Thank you, Ms. Mary Jane Cazon, for the opening prayer and guiding words. Colleagues. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to make a personal explanation in accordance with section 1.8 of the Legislative Assembly's rules.

I want to address allegations made by the Member for Yellowknife Centre in his dissenting opinion on the Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review to Date of Bill 26.

The Member for Yellowknife Centre alleged that I, the sponsor of Bill 26, had, quote, refused to meet with the UNW. This is absolutely untrue, Mr. Speaker. I met with the Public Service Alliance of Canada North regional executive vice-president early in the development of this bill to discuss the concerns coming from nurses about section 41 of the Public Service Act.

I initiated a meeting with the Union of Northern Workers president along with the PSAC North regional executive vice-president on March 4th, 2025, to discuss the bill.

While not initially invited, I participated in a closed-door meeting that the UNW executive arranged on March 5th with other Regular MLAs to discuss the bill. After that time, I received no further invitations from the UNW to meet. However, I reached out to the UNW president on April 30th via email inviting her to meet with me or to join an upcoming constituency meeting as long as there were nurse representatives present for the sake of transparency. I never received a reply to that email.

The Member for YK Centre stated in his dissenting opinion also that the committee received no public comments on the bill until after I requested an extension to the deadline. I wish to explain the context of my request.

The committee had set a public engagement period of 50 days over the summer months from late June until August 15th and held no public hearings during that time. Presentations were scheduled for August 28th and 29th from the College and Association of Nurses and from the UNW, and I requested an opportunity for the public to be able to hear and respond to what those important stakeholders had to say about the bill. I never received a reply to my request, and I am not aware of the committee announcing any formal extension; however, it did proceed to hold a formal public hearing.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for allowing me to clarify.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Ministers' statements. Minister responsible for Status of Women.

Mr. Speaker, this summer I had the honour of co-hosting the 43rd annