Colleagues, I'd like to thank Jonas Lafferty for the guiding words this afternoon. I hope everybody had a good weekend and get ready to rock and roll.

So Ministers' statements. Minister of Status of Women.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to acknowledge the Fifth Anniversary of the Release of the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The final report describes the dire situation faced by Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBPQIA+ people as genocide, and delivers 231 Calls for Justice directed at governments, institutions, social service providers, industries, and all Canadians.

Mr. Speaker, here in the Northwest Territories, where half of the population is Indigenous, we are all too familiar with the harmful effects of colonialism. From the era of residential schools to the decades of tuberculosis and the Sixties Scoop, we are either survivors of the trauma or know someone who is.

Mr. Speaker, many Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQIA+ people in the NWT and across Canada, continue to experience violence in the home, workplace and within their community, and they continue to go missing. In the NWT, there are currently 80 active missing persons cases. As I speak here today, Frank Gruben, who went missing from Fort Smith in May 2023, still has not been found. I call on anyone with information that could help find Frank Gruben, to step forward to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

Mr. Speaker, since the release of the final report, the Government of the Northwest Territories has taken steps to begin to affect change so that Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQIA+ people can feel safe, valued, supported, and honoured in every community. In response to the Call for Justice, the GNWT is implementing its Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Action Plan tabled in November 2022. One of the actions identified in the plan is to look at how our government is responding to violence directed at Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQIA+ people, recognizing that partnership is key in building trust with Indigenous residents and communities. In the next three years, we will be designing new foster care models to help break cycles of gender-based violence for children and youth as well as conducting a feasibility study on developing a NWT restorative justice model to support survivors of family violence.

Mr. Speaker, as part of our government's response to the national action plan to end gender-based violence, we have signed a four-year funding agreement to implement a whole of government response to ending gender-based violence, family violence, and intimate partner violence. Our interdepartmental approach involves working closely with Indigenous governments and non-profit organizations to coordinate activities, which include contributing more funding to family violence shelters and community organizations.

Mr. Speaker, work has also advanced on establishing an MMIWG advisory committee, which will provide advice and guidance to this government on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls-related matters. It will be a pathway for communities to provide input into programs and services to ensure they reflect and address community needs and aspirations as they relate to the Calls for Justice. The draft terms of reference for this committee have been developed with input from Indigenous governments, key stakeholders, and other community partners. Once the terms of reference are finalized, organizations will be able to put forward their committee members for appointment. The intent is to have this advisory committee in place by the fall of 2024.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is dedicated to ending violence directed at Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQIA+ people. We will do this by implementing the action plan using a whole-of-government approach, while working with the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls advisory committee to guide this work. I will look to the Legislative Assembly to continue to collaborate with our community partners to develop solutions that are reasonable, effective, and sustainable and by continuously striving to do better.

An annual report on the implementation of the action plan is being prepared and will be posted on the GNWT's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls web page by the end of June 2024.

Mr. Speaker, the GNWT is committed to working with all Northerners and partners across Canada to address systemic causes of violence, inequality, and racism so that Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQIA+ people can feel safe and empowered in their communities, in the Northwest Territories, and across Canada. Quyananni, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister responsible for the status of Women. Members, I wish to draw your attention to the presence of Colette Langlois, our current ombud, and Krista Carnogursky. I apologize if I said that name wrong, our incoming ombud. Ms. Langlois, thank you for your years of service. And Ms. Carnogursky, we wish you well as you take on the task of this important role. So welcome to our Assembly.

Ministers' statements. Minister for Education, Culture and Employment.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to update you on crucial improvements to the Northwest Territories Income Assistance Program.

July, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment will introduce a new targeted income assistance program for seniors and persons with disabilities. These anticipated changes, first announced last year, are ready to roll out across the territory next month.

Income assistance programs provide essential support for residents in financial need. Clients will receive a base benefit amount based on the number of people in their household and the northern market basket measure of their region to reflect cost of living differences across the Northwest Territories. This base benefit covers basic needs like food, clothing, and other daily living activities. Clients will also be eligible for other benefits based on their circumstances including shelter, utilities, child care, security deposits, flood and fire emergencies, and even education and training benefits.

We have also increased the income exemption amount. The exemption can be taken as a lump sum amount or be split into smaller amounts provided it does not exceed the annual limit. This allows clients to accept some monetary gifts or generate some additional household revenues without a significant impact on their benefits. For example, some people may want to work a few hours per week or participate in paid cultural activities or collect an honoraria from serving on a board. In addition, Mr. Speaker, this new program will address the barrier of monthly applications. Seniors and persons with disabilities will only need to apply once a year, enabling them to budget for their monthly costs more effectively.

These enhancements are the result of extensive engagement with residents, Indigenous governments, and stakeholders. Residents were clear that we need improved supports for vulnerable residents, better program accessibility, and to do our part to support seniors and elders to age in place.

Mr. Speaker, these program changes represent an increased investment of $5 million into the income assistance program. Education, Culture and Employment will use a performance measurement plan to ensure proper monitoring and evaluation of these programs.
More importantly, Mr. Speaker, these program changes will result in better services for residents who need it most, while recognizing the incredible value that elders, seniors, and persons with disabilities bring to our communities. Significant work to reduce barriers, including fewer layers of administration and less paperwork, will also improve the overall experience for clients, care providers, and non-governmental organizations trying to support them. By making this system more efficient, seniors and persons with disabilities will have more time to focus on what matters most, including self-care, training and education, community participation, and time with family.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to delivering programs and services that help residents live their lives with dignity, reach their long-term goals, and benefit from opportunities in the territory. Guided by engagement with hundreds of residents and stakeholders, I am confident that these crucial improvements to the income assistance program will improve the quality of life for NWT residents who need it most. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Ministers' statements. Mr. Premier.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise the House that the honourable Member for Thebacha, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, will be absent from the House today and tomorrow for the Canadian Council of Forests Ministers meeting in Cranbrook, British Columbia.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Ministers' statements. Members' statements. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I am joining in with my colleagues to speak about income assistance services in the NWT. Mr. Speaker, since becoming an MLA, my understanding of social programs and services, like income assistance, has continued to evolve. I have learned through discussions with my colleagues that what I think may be appropriate for Yellowknife residents may not be appropriate or perhaps applicable to other communities or regions. For example, what I think might be a good idea and could really work for folks living in Yellowknife might not work the same way or at all for folks who are living in the Mackenzie Delta or the Tlicho.

I'm excited for my colleagues to fall have the opportunity tomorrow to hear from Karl Widerquist, who is an expert on basic income. As I have stated before in this House, I believe a guaranteed basic income could be an exciting approach for our territory.

Mr. Speaker, I've said previously that the current structure and function of our income assistance system is paternalistic in nature. I would also add that it is colonial in nature because it makes people dependent on the program and disincentivizes participation in the labour force.

This brings me to my next point, Mr. Speaker, which is the general lack of meaningful work opportunities that are available in small communities and regional centres compared to what is available in Yellowknife. This situation further complicates the inherent issues with income assistance and entrenches people within that system without any other options available to them. We must also consider that there are some people who may have little to no desire to participate in the day-to-day wage economy and would much prefer to primarily participate in a traditional economy instead.

Overall, Mr. Speaker, at the core I believe the GNWT's social programs need to be reexamined and restructured so operationally they function to properly meet the needs of the people and work to meet residents where they're at and properly address what they need. I think it's important that we consider looking at income assistance from the lens of appropriately tailoring what the program needs to look like in the context of a region-based or community-based way. I will have questions later for the Minister of ECE. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in order for people to live financially independent from the government, there needs to be local economic opportunities. There needs to be business activity and a local economy in order for people to earn wages and prosper. When there's a lack of business activity, Mr. Speaker, like we see in the Beaufort Delta region, families have no choice but to turn to income support. And when families are limited to income support to pay their bills, providing healthy nutritious meals becomes even more of a challenge.

Mr. Speaker, the population of Inuvik is 3,383. The most recent numbers from the bureau shows that 645 people in the Inuvik region were income assistance recipients.

Mr. Speaker, we know the cost of living in the NWT is highest in the communities further north. For families living on income security in my region, Mr. Speaker, food insecurity is a real threat. The bureau also shows that 24 percent of households in Inuvik are worried that there's not much money for food. Mr. Speaker, 287 homes in Inuvik worry about hunger and what will be the next meal.

I want to acknowledge the inspiring work initiated by Indigenous governments in my region to address this issue. The Inuvialuit Regional Corporation is responding to rising food prices and the accessibility of country foods to families. The IRC provides food baskets to school-aged families. Mr. Speaker, the Inuvialuit Community Economic Development Organization also runs a new processing plant that provides country food to beneficiaries. Mr. Speaker, these are the food security solutions that make a difference in the lives of families and households. These are the initiatives we need to supported across the territory, Mr. Speaker. And I'll have questions for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment later today.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, income is the leading factor that determines how healthy someone might be. People who have higher becomes are much likelier to be healthier, and people on lower incomes tend to have worse health. It's easy to see how more money would allow someone to buy healthier food or have more recreation opportunities, but what could actually be more important to someone's health is the toll that poverty takes on mental health and relationships. How incredibly stressful it is to have too little to get by and support your family. The stress of insecurity, not knowing whether you'll get the short-term work contract or the short-term income assistance you need next month or the month after. That insecurity prevents you from making good plans, and instead you might make shortsighted decisions that are likely to drag you deeper into crippling debt.

Now, our system has been designed to prevent anyone receiving income assistance from accumulating savings, so they can never develop that sense of security.

According to a March 2023 report by Alternatives North, the idea of a basic income guarantee for the NWT is to take away this stress and insecurity. It can allow people to go back to school, retrain for a new job, or start their own business. It can allow others to care for aging or sick loved ones, volunteer in the community, find appropriate housing, recover from stress or trauma, and put healthy food on the table. Now, the GNWT is rolling out major changes to income assistance that will, thankfully, take us more in the direction of guaranteed basic income, particularly for seniors and those with disabilities.

Mr. Speaker, there is disagreement about whether raising income assistance levels and decreasing barriers will actually lead people to take steps like retraining or starting their own business. I've heard concern from my colleagues in this room that too much dependence on government is draining people's motivation, their sense of dignity and confidence to make their own decisions. I believe we need to continue on this path towards guaranteed basic income while also tackling other major things that take away people's sense of security and prevent them from achieving their potential, such as housing availability and better early educational supports. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member from Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to discuss the issue that income support clients in my riding, the Mackenzie Delta, are two times higher than the rest of the NWT. What is happening in my riding, Mr. Speaker, for so many people to be on income assistance and how is the government responding to this?

The purpose of income support, as stated in the policy manual, is to help people to become independent and self-reliant. Unfortunately, it does not appear that income assistance in the Mackenzie Delta is helping people become independent. What we see is that once people start, they do not get off income assistance. I also see students in my region who go through the education system. They are socially passed and can't keep up with university or college. It is not uncommon for these young people, capable of working or pursuing post-secondary education, to become income assistance clients. Our young adults are getting stuck on the income assistance. This does not help their self-esteem.

Mr. Speaker, I do not want to penalize people who have medical conditions or cannot work. These people need the support of the government but, unfortunately, I see a lot of people who should be working but instead are on income assistance. I want to address the cycle of dependency that carries through to families and generations on income assistance. How can we get people working?

The government needs to look at the policy and make changes that incentivizes people to work and make productive choices, and the government should report on the outcomes of productive choices. How do we measure the outcome of income assistance? We should be able to report the number of people on income assistance and the number of people who have moved on. How many success stories do we have? I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment later. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Mackenzie Delta. Members' statements. Member from Monfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Getting back people to work and off income support assistance.

Mr. Speaker, I care for and am concerned for the future generations. I am concerned that we are losing the resilience that our ancestors survived for generations on. Life is different now than 50 years ago.

Mr. Speaker, income support was created as a temporary solution, a band aid solution, to give people assistance for a short period of time. But, unfortunately, what it has become is a system that people get on and do not get off of the income assistance. For some young people, some young adults, it has become a norm.

Living on income support, life is limited. We all know that. There is not much people can do but be controlled by the system. We all know that if people are working and earning wages, they would have a better standard of living than income support. So why is this temporary income support not helping people get back to work?

Mr. Speaker, income support does help people pay their bills and survive but we all know the challenge with this program is that once people are on income support, they get comfortable. There is no incentive to get out of the system. Mr. Speaker, how do we support people to want better than income support?

Our elders survived and took care of each other and their families before income assistance, before child tax payment, before the subsidies that we have today. Income support should be designed to help people get back to work, to incentivize people to go back to work not penalize them. Has the Minister considered trying pilot projects in regions or communities to roll out income support differently?

A job is one reason that can help people wake up early every day, stay sober, be productive, and become self-sufficient. We need to look at different ways of delivering income assistance so we can truly support people to get back to work. Mr. Speaker, can I have unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you. Maybe that means for a temporary period of time they are allowed to work, and their monthly income support is not reduced. Maybe we allow people to earn enough to save so they can find a way out of living on income support. I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Members' statements. Member from Range Lake.

Mr. Speaker, I'm going to join my colleagues in speaking about income assistance. It's clear there's severe shortcomings in how the GNWT works to address poverty and inequality. As we search for solutions, I would like to turn to my colleagues' attention to the work Alternatives North has done to find missing pieces of our social safety net.

After years of tireless study and research, they have concluded that what the North is missing is a universal income program. They've even provided us with the steps we need to take to put this program in place. Rates of poverty and low income remain stubbornly high while standards of living remain stagnant, at best. The NWT Bureau of Statistics recently discovered that poverty has risen to 15 percent but the data gets even worse as it's broken down. 15 percent of single parent families in the small communities live on low incomes, and 24 percent of NWT children younger than 15 live in households that struggle to meet their financial needs. These numbers do not even begin to tell the bigger picture of the fact that many working families are living dangerously close to falling into these low income and poverty thresholds every month. The GNWT seems only interested in continually added entitlement programs but doing so only increases administrative costs and builds barriers into our system that leave our most vulnerable stuck in a poverty trap. A basic minimum income would round up programs we already have by ensuring every Northerner has a liveable wage without adding to our administrative costs.

Mr. Speaker, the previous government shrugged off this report when it was first released but this new government now has the opportunity to correct that mistake and begin working with NGOs, municipalities, Indigenous governments, and their federal counterparts to begin phasing in pilot programs across the North that will raise the standard of living in communities in the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, one pilot program would be an improvement over zero. It's time for universal basic income. It was time yesterday, it will be time tomorrow, and certainly we'll find out if it's time today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Members' statements. Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to support the words shared by my colleagues that we need to take action to reduce dependence on government support. I really appreciate the perspective they bring into this House from their experience living and representing the communities and the frustration they feel when they see people becoming dependent on the government rather than achieving independence and self-reliance.

I also have a bit of experience working with youth in some of our communities in my own role as an instructor of an environmental monitoring training program and can say that the youth I worked with were capable, energetic, and excited at the prospect of gaining some skills which would lead them into an interesting career.

This work is another part of why I'm so passionate about post-secondary education because I've seen myself how big of an impact even an introductory program can have on lifting people up to grasp the opportunities in front of them. It also flies in the face of the idea that people simply don't want to work.

So, Mr. Speaker, I share and want to build upon the messages shared by my community colleagues that we need to be working to reduce dependence on the government for programs such as income support, which I think is a necessary support but shouldn't be seen as an end goal. With this in mind, I look to the upcoming changes to the program being implemented by ECE. I can see how requirements like the productive choice requirement or the requirement to seek and maintain employment were seen as paternalistic and restrictive, and so I don't necessarily take issue with their removal. However, I am wondering what the department is planning to do to reduce dependence on this kind of programming if not through these requirements. I'll have some questions for the Minister on that later.

Mr. Speaker, I'd also like to speak to the experience of a constituent who has accessed income support. She was required by the department to drain her modest RRSP savings in order to continue to qualify for support. This was done in accordance with section 20 of the income assistance regulations. While I understand there is a need to ensure fairness in program access, I would say at a basic level it feels counterproductive and unfair to require a person to drain retirement savings in order to access support in a time of need. I think the department should have a look at requirements like this and how they can have the unintended consequence of furthering entrenching people in the need for support as has been so eloquently spoken to by my colleagues today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member from the Deh Cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know of two constituents who are in a unique and unfortunate set of circumstances involving income assistance.

Mr. Speaker, there are two constituents in my riding who are a couple and are in a situation where neither of them have jobs. They don't have housing accommodations or any support of any kind. This couple, sadly, is caught up in the addiction process. They decided to go out and live on the land together because they wanted to sober up and, in doing so, they also attempted to get their income assistance. But they were denied and told they were ineligible to receive any assistance because they do not live in the town with a fixed address despite the camp this couple is at is within the community or municipal boundary.

Mr. Speaker, there's something very wrong with this picture in more ways than one. This government needs to support people when they decide to change their lives for the better away from addictions. Why are income assistance recipients penalized for deciding to live off the land where there are no jobs, no available housing, and no government support available to help them? No, it said.

Why are income assistance recipients penalized for deciding to live off the land if there are no jobs, no available housing, and no government support available to help them?

Mr. Speaker, when people are struggling with addictions and have no support, going out on the land will help them because the land is healing. People can gain insights on healthy living while connecting with nature. If NGOs or communities provide land-based healing already, then how is this situation this couple is dealing with any different? Why is our government not supporting people to be on the land when seeking healing and sobriety? With proper guidance and support, people living off the land can actually heal themselves and become productive citizens when they return to communities.

Mr. Speaker, perhaps the Department of ECE can work with NGOs, communities, and Indigenous governments to create a new way to assist recipients of income assistance that want to sober up and change their lives. There must be another way for people who do not have fixed addresses to receive some level of support from them. I will have questions for the Minister of ECE at the appropriate time.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like my colleagues, I want to talk about income assistance today. I sometimes I see it as dependence versus transition to independence. I read on the internet the other day, it said welfare dependency can be defined as a state in which person or a household is reliant on government's benefits or further income for a prolonged period of time, Mr. Speaker, and without which, they cannot manage or sustain their daily living.

Mr. Speaker, how does the department transition families from dependency to programs to independencies? I worry that the cornerstone of hope is really their plan. I don't see a graduated scale we're inspiring people to stand on their own, even with our support. You know, work instills pride, very fundamental to being a human being. A place in society that has accountability but also a sense of accomplishment leads towards healthy living. It's not a perfect path, Mr. Speaker, but it is one that does show the greatness of being human.

Being stuck on income support is a tough experience, Mr. Speaker. I know many; I have spoken to many over the years; and no one feels as if it's the best spot for them but they are trapped in that cycle of dependency. You know, income support sometimes can be viewed as, or income assistance can be viewed as the back dooring of a universal basic-basic, very basic income. It's barely enough to get by. So how do we get people on their feet? We don't know.

We eliminated the cycle of productive choices, so yet we have people in these dependency cycles and yet when we say where the system is changing and people are getting off income support, I wonder why. Is it because they stopped filing their paperwork? Did they not qualify that month? Or did they get a job and find their own way? I don't know, and I'd like to know if the department has any idea.

Again, when I talk to people on income assistance, I hear depression, anxiety, and frustration. They want to do more, they want to be more, and they can be more, Mr. Speaker, and yet we have to find a way.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to stress that the department needs to enable productive choices, get people back on their feet, let the government support them. There's no shame in giving more to those who do shoot for independence because at the end of the day isn't that our goal, to ensure that we have healthy families, independent people contributing to a northern society for one and all? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This week, actually starting tomorrow, from June 5th to 7th marks the 30th Annual Northwest Territories Track and Field Championships in Hay River. And I know this might come to a bit of a surprise to most of you; however, I will not be there participating as an athlete. It's been a long road, and it's been a long five years since the last track and field events were held because of COVID-19 and natural disasters, this annual tradition finally returns. If you're from Hay River, you know how significant this event is and how deeply the community is involved. It takes hundreds of volunteer hours and immense dedication to put this together. The community's commitment shines when over 900 athletes will show up this year to compete. If you've been an athlete over the past 30 years, you likely have fond memories of this trip and this event.

I want to take the time to congratulate the track and field committee on organizing this year's event and all the hard work done in its previous two years despite the disasters that prevented this event from happening. Thanks to your dedication, the field will once again be filled this year with young athletes from the Northwest Territories. This commitment deserves acknowledgement.

To the athletes attending this event, I hope you enjoy our community and all it has to offer. Though I am saddened I will be away this year and not able to volunteer, I am delighted to know that this event will be another success with many young athletes making memories and breaking records. Have fun this week, and good luck to all the athletes. Once again, thank you to all the volunteers, athletes, and sponsors of the NWT Track and Field Championships in Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Hay River South. Members' statements.

Colleagues, during the youth parliament, the Member from the Deh Cho, Willem Kanigan, did a Member's statement on the issue of lack of maintenance and pavement of the all-season highway that connected Fort Simpson to Fort Liard. I would like to share it here today.

A concern that many of the residents of the Deh Cho region have raised to me is the condition of the route that connects Fort Simpson to other communities during all times of year.

The road that links Fort Simpson to Fort Liard is extremely difficult to navigate during many of the winter months due to snow build-up and icy conditions along the road. This highway is vital to many people in the Deh Cho region and acts as a lifeline to them. Constituents and their family use this highway to get supplies and for personal use, and unsafe road conditions impede their way of life.

At this moment, the road that connects Fort Simpson to Fort Liard is, for the most part, a gravel road with only a 70-kilometre section out of the 393 kilometers being paved.
Many locals have voiced concerns about the road and the challenges it poses to them during the winter months and throughout the year, and I believe that the only way to fully remedy this issue would be to better maintain or to pave the Fort Liard Highway. For these reasons, he will ask the Minister of Infrastructure to allocate additional funds towards maintenance of the highway between Fort Simpson and Fort Liard or to give additional funding towards paving the highway to improve road conditions year-round. The conditions of the road that connects Fort Simpson to Fort Liard are extremely challenging during the winter months due to icy conditions, snow buildup, and the fact of the road not being paved. These conditions pose a difficulty to many residents of the Deh Cho region.

He asked the Minister of Infrastructure to allocate additional spending on the maintenance of the road or pave the road as this would resolve the issue completely.
I would like to thank the Youth Member for this statement and allow me to share it with you here today.

Colleagues, I think that Member may have seen some of my Member's statements in the past, so I have to say thank you very much for doing it.

Members' statements. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member for Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to recognize one of my constituents, Ms. Colette Langlois, the current ombud of Northwest Territories, and I want to thank her for her service and for establishing the Office of the Ombud in Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Hay River North. Recognition of visitors in the gallery.

Replies to the Budget Address, Day 6 of 7. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There's a quote I saw online recently that I can unfortunately not attribute but it doesn't diminish its truth. Quote, "The role of a politician is not to get into power. The role of a politician is to act as a steward and caretaker for our society, to manage society for the betterment of all of us."

That quote sums up why I am here today. I want to help provide the direction that leads to the betterment of all of us in the NWT. But the job of governing "better" seemingly gets harder by the day, week, year, and decade. Some of it simply is that all the problems feel like too much. Disasters and catastrophes, both of nature and those driven by people and their desire for power, feel amplified more and more in this century.

As a millennial, I can confidently say that my generation is bone-tired of living through unprecedented situations. To us, unprecedented doesn't really mean anything anymore. It's just another Tuesday. And so many days feel like just going through the motions to find enough money to scrape together for housing, food, and basic needs. But, Mr. Speaker, despite it all, or perhaps even because of it, I have hope. I'm here to try and lead with my heart and compassion, balanced with evidence-based decision-making. I'm here to remind the government of its core mission: To always focus on lifting up the people of the Northwest Territories by choosing programs and policies that make sense, by responding effectively to what people tell government that they need, and not acting simply in lip service.

