Thank you, Member from the Sahtu. Members' statements.

Colleagues, Hilary Yvonne Norwegian was born on October 22nd, 1990, to Wanda Norwegian and Harold Sanguez. She was the eldest daughter of the family. She passed away suddenly on February 12th, 2025. She grew up in Jean Marie River where she attended school and was a very happy child and a favourite among many in the community. She was living in Fort Simpson with her partner when she passed away.

I had the pleasure of knowing this young lady in the community. She always had a smile on her face and was willing to help whenever she could. I could say she was a very hard worker. She liked to do a lot of yard work in the spring and summer. Her work ethic was amazing. Once she started the project, it had to be completed, even on the hottest days. The same with projects in the winter.

She was known for her contagious AND uplifting, and unique laugh. Just listening to her started a chain of laughter for those among her. As well, she was a caring, passionate, loving, and understanding person.

Hilary leaves behind three children, her spouse, her parents, siblings, and many other family members and friends. Hilary will be greatly missed and will be remembered by her family, friends, and many people who knew her. The family would like to express their heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for the overwhelming amount of support, all the community kindness and generosity at their time of grief. They will never forget the love, prayers, kindness, and support shown to them during their time of sorrows.

As well, thanks to the Fort Simpson Medical staff and Fort Simpson first responders for all the help during this difficult time. Hilary will be sadly missed.

Members' statements. Member from Great Slave.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to remember Moses Larel Luwalira. Moses was born in Entebbe, Uganda, on December 31st, 1992, to the late John Kyebambe and Proscovia Nakayima. He was a beloved brother to Sam and Job. Moses leaves behind his mother, extended family, and many friends.

Moses' life was defined by faith, kindness, and service. He received his early education at Iganga Boys School, Busoga College Mwiri for high school, and then pursued his passion for construction at Niagara College, Welland Campus, in Ontario. Moses moved North to Yellowknife in 2023 to continue building his future. But what he built here was far greater than a career. He built community, friendship, and faith.

Moses was deeply involved with the Holy Trinity Anglican Church and supporting youth in Yellowknife and was always guiding, mentoring, and supporting young people. He believed in building not only structures but also lives by offering wisdom, encouragement, and compassion. He had a true gift for listening and lifting others up, and many youth looked to him as a role model.

Beyond his service, Moses carried a passion for philosophy, learning, and family life. He loved to discuss life's big questions and share thoughtful insights that made people stop and reflect. Family meant everything to him, whether by birth or by community, and he never missed a chance to connect, support, or celebrate those he loved. His humility, compassion, and joyful presence enriched the lives of all who knew him. May Moses's soul rest in eternal peace.

Condolences go out to the family and friends.

Members' statements. Motions. Returns to oral questions. Mr. Premier.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Minister of Justice, I have a return to oral questions asked by the Member for Monfwi on May 21st, 2025, regarding the Legal Aid Commission of the Northwest Territories.

The Member asked about the current capacities of the Legal Aid Commission, noting a vacancy for the North Slave region on the Justice website. This vacancy was filled by the appointment of Jennifer Frankie-Smith commencing July 25, 2024, but the department did not update the Justice website to reflect this. The website is now current and correct, and the department thanks the Member for bringing this oversight to the department's attention. The Legal Aid Commission is currently full and operating with no vacant positions.

The Legal Aid Commission provides Legal Aid and Legal Aid Outreach Clinics to the Northwest Territories under the terms of the Legal Aid Act. Legal aid is jointly funded by the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Government of Canada.

The Legal Aid Commission operates at arm's length from the Department of Justice. The Northwest Territories Legal Aid program covers among the broadest range of matters and provides among the most generous financial eligibility criteria in Canada. Financial guidelines are being reviewed and Legal Aid is working with the Bureau of Statistics to ensure they properly reflect the high cost of living in the Northwest Territories Legal Aid operates clinics with criminal and family lawyers in Yellowknife. These clinics are client-focused, and all staff are diligently engaged in serving the citizens of the Northwest Territories. Court Workers are also available with offices in Yellowknife, Inuvik, Fort Simpson, Norman Wells, and Behchoko. A hybrid model of staff and panel lawyers has been effective to ensure that the people of the Northwest Territories have access to Legal Aid services.

Legal Aid is always striving for improvement. Since January 2025, the court schedule has changed to allow lawyers to spend more time in communities. Legal Aid is currently working to ensure that there is continuity of council, meaning that clients, where possible, are assisted by the same lawyer for all their court appearances.

The Legal Aid Commission also operates an "Outreach" program providing legal information services to the public without requiring a legal aid application. In the 2024-2025 fiscal year, 1,094 clients received help from the Outreach Legal Aid Clinic. Demand for Outreach services is consistently higher than what is possible to provide. Recruitment is a recurring issue, and a designated Outreach Lawyer was recently appointed.

The Legal Aid Commission of the Northwest Territories Annual Report 2023-2024 will be tabled this session and provides further information on the work of the Legal Aid Commission of the Northwest Territories. The Legal Aid Commission is always open to receive feedback on how it can best serve residents of the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Returns to oral questions. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from the Mackenzie Delta.

Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize three pages from the Range Lake riding: Ava Fuentez, Hayden Perka, and Matthew Sisson. I had lunch with them and yourself, Mr. Speaker, and it was lovely. They reminded me of what the Pythagoras theorem is, which I had forgotten. So thank you for that. We don't use much as math as perhaps we should, at least that complicated. But I can still read a budget.

Mr. Speaker, I'd also like to recognize Tom McLennan who is a Yellowknife city councillor. Thank you for taking an interest today, and thank you to the pages for their hard work for our sitting.

Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to recognize Matthew Unka who is also a page here. I want to also recognize all the translators that are here today. It's good to see you guys here again, and all the visitors in the gallery. Welcome. Mahsi.

Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I too would like to recognize counsellor Tom McLennan visiting from city council and from the Frame Lake riding, and also extend a special welcome to his father Sandy McLennan who is visiting Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Through you, I'd like to recognize is Kenan MacDonald. Kenan is a page here, and I believe if I'm correct, from Mildred Hall as well. And at the same time, I'd also like to recognize the pages who are here from the Mildred Hall School. It's a great school, a community school. It's a school with a big heart. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Recognition of visitors in the gallery.

If we've missed anyone in the gallery today, welcome to your chambers. I hope you're enjoying the proceeding. It's always nice to see people in here, and I thank you for allowing us the privilege of representing the people of the Northwest Territories.

Acknowledgements. Oral questions -- oh, there we go. Just like we just got here. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today will begin for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. So the after-action review emphasized the need to put standards for training and emergency preparedness into legislation and to establish detailed regulations, whereas currently we don't have it, regulations. To quote the review, regulations bring it to a concrete actionable level adding the clarity needed for partners to do their job. Provinces and territories with regulations have better compliance and enforcement of their Act and demonstrated more effective emergency management plans. Now, the government in its response said it would consider maybe drafting new regulations, but that would up to the new working group.

Can the Minister explain why can't the government commit at least to developing new regulations with defined standards while consulting with partners on the details? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I would first off say that we're not going to not do that. We are committed to, you know, making regulations. However, we didn't want to put the cart before the horse, so updating the Emergency Management Act, updating the legislation, and then having to go back and fix it after an after-action review was completed, the third party independent after-action review, would, again, just cause more confusion. So we're not saying we're not going to do this. It's we have to actually sit down and look exactly what we need to do. You know, most times this wouldn't include Indigenous governments; however, this government has committed to working with Indigenous governments to implement this as part of our review and also put it into some of our -- you know, some of our plans, some of our legislation, some of the work that we have to do. So it's -- the process is that it's not going to be done; it's we're starting to work on it now, and hopefully it will all flesh out over time there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the review, one of it's specific recommendations is that we amend our legislation to describe how a territorial state of emergency interfaces with a state of local emergency, noting that the transfer of authority away from and back to the city of Yellowknife in 2023 was unclear to everyone involved as well as which authority actually decides when to evacuate. So will the Minister commit to changing our Emergency Management Act to make these unclear authorities actually clear to everyone? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I guess that's the good thing about this third party independent after-action review, is that it brought out all these things. It brought out the -- you know, some of the issues that we were having, including this one that was raised. Yes, we are looking at making these changes in the Emergency Management Act. This is all part of the after-action review. You know, the whole point of this is clarifying our roles and responsibilities. You know, I guess after that, in 2023, having been part of it, you know, I understand the confusion and everything else that was there, and it definitely is a trying, difficult time; however, the role behind this is learning from it, and that's what this government is doing right now, is we all are following the after-action review, we're reviewing the Emergency Management Act, and we're going to implement our clearer roles even in the working with like, the city of Yellowknife, for example, so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I'm hearing from the Minister that the government is going to move forward with the recommendations of the after-action review, yet the government's written response was that it would take these ideas into consideration as it consults with the new working groups, etcetera.

Can the Minister clarify is the government going to wait to see what is the outcome of these discussions with working groups, or is the government committed now to actually implement these recommendations around new regulations and legislative change? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So out of the 35 recommendations, there was, you know, one that we really didn't agree with. You know, the rest of them were partially agreed. And part of this is not just that we weren't going to do this; it was the fact that we need to see what we need to do. We can't just update the Emergency Management Act, like I said earlier, and update all the legislation to find out that's not what we needed to do. In fact, going through the after-action review has obviously highlighted some of the things that we need to do and part of the process of updating the Emergency Management Act and the legislation and how we work with communities. So the after-action review isn't being ignored; it's being implemented in a way that's going to be working with everybody, the communities, the municipalities, you know, the Indigenous governments, so that all the concerns are taking into place and we're able to encompass it in all our responses of the 35 recommendations, so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.