affairs. Oral questions. Member from Deh Cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member's statement, I spoke about the importance of providing sufficient health promotion within the schools across the NWT. Recently, the GNWT began using the education curriculum from British Columbia. So I would like to ask the Minister of ECE if there have been any major changes with regards to health promotion in our schools since changing the curriculum? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Deh Cho. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'll start by saying that the BC curriculum has not been fully implemented into every grade and every classroom across the territory. That said, the NWT adapted curriculum of the BC curriculum covers a broad range of health promotion topics, and these include things like balanced lifestyles, understanding personal choices, as well as social and environmental factors, healthy relationships, and managing mental health and emotional and social well-being.

In addition to the BC curriculum, Mr. Speaker, we also have our child and youth counselling program, which is our school-based mental health and wellness program in our schools across the Northwest Territories. And with the change that was recently done that started in this school year, there was the addition of that promotion and prevention piece within our schools, and it provides all of our schools and our school boards the autonomy to design programs that work for what they need to respond to in each of their region to make sure programs are specific to the challenges those students are having. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for that response. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me if the youth counsellor position has been filled in Fort Providence today? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is an interesting one where when we breakdown silos and do things a little bit more together as departments, we end up sharing questions on the floor of the House as well, which I know can be challenging for everybody. So the clinical counsellors that are found within communities and within schools are -- fall under the mandate of the Minister of Health and Social Services, but I don't want the Member to waste her question either so I can confirm that while this position was filled in Fort Providence, it has become vacant and for any further questions on hiring, that would need to go to the Minister of health. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for that response. I will get back to Minister of health later on.

The next question is can the Minister tell me if there are any health promotion campaigns currently taking place in our schools, such as the Drop The Pop campaign or Don't Be a Butt Head. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. So the Don't Be a Butt Head campaign as well as the Drop The Pop campaigns are both campaigns that are put together and administered by the Department of Health and Social Services. They have a few health promotion campaigns that are on the go right now -- not the Minister of health, though, but they do have programs for tobacco cessation. Healthy eating, that is something that also carries through into our schools, and MACA supplies funding for after school snacks and after school programs. So a bit of some kind of cross departmental things going on. We have some -- or sorry, health and social services has some staying active campaigns, sexual health campaigns, and substance use education. I would highly recommend that people use some of the material that is on the health website under health promotion. Under sexual health, before COVID hit, the CPHO declared a syphilis outbreak. That has not gone away. I encourage people to go out and get tested. And also for the cannabis and substance use, there are also tools for educators, parents, and for youth as well that are found on the website. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. No?

Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. First, what is the Minister's response to the NWT Medical Association's recommendation to expand the Family Medicine Residency Program from two to four residents per year? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you know, I recognize the importance of the family residency program. And this program began -- it was launched in 2020 and it provides a way to train and retain potential candidates for permanent family medicine positions in the NWT. Four residents have now graduated from this program. Two newest residents started on July 1st, 2023. However, I do agree with this program and, you know, but when we were taking in account as to ensuring the number of residents that we can support and provide -- expanding their scope in our facilities, we have to make sure that we can provide that to each of the residency. So I'll leave it at that. I'll let her finish asking questions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So given that this recommendation is coming from the NWT Medical Association, which is made up of physicians operating here in the NWT, who would have an intimate knowledge of their capacity to, you know, supervise and train medical residents, does the Minister believe that it could be realistic to aim for an expansion of this program by the last year of this Assembly, 2027? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not going to commit to that on the floor today as I'm unable to be able to confirm whether we could meet that funding and clinical training requirements as I mentioned in my previous comments. But I'm committed to continue to work with what we can do to expand this program, and if there's ways that we can find other funding to fund this, if we can support it within our system, then I'm always willing to commit to continuing that work. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that, and one positive aspect is that the program is partly funded by the University of Alberta and other partners, so I look forward to the Minister's analysis on that.

One final question here, does the Minister see any opportunities to transfer lessons learned and the successes from the Family Medicine Residency Program to offer additional on the job training and residency opportunities within our health care system? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you know, I -- and I really want to -- I appreciate the Member for bringing this forward in a positive way because this is a good thing for the Northwest Territories. But I would also like to recognize this is just one program. There are a number of areas that we have been doing -- increasing health practitioners as well. So educating registered nurses in the Northwest Territories for over 20 years, we've been graduating nurses, licensed practical nurses, personal support workers, ophthalmology technologists. And we hope to again soon to be able to bring back social work, educating social workers in the system. But I believe there's an opportunity to continue to grow our ability as -- to educate health and social services professionals in the Northwest Territories, and I continue to be working with my colleague to ensure that, you know, we can continue to support these things, because these are ideal for the Northwest Territories. You know, when we work together to be able to train people in the Northwest Territories, we're more likely to keep them in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I will do my best to not break your rules today, but I'm going to go back to what I was asking the Minister of Health and Social Services yesterday.

My first question is whether or not the Department of Health and Social Services has asked Indigenous midwives about what would support the growth of midwifery in the territory, specifically in our smaller communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the -- I guess, with the midwifery program that we're talking -- like, I can't speak to what has been done over the 20 years, but I know that Fort Smith was a driver and the history of midwifery in Fort Smith has been kind of the model. So as to when and where, what discussions have happened with Indigenous midwives, I don't have that information here on the floor today but like I said, midwifery, I mean, we want to be able to provide this service where there's no service available to deliver. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister. I realize these are last minute questions, and I appreciate that. I hope she can get back to me on maybe some of the history of what the department has done to talk to Indigenous midwives.

My next question is why have midwives not been considered in the recruitment and retention strategies that have been applied to nurses and physicians? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I don't have that detail. Recruitment falls within HR, and whether it falls within that department -- within that HR team, I'd have to defer that to the Minister. But as of right now, I mean, I can follow up and get back to the Member on that whole process. Thank you.