I'm here to listen to my colleagues, especially those with lived experiences different than mine, and understand the hardships that their constituents face across the territory.

I do believe that everyone in this room, on both sides of the floor, would agree with the key tenet of leading with compassion. I think that intent was clear when we collectively set out priorities of the 20th Assembly that focused on fundamental human needs. The 19 elected representatives in this room could all agree on:

• Sustainability,
• Accessibility and affordability of housing,
• A strong economic foundation,
• Access to health care and addressing the effects of trauma, and
• Safe residents and communities.

But I'd argue that right now the roadmap getting us from today to the Premier's vision of the NWT 50 years from now is a bit tenuous.

As a first-time MLA but a long-time political nerd, I understand how the pieces of the nesting doll- the priorities, the mandate, the business plan, and the budget - fit together to create the agenda for each government. But when I look at our first efforts to create an agenda of our own by passing our shared priorities through this process, it starts to look like we're playing a game of telephone. Rather than translating our priorities into a plan that will create meaningful results for our NWT residents, we have produced a largely status quo budget.

While this is disappointing, I recognize that this is partly a function of how the puzzle pieces come together to create the plan. It's hard to be nimble and quick in our system of governance, and I'm prepared to give the Premier and Cabinet the benefit of the doubt as we go through the current budget debate.

I can understand why this budget is status quo, Mr. Speaker. The increasing pressures on government spending and growing debt are discouraging constraints that have to inform and influence the plans that we're making. But I'm still frustrated by the lack of substance behind the promise to do better in the three and half short years that we have left together. So I'm going to speak mainly in broad strokes, Mr. Speaker. It's imperative from my perspective that the budgets of the 20th Assembly need to both meet our challenges in the here and now but also align with the needs of the future. I think we may have started down the right path from a debt perspective but perhaps not as fully in other ways. I will always ask Cabinet to impress upon the GNWT to consider paths forward that are proactive instead of reactive.

One such proactive concept, the Government Renewal Initiative, or GRI, began as an exciting concept. In 2020, the Minister of Finance said, "The Department of Finance is planning to shift the way our budget is developed. The Government Renewal Initiative will rely on value-driven budgeting principles to review GNWT programs and services, department by department, and allocate resources to areas that are most critical and valuable to residents.

Value-based budgeting, also known as priority-based budgeting, is both the idea that underlies the building of the budget as well as the method. It's founded on the commonsense idea that government financial resources should be allocated based on how effectively programs and services give value to residents.

We now hear from the Department of Finance that GRI is shifting its focus to evaluation since program inventories for the GNWT are complete. This is fine as an evolutionary growth in the initiative, but it concerns me deeply as the GNWT's internal capacity for formal evaluation is limited.

A truly robust program evaluation takes, on average, about 12 to 18 months. How many hundreds of people years are we behind in knowing what programs are effective and a good use of our dollars? While we lag behind on knowing the true value of many of our investments in programs and services, I'm concerned that we aren't making the best decisions of what is truly the fat that can be cut. Instead, we're told vacant positions might be a solution but feedback from constituents has shown that isn't necessarily the case. In turn, leading to frustration and rallies outside of this House, as recently as last week. I commend the Minister of Finance for going to the public service to ask for commonsense solutions to bringing budgets in check with the realities of what we have to spend. $1800 suggestions is a fantastic start, Mr. Speaker.

I fully believe that many more cost savings can be found that do not cut positions or impede or cut programs and services that residents rely on. At the same time, we need to make sure that we do not fall into the trap of making cost savings the primary measure of this Assembly's success. Fiscal sustainability certainly matters but it is a measure of administrative success, of an organization's ability to use its funds efficiently. If we want to be successful as an Assembly, we need to do much more than simply use our resources efficiently. We need to use our resources to produce meaningful results for the people of the NWT.

Financial debt is not the only debt the government should be thinking about. We should also be thinking about debts in education, shelter, and health and wellness, that often don't get measured simply because they do not show up clearly in the main estimates. It is these human debts that NWT residents experience directly in their lives and which this Assembly should be addressing as its primary focus. To do this, we need to have a fundamentally different discussion about how we allocate and use the government's financial resources.

The challenges NWT residents need us to address are persistent and longstanding. Making meaningful progress on them may well require an extraordinary and potentially inefficient investment that we need to be prepared to talk about. We also need to be prepared to consider whether or not the current distribution of resources among departments is truly contributing to achieve those results or is simply maintaining the administrative status quo.

I believe that this kind of fundamental shift in how government resources are allocated is the true promise of GRI, but we aren't there quite yet. Finding administrative efficiencies and cost savings is a step in the right direction, but we can't stop there. We need to have the collective political courage to put our convictions and principles into action by fundamentally altering the way future budgets get made and government resources get allocated. I recognize this work will take time, and I'm willing to wait until next year's budget to see this initiative bear fruit.

It's imperative to align budgets with the challenges of the future. I hope that everyone here today can now fully embrace the fact that climate change is the existential threat of our lifetime and being well prepared means doing business differently in so many ways. It's a monumental task to shift the culture of government from reactive to proactive, Mr. Speaker. For my part, I am going to do my best to learn what I can about change management in my time as a Member.

I also appreciate that Cabinet has hard decisions to make every day to balance the wellness of our territory now to where it could be in five, ten, or fifty years from now. I ask for Cabinet to define their leadership by embracing and welcoming letting go of ways of doing things that no longer serve us. The conversations that I have had with this Cabinet give me a great deal of hope on this front.

We point to reconciliation a great deal throughout how we plan to move forward in partnership with Indigenous leadership, but I believe we need to look beyond to a future where we have decolonized government and truly work in partnership. The systems of government that we have were built by people, and we can deconstruct them and put them back together however we want. Nothing is stopping us except for our imaginations. The implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has to be much, much more encompassing than just a statement of consistency in our legislation going forward. I eagerly look forward to the action plan and the priorities for change set out by Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations in partnership with the GNWT. I think this is an excellent opportunity for our public government to continue to work differently and better than we have before in all ways that we legislate and deliver services. That conversation excites and invigorates me, Mr. Speaker. This conversation is one I continue to ask for throughout our term, and I am certain the Premier will get tired of me buzzing in his ear, and that's okay.

When stakeholders from all backgrounds and points of advocacy ask us to pull in one direction, we must all put that into action. I genuinely hope that the Premier visits every riding and sees the inequity my colleagues from smaller communities speak to every day. I hope that he visits some of the rentals in my riding that showcase that there are stark differences in what Yellowknife looks like depending on what opportunities you have access to. I hope he sees firsthand the youth who struggle for purpose in systems that fail them, that he sees that artists who yearn to share their creations but have fleetingly few avenues to do so, that he sees the folks who want to be deeply rooted in their relationship with the land but can't afford the gas for their sled to go harvest. Perhaps we can't solve everything all at once, but we can make meaningful changes in these three and half short years that inspire hope, Mr. Speaker.

I will not lose an opportunity to speak to the fact that in the four-year business plan, the GNWT has noted that the Residential Tenancies Act is up for review and possibly amendments in the life of this government. I was horrified to have the media reach out to me this past weekend to tell me that residents in my constituency had faced a 150 percent rent hike, Mr. Speaker, which is essentially a backdoor to eviction. We can't continue to allow things like this to happen to residents when it is very much in our power to change the law, Mr. Speaker. We can take decisive action and make life better for so many.

What good governance looks like for me and what it looks like for my fellow colleagues may be different in execution, but I genuinely believe that after getting to know my colleagues these past few months is that we are all asking for us not to forget those of our territory with the least. 70 percent of this territory had a collective trauma of evacuation, and the disparity of how that evacuation played out aligns all too closely with the disparity of income and opportunity for too many of us, Mr. Speaker. I really wish we would stop speaking about resiliency as if it is a compliment. We need to stop commending people for being resilient and instead redesign the systems that we operate in that make people suffer.

One final note, Mr. Speaker. During my campaign, I knocked on the door of an educator who works at the Kaw Tay Whee School in Dettah. She told me in no uncertain terms that her school kids will be coming for my job if I was elected, and I told her that was fantastic because it is. More than anything, I want to leave this House, the GNWT, and the territory better than I found it for those kids in Dettah who are coming for my job and will be governing sooner rather than later, Mr. Speaker. They deserve our best work today and every day until the end of our term in 2027. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Replies to Budget Address, Day 6 of 7. Reports of committees on the review of bills. Member from Monfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Reports of committees on the review of bills. Mr. Speaker, your committee would like to report on its consideration of Bill 2, Missing Persons Act.

Bill 2 received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on February 26, 2024, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review. Throughout the committee's review, the committee received five written submissions and held three public hearings in the communities of Yellowknife, Aklavik, and Inuvik where over 55 people attended overall. The committee also heard from the Minister of Justice and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police during its review. The committee heard evidence to support the amendment of three clauses to balance the expediency required by the police and the privacy of those who may be fleeing an abusive situation. The committee brought forward these amendments in its clause-by-clause review on May 28, 2024, and the Minister of Justice concurred with all three motions.

Mr. Speaker, the committee reports that Bill 2, Missing Persons Act, is ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole as amended and reprinted. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Bill 2 stands referred to Committee of the Whole. Reports of standing and special committees on the review of bills. Member from Monfwi.

Mr. Speaker, your Standing Committee on Social Development is pleased to provide its Report on Bill 2, Missing Persons Act and commends it to the House.

Mr. Speaker, report on Bill 2, Missing Persons Act.

A MESSAGE TO THE FAMILIES OF MISSING PEOPLE

Thank you to the families of missing people that spoke courageously on their thoughts and experiences with the Standing Committee on Social Development. Committee's thoughts are with the family and friends who have experienced the disappearance of a loved one.

RESOURCES AVAILABLE

Committee acknowledges that subject material related to Bill 2 is very challenging for many families across the Northwest Territories. Committee has included resources available for those experiencing the disappearance of a loved one and/or domestic violence, which can be found in Appendix A.

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

Bill 2, Missing Persons Act, is intended to assist the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in locating a missing person in the absence of a criminal investigation. The intent of the Missing Persons legislation will provide the RCMP with additional mechanisms to investigate Missing Persons cases in the Northwest Territories. These additional mechanisms will allow RCMP to move more quickly in investigations to locate missing persons when there is no evidence of criminal activity.

In May 2021, the Executive Council directed the Department of Justice to develop Missing Persons legislation in response to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Call for Justice 5.8. MMIWG Call for Justice 5.8 calls for all provinces and territories to enact Missing Persons legislation. The Government of the Northwest Territories made a commitment in "Changing Relationship: Draft Action Plan in Response to the Calls for Justice on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People" to develop this legislation in response to MMIWG Call for Justice 5.8.

A What We Heard report on the drafting of Missing Persons legislation was tabled by the Minister of Justice in July 2023. The Minister of Justice brought Bill 2 forward to the House in the February 2024 Sitting of the 20th Legislative Assembly.

Bill 2, Missing Persons Act received second reading on February 26, 2024, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review.

This report summarizes committee's review of Bill 2, starting with our engagement with the GNWT, the RCMP, and the public. This report also describes committee's efforts to review and strengthen Bill 2, including three motions to amend the bill - all of which were adopted at the clause-by-clause review - and nine recommendations.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to pass it off to the Member for Mackenzie Delta. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Member from Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

On March 25, 2024, committee received a public briefing from the Minister and his staff on Bill 2. The Minister's presentation is included in Appendix B.

Between March 2024 to April 2024, committee engaged the public. Committee hosted four public meetings in Inuuvik, Aklavik, and Yellowknife-Sombak'e. There were two public meetings held in Yellowknife-Sombak'e one of which was with the RCMP and the other was with the public. A total of 55 people attended committee's public meetings.

Committee also sought written submissions on Bill 2. We sent nine targeted engagement letters to non-profit organizations. Committee received written submissions and presentations from:

• Salvation Army - Yellowknife
• Northwest Territories Disabilities Council
• YWCA Northwest Territories
• Northwest Territories Status of Women Council
• Royal Canadian Mounted Police - G Division.

These submissions and presentations are also included in Appendix B.

Committee appreciates everyone who offered their feedback at public meetings and in written submissions. Committee is especially appreciative for the family and friends of missing persons who provided their thoughts and feedback on Bill 2 and missing persons cases in the NWT. All participants welcomed Bill 2 as a positive and needed step in helping to solve missing persons cases in the NWT. Participants offered thoughtful ideas to improve the bill and feedback on key areas that relate to missing persons.

Committee categorized public comments received into ten themes.

1. Traditional knowledge, Indigenous leadership, and cultural safety

Community feedback brought up the need for Indigenous leadership to be consulted and involved when dealing with missing persons cases, specifically the inclusion of traditional knowledge during search and rescue operations. There was public feedback on the inclusion of Indigenous leadership when the families of missing persons are communicating with the authorities. It was noted that families would be more comfortable talking to their own people as they may feel intimidated by the RCMP and local authority. Public comments stated that the involvement of Indigenous leadership could be on a case-by-case basis.

There were public concerns on the deflection of responsibility or unknown responsibility for search and rescue operations in communities. A question arose regarding how we can better act when a person goes missing and how we can learn to operationalize search and rescue in smaller communities.

Committee noted these concerns which highlighted the necessity for policy work to include Indigenous people in missing persons cases and search and rescue, especially due to high rates of missing persons cases in the NWT being Indigenous peoples. Committee therefore recommends:

Recommendation 1: The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories work with Indigenous governments and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to establish a committee of local and community Indigenous leaders when a missing persons investigation is underway to aid with search and rescue operations, include the involvement of traditional knowledge and facilitate communication with the affected family and loved ones.

There were concerns raised by community members on the RCMP remaining culturally responsible when dealing with missing persons cases, especially in the case of individuals fleeing domestic violence and who may not want to be found.

There were also concerns regarding the impact of RCMP attempting to enter a family violence or support shelter without permission or reasonable explanation. For the YWCA-NWT, it is currently policy to deny RCMP access to their family violence shelter unless there are exceptional circumstances warranting their entry such as threats to the health and safety of clients or staff. The YWCA-NWT encourages meaningful engagement and communication from the RCMP with their shelter and frontline workers - as the shelter's primary concern is to advocate for their clients and their safety.

Committee sought clarity on cultural and trauma-informed training for the RCMP, and it was confirmed that they do have specific training to conduct missing persons investigations that is mandatory for all RCMP members of the G Division to participate. There is other training as well for RCMP to ensure there is a trauma-informed and culturally sensitive approach to their work.

Committee hears these concerns and presents the following recommendation to ensure that trauma-informed approaches are of the utmost importance to and practiced by the RCMP and justices when investigating missing persons cases and issuing search orders and record orders:

Recommendation 2: The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories work with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and justices to evaluate any cultural safety programming/training being offered to Royal Canadian Mounted Police members and justices to ensure it is trauma-informed and otherwise responsibly addresses those working with missing person cases in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to pass it off to the Member for Range Lake.

Member from Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

2. Privacy Protection

It was stated by members of the public at a public meeting that the urgency of finding missing people is more important to their community than the protection of someone's privacy. There was no concerns on the privacy of missing persons, as long as common sense was considered when taking into account the protection of someone's privacy.

Committee received a recommendation to add third party consent clauses to the legislation, similar to British Columbia's Missing Persons Act. This clause requires the police to gain third party consent first before proceeding with a record access. Committee notes this suggestion but felt that the legislation covers most common scenarios that are seen in the NWT and does not require the addition of third-party consent clauses.

As described in a written submission by the Salvation Army-Yellowknife division, it was recommended that care must be taken when the RCMP is requesting information that could be helpful in a missing persons investigation. It was also recommended that the information requested be pertinent to the case of the missing person. There were concerns on the potential of accidentally providing information to somebody's abuser - which highlighted the importance of protecting a person that may be fleeing domestic violence. When ascertaining a missing person's well-being, the RCMP stressed that they do not provide information that is not agreed upon by consent of the missing person for release.

During a presentation by the YWCA-NWT, it was recommended there be training for justices handling missing persons cases to ensure their approach is trauma-informed when granting access to records or search warrants. They highlighted the importance of being sensitive to the issue of domestic violence and the various dynamics that exist with missing persons cases.

It was also recommended there be training on the Missing Persons Act and its usage for RCMP, non-profit organizational staff, and shelter workers.

Committee takes note of this feedback and presents the following recommendation:

Recommendation 3: The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories establish training specific to the Missing Persons Act and its responsible, culturally-appropriate usage for justices, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, non-profit staff, and shelter workers.

3. Communication

There were public concerns on the difficulty for families and friends of missing persons to contact the RCMP to receive information and updates on ongoing missing persons investigations. It was highlighted that it is critical for the family affected by a missing persons investigation to be updated often so that family members do not have to consistently approach the RCMP for updates. There was a suggestion to create a liaison position to support the families of missing persons, especially with relaying information to and from the RCMP and communication regarding the investigation. Committee appreciated this suggestion, and also heard a large emphasis on ensuring local, trusted people on the ground in communities were being utilized rather than officials from elsewhere, where possible.

As such, this theme of communication with the family of a missing person has been factored in with Recommendation 1 of this report, where a committee is established on the ground in the community of the missing person to aid with communication between the family and the authorities.

Mr. Speaker, I now call on the honourable Member for Yellowknife North to continue this report. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

4. Historical Missing Persons Cases.

Clause 14 of Bill 2 requires the RCMP to prepare an annual report to be provided to the Minister of Justice on the total number of emergency demands, a description of the types of records specified, and any other prescribed information. In public meetings, there were questions about where unsolved cold and historical statistics on missing persons cases in the NWT are to be recorded and published, and whether and where that information is currently located or published. Participants requested that the year and reason for why people are missing in the NWT also be published. Further, committee heard feedback questioning the procedures involved with identifying human remains.

One recurring theme committee heard from members of the public was concern about how long-standing missing persons cases will be prioritized and solved.

Committee therefore recommends:

Recommendation 4: The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends that in the formulation of regulations for the Missing Persons Act, the Government of the Northwest Territories require the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to include a schedule in the annual report referenced in the Missing Persons Act that outlines statistical missing persons information in the Northwest Territories, and that the regulations state where the annual report will be published.

5. Renaming Legislation.

There were public requests to change the name of Bill 2 to recognize an individual from a high-profile missing person's case in the NWT, Frank Gruben Jr., since the media coverage of his case resulted in the expedition of missing persons legislation in the NWT. The request was to change the bill's name to "Frank's Act".

Committee notes that in the Rules of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly, Rule 8.4(1) states "... the preamble and title are considered last and cannot be amended." In addition to this rule and by convention, the Legislative Assembly follows the House of Commons procedure and practice where the title of a bill must accurately reflect the content within the bill.

Therefore, committee makes the following recommendation:

Recommendation 5: The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends the House refers the matter of titling bills to the Standing Committee on Procedures and Privileges to review and consider the current conventions in the titling of bills and if those conventions should be expanded.

6. Jurisdictional Consistency

There were comments made by the public on better coordinating missing persons searches and investigations between bordering jurisdictions, especially for missing persons in communities that border Alberta, the Yukon, British Columbia, and Nunavut. There was emphasis on ensuring that the bill is consistent with legislation in bordering jurisdictions.

Committee notes these concerns and sought clarity on what jurisdictional review was completed when developing this legislation. The GNWT confirmed that the legislation allows for interprovincial cooperation in missing persons cases and that the department conducted a jurisdictional review of Missing Persons legislation across Canada when drafting the legislation.

The Government of the Northwest Territories drafted the legislation informed by their public engagement, aspects of legislation in other jurisdictions, and how they might best align, as well as northern contexts.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to pass it off to the Member for Deh Cho.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Member from the Deh Cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

7. Records Access

Community members raised questions about retrieving records from social media companies throughout a missing persons investigation. Concerns were voiced on accessing records through social media companies that are based in different countries such as in the U.S., and whether that would pose difficulties or if there are policies against accessing accounts or records.

Committee sought information on accessing records through social media, and it was confirmed that information being requested would depend on the social media company, their location, and the extent to which they wish to cooperate with law enforcement. There may be difficulty in accessing data held by American-based social media companies, which usually requires working with law enforcement in the United States to get a search warrant and can be a lengthy process.

Information could be provided to RCMP through a "humanitarian request", and typically this information is limited to date, time, and location.

8. Truth and Reconciliation.

Community members raised thoughts and concerns on how survivors of the Sixties Scoop are technically missing because their parents or family members may not know where they are or how to find them. It was suggested there be a program established to help reunify families of the Sixties Scoop.

Committee hears and believes in the importance of these concerns. Committee sought clarity on current tools and supports in place to aid survivors of the Sixties Scoop and their families.

Committee presents the following recommendation:

Recommendation 6: The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories work with the federal government in establishing legislation specific to the Sixties Scoop and creating programming to assist those impacted by the Sixties Scoop in the Northwest Territories.

9. Record Retention and Destruction.

There were concerns presented by the YWCA-NWT about how the legislation outlines when and how records obtained during the course of a missing person investigation should be destroyed. YWCA-NWT suggests there needs to be a timeline for the destruction of records once the person is found and the case is closed. It was suggested that there be a timeline for the destruction of records once the person is found and the case is closed.

The committee hears these concerns and presents the following recommendation:

Recommendation 7: The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories include specifics on record retention and destruction in the development of the regulations for the Missing Persons Act.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to pass it off to the Member for Monfwi.

Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Member for Monfwi.

AMENDMENTS

Committee put forward three motions to amend Bill 2. These are included in Appendix C of this report.

Motions 1 and 2

Clauses 7(4) and (5), and 8(3) and (4) of Bill 2 as proposed required a justice to consider any information that suggests a person may not want to be found in determining whether to issue a record access order and search order. As mentioned earlier in this report, RCMP have noted to committee that regardless of the circumstance of somebody's disappearance, RCMP are required to ascertain a missing person's well-being. There was concern that including these clauses may cause disruption or confusion for RCMP when they are required to search and ascertain a missing person. Committee also heard feedback from non-profit organizations in ensuring that RCMP and justice's approach to missing persons cases are trauma-informed when considering the dynamics and circumstances of a person's disappearance.

Committee therefore moved to amend Clauses 7(4) and (5), and 8(3) and (4) and replace them with clauses that allow for these considerations to take place within the terms of the orders. Both motions were carried during the clause-by-clause review with the Minister's concurrence.

Motion 3.

Clause 9(4) as proposed required the RCMP to consider any information that suggests that a missing person may not want to be located when determining whether to make an emergency demand. Committee recognizes the requirements of the RCMP as well as the importance of ensuring that processes related to missing person investigations are trauma-informed and consider whether a person has left or is attempting to leave a violent or abusive situation, for example.

As such, committee therefore moved to delete Clause 9(4) and made the following recommendation (Recommendation 8), and emphasized that trauma-informed training is factored in with Recommendation 2 of this report. The motion was carried during the clause-by-clause review with the Minister's concurrence.

Recommendation 8: The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories incorporate the consideration of information that suggests that a missing person may not want to be located in the development of the regulations for the Missing Persons Act.

CONCLUSION

On May 28th , 2024, committee held a clause-by-clause review. Committee passed a motion to report Bill 2, as amended, to the Legislative Assembly as ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole.

This concludes the Standing Committee on Social Development's review of Bill 2.

Recommendation 9: The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a response to this report within 120 days.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Reports of standing and special committees. Member from Monfwi.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Mackenzie Delta, that Committee Report 2-20(1), Standing Committee on Social Development Report on Bill 2: Missing Persons Act, be received by the Assembly and referred to Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Monfwi. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Question has been called. All those in favour? Opposed? Abstentions? Motion has passed. The motion is carried. Committee report number 2 has been received and will be moved into Committee of the Whole for further considerations.

---Carried

Reports of standing and special committees.

Colleagues, I would like to recognize a constituent of mine. We don't get too many from the Deh Cho, but I'd like to recognize Julie Erasmus here and welcome her to the House. Thank you very much for being here.

Reports on oral questions. Acknowledgements.

Colleagues, being respective of the time, we will have a short recess and give the interpreters a bit of a break.

---SHORT RECESS

Thank you, colleagues. Oral questions. Member from -- where do I want to start -- Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You're very generous, Mr. Speaker.

Today is a theme day for income assistance programs so I'll get the ball rolling and ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment what is the department's position on a universal basic income in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I think I'm going to be calling on you a lot today.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a program of that magnitude and of such a change in political direction of the government would need to come from this Legislative Assembly and would be something that would need to be found, I would say, within our business plans and also within the priorities of this government. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So not a chance is what I'm hearing. That's disappointing. I think these programs are a way to save money, not spend more, and in a government that's looking for efficiencies, looking for cost savings, and more importantly looking to empower Northerners, these things would be great. So would the Minister reconsider this position or at least bring it forward in a forum where we can all discuss it and perhaps set a new direction for the Assembly? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's some great reports out there and there are some that talk about the cost of some of these programs. There's two different kind of ways that people can deliver universal basic income. There's the universal basic income. There's the universal basic income way, which has got quite a significant price tag on it and puts it somewhere as a potential -- you know, anywhere from $500 million to $800 million. And there's also a negative income tax style of a guaranteed basic income that is out there that is slightly more cost effective, but it is still up there at over $80 million. So this would be a significant initiative and investment of this government and one that all of us would have to be on the same page of. And what I'm hearing from my colleagues on the other side of the House is definitely not everyone on the same page yet as far as this is concerned. So I think in order for the government to embark on such a journey, there would need to be some unity within this House first. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, Mr. Speaker, we don't have to do it all at once. I think that's imprudent. We should probably look at a pilot project. The two examples in Canada that have been universally successful have lifted people out of poverty, until they've been shut down by lack of funding, you know, were pilot projects. Can the Minister at least commit to exploring a pilot project? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I love the idea of new ideas, and I like the idea of being able to explore that and talk about it and figure out what that might look like. So absolutely, I'm more than happy to sit down with the Member and explore that. I think that part of the conversation would have to be what does that look like and where would it be, where would it go, and would it be welcomed there as well. So I think there's a lot of conversation yet to come, and that would have to be with all the Members of this House, and I would be more than happy just with -- as with any subject, to sit down and speak to my colleague and really take the direction of caucus of what they want to see done. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this could be a game changer. So I'm going to ask the Minister if she can bring it to the Council of Leaders. I think they would be best to tell us where their greatest needs are, where they think it should work. And if we get their buy-in, we might be able to get some federal dollars and some bilateral support in making this happen. So can the Minister commit to getting it on the agenda the next Council of Leaders meeting? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not in control and neither is Cabinet of the agenda for Council of Leaders; however, if the Council of Leaders would like to see this on an upcoming agenda, I would absolutely support that and be more than happy to have this conversation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of.

Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's my favorite time of the day, question period. I'm always excited.

Mr. Speaker, the P3 initiative, where we've seen examples such as a hospital, have borne fruit and in the future, we may see the Slave Geological road, or certainly the Taltson, find this route. But one of the challenges of a P3 project is it falls under the management framework and, of course, it has procurement challenges, even the special panel that reviewed it saw. So when it comes to specifically for the purchase of goods by supply, my question to the finance Minister is, is can the finance Minister look at working with their P3 partners to ensure that these types of businesses are supported in the similar manner as the BIP policy does? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we certainly do work with P3 partners, and individual P3 projects that exist right now have different parameters and different contracts to them. Certainly going forward, if there was a future P3, of which there's none contemplated at the present date, we can work to ensure that we are doing that in the best way forward, keeping in mind the priorities of the government and at that point I think that would include whatever type of arrangements would be negotiated to with that P3 partner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the management policy looks at construction, but it doesn't look post-construction, how they intertwine, the relationship between P3s and local northern suppliers. And it was even noted during the review of it is it has caused nothing but problems for people looking for local opportunities.

So my question for her is what can the Minister currently do about the current P3 project to ensure that northern suppliers have a chance on bidding rather than just going south to buy their goods and keeping Northerners out of the game?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the P3 projects we have right now is with the Tlicho government on the TASR road. Another one would be at Stanton. And both of those projects, Mr. Speaker, I believe are under current contractual arrangements. So short of breaching our contract, which certainly the Government of the Northwest Territories does not want to do, I would not try to enter into some sort of renegotiation of what is existing, P3 project contracts do, time to time, come for renewal or for renegotiation and at that point we can certainly look at the contents thereof and ensure that they continue to align with the priorities of the government. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, these contracts aren't one or two years and local suppliers, whether they're born in Hay River or they were born in Yellowknife or even Inuvik, the fact is they're waiting a lifetime for them to finish. So would the Minister be willing to use her influence as Minister to go talk to these P3 contractors to ask them how we can ensure local northern businesses who supply local labour, those people live here and work here, get a chance to ensure that these businesses are able to be maintained, established, working and supporting our community as they are. So would the Minister be willing to go talk to them to find ways to make this work?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I missed one earlier, Mr. Speaker. There's also the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Optic Link. So that, along with Stanton and the Tlicho All-Season Road, are the current three P3 projects that are in their operating phase, and different departments are responsible for each - finance, infrastructure, health and social services, and we certainly, I would expect, remain in contact with the three party -- all of the parties that are involved as we are P3 partners, and we'll continue to have conversations with them to make sure that we are providing the services as contemplated in those arrangements. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Finance. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

So thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when the government talks about wanting to -- no surprises and work together and they get the topic in advance when I ask questions, they should come with some answers. And my question, really, is built around the fact that I'm asking what is the Minister doing to work with this? We have constituents and businesses that are at significant risk when these P3 projects decide well, we're going to get all our goods, not some of our goods, all our goods down south. And these are lifetime contracts, Mr. Speaker. So if they're going to wait to supply -- whether it's paper towel, toilet paper, or even hand soap, they could be waiting 25 years to be -- responses. So I'm asking the Minister one last time to be clear, what can she do and what is she willing to do to ensure that there's some type of relationship with northern suppliers? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, let's just be clear. I had no notice of these questions. I don't know what phone number this Member's using but I had no idea these were coming today. So this is a surprise to me.

On top of that, Mr. Speaker, these are not lifetime contracts. They are limited period contracts. And, in fact, one, I believe, is coming up for renewal in 2027, which is not that far away. When those contracts come up for renewal, as I've already said, we are certainly happy to look at them and ensure that they continue to meet the needs of the Northwest Territories residents that they're serve something, whether it's Mackenzie Valley Fibre Link, whether it's the Stanton Territorial Hospital, whether it's the Tlicho All-Season Road, as they come for renewal and as we continue to have them effective for the residents, we will continue to make sure that those contracts continue to serve our needs. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you, my colleagues, for speaking a bit about basic income today.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of ECE explain if her department has ever considered tailoring the income assistance system in the context of a regionally-based or a community-based way rather than with a one-size-fits-all approach. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the benefit rates are based on the region in that it uses the northern market basket measure to determine the basic funding that an income assistance client receives. So it is based regionally considering that. While ECE understands that one size fits all might not work for everyone, it works very hard to ensure that programs like income assistance are delivered as fairly and as consistently as possible across the Northwest Territories while still taking into account that there are differences in cost of living for residents from one end of the territory to the other. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So as I said in my statement, structuring our social programs so they're designed to meet people where they're at rather than the other way around is the way to improve quality of life across all of our communities. So would the Minister consider piloting a project within income assistance that would reconfigure and tailor our existing system to the needs of the people in one particular region that maybe isn't dollar-based but is more based around their opportunities for employment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the month of July the Department of Education, Culture and Employment will be starting its new income assistance program. And so that program will allow persons living with disabilities and seniors to be able to do an annual application instead of a month to month application. And this reduction in the administrative burdens that are on some of income assistance clients will be able to free up a lot of time for the client navigators. And that time that is freed up with client navigators will be able to be used in more of a wraparound service provision where people can start finding out from income assistance clients what it is that they want to do, what it is that they need supports with, and be able to really meet residents where they're at in that way. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's really great to hear. I am hoping the Minister may be able to commit to bring the findings of the client navigators back to us come budget time next year possibly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, part of the new program is to do a performance management plan that would report on some of the findings and some of the review that takes place of the program changes and not only of the program itself but also to the communities as well where clients live so that we are looking at it very holistically.

In addition to that we do have an idea, for example, of how many people participate in programs when we take a look at the mains every year and so there is information available on an annual basis, and I would be more than happy to learn from the Member what else she would like to see. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So we've been speaking about the changes to income assistance for seniors and people with disabilities that mean they would only need to apply for income assistance once per year, and that seems very positive, both in terms of less burden both on clients and the staff and the system. Are there plans to make the same change for all recipients of income assistance beyond seniors and those with disabilities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm very excited about the changes as well that are taking place for income assistance clients who are seniors and persons with disabilities. At this time, there is not a plan to change it right across the board. And I think it's worthwhile pointing out that this view is not shared by all of my colleagues on the other side of the House. But what I'm really excited about as well is there is going to be more time freed up, like I said for the client navigators to be able to work with income assistance clients who are not part of those two categories. And so there are about 62 percent of income assistance clients who fall between 19 and 59 years old, and so that 62 percent of income assistance clients are going to be able to get a lot more one-on-one time to be able to do things like talking about pathways to education, talking about pathways to employment, talking about pathways to entrepreneurship. There are a lot of programs available within our government to be able to support people and what it is that they want to do next, and I'm really excited about how this program is going to start connecting some of those. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the hesitation to make the same changes for all recipients, who are not seniors or those with disabilities, is that because of a concern that it wouldn't be in the best interests of the clients, that people would take advantage of the system, or that the system would lose too much money in that you'd have people sort of going through the cracks or going over the space of the year and making more money than they're supposed to and the system wouldn't be able to claw that back as it is now? So I guess the question is, is the aim to really hold on to that ability to claw back the money month to month or is the aim, you know, a sense of needing to watch over much more closely those clients that we need to watch them over on a month to month basis to make sure that they're not breaking the rules of the system? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd say the MLA for Monfwi said it best in her statement today when she said that income assistance is really supposed to be a temporary solution. And so income assistance is there as a month to month solution for northern NWT residents who are having economic shortfalls, who are -- their needs outweigh their income on a month to month basis. And so, really, the program is there to be able to catch people. And with the changes that are happening to income assistance that we've been talking about here today, what we're really intending to see is more connections to other programs that help people so that they are not seeing those income shortfalls. There are changes as well to -- in order to support that, there are also changes to the amount of earned income that somebody can keep on a monthly basis. So with the new program, for example, somebody will be able -- an adult will be able to keep $500 of their earned income and in addition to that, 25 percent above that of what they earn. So, for example, if somebody makes a thousand dollars a month through employment, they will keep the $500, and then 25 percent of that second bit of the $500, so they would be able to keep $625 of their earned income. And so this is one of those ways that you're creating pathways to employment, where you're not having people fearful that their income assistance is going to be clawed back and it's creating some grace in those pathways. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So purely just on a financial level, I'm curious whether analysis has been done comparing the administrative costs of doing that month to month administrative checks and all the paperwork that's required versus the amount of money that the system is able to recover from people by doing those month to month checks; has any analysis been done to compare just on a financial basis, you know, which ends up on top? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this type of work has not been fully done. About 20 years ago, the GNWT undertook an initiative that aimed to better align and streamline various social programs, but that work did not continue. What we are seeing, though, right now is -- absolutely I agree with the Member, there needs to be an alignment of our social programming and our social services and that's why you see a lot of conversation in the 19th Assembly, and has continued into the 20th Assembly, about integrated service delivery and an acknowledgement that integrated service delivery is such a massive undertaking. It's not just about aligning services; it's also absolutely about making sure that even our computer systems within the government are aligned and can talk to one another. And so what the 20th Assembly has acknowledged is that this needs to be done in a very calculated way to make sure that we are going about this in a way that sets Northerners up for success, including the government up for success. And so it is starting with integrated service delivery within the Homelessness Strategy. And there is mention of that that can be found as well in multiple sections of the business plans. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the Minister seems to have anticipated my final question around the consideration of combining various income assistance benefit programs into a single program in order to streamline. I think, you know, part of the idea of guaranteed basic income is that it's supposed to make the system more efficient. And so by combining these different pots of funding. Does the Minister see the attempts to streamline those income assistance programs as moving towards aspects of a guaranteed basic income system? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Short answer, please.

I will do my best, Mr. Speaker, and I will not just say yes, I see the value in making sure that we are serving residents where they're at and that we are reducing administrative burdens on residents as best as we can. Thank you

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from the Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've made a few statements on income support, and I was shocked to hear that my riding of the Mackenzie Delta has two times higher than the Northwest Territories, which is 7 percent. And in my riding, it's up to 15 percent. My main goal is to try and get these clients off of income support and on to being productive members of their respective communities.

Mr. Speaker, the department used to provide annual reports on income assistance, but these reports are no longer -- not publicly available anymore. Can the Minister commit to provide income assistance annual reports? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Mackenzie Delta. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I can commit to that to the Member.

Thank you for the commitment from the Minister. The Minister acknowledged in the House on February 8th, 2024, the intended goal of productive choices is not being met. Can the Minister describe how the department tracks clients' productive choices? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, the department used to track productive choices when it had it as a requirement under the program, but it is not a requirement under the program anymore. If the Member had an interest in seeing the historical data on productive choices, I could definitely work with the Member to pull some of that information. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister commit to reporting on the outcomes of productive choices that clients take, how many clients on the productive choices move forward to school or finding work? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, while the department no longer requires clients of income assistance to partake in productive choices, I do understand the goals of the Member, and I have really appreciated all the Member's statements that he has done on income assistance. It has provided me with the opportunity to learn about what his goals are and what the realities are in the communities that he represents.

With that being said, I want to confirm for the Member that as part of the new income assistance program that there is a performance measurement plan that is intended within that review and that the department intends to kind of keep an eye on what is happening within its community of clients and even within the communities that those clients live in. And so there is an intent to kind of keep an eye on this and to be able to report back.

In addition to that, Mr. Speaker, there are numerous deliverables within the business plan, within Education, Culture and Employment's plan that also speak to the number of income assistance clients who are employed and increasing that number. And so I really look forward to being able to work on that with the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister describe the wraparound supports provided to clients on income assistance with respect to productive choices? How is the department helping people make productive choices that will actually improve their independence and self-reliance? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've had the opportunity to speak with multiple residents who, at some point in their lives, have been on income assistance. And one of the things that they have expressed to me is frustration about how difficult it was to find pathways off income assistance once they were on it. And so one thing that's very important to me -- and I know that the Member shares this interest as well -- is creating those pathways for people to be able to access employment, access entrepreneurship, and access education programs as well. And that's one of the reasons I'm so excited for the changes to income assistance is because it frees up more time for the client navigators to be able to work with 60 percent of the clientele who fall between the ages of 19 and 59 and to be able to create those pathways, work with them to find out what are their goals, and let's get you working towards them in a supportive way. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Monfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is for the ECE Minister. Does the Minister track the outcomes of income assistance clients other time? Thank you.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I assume I would need to know more information about what the Member is looking for as far as outcomes are concerned. But at this point, what I could point to for sure are the desire to increase deliverables from income assistance clients within the business plans, which speak to the number of income assistance clients, for example, that are employed and changes to the lives of income assistance clients like that and being able to support them through those pathways.

Okay, thank you. Thank you, I was looking for a success story.

So, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister provide a percentage of how many people on income assistance, or how many people on income assistance leave the program because they are employed or no longer need assistance? Thank you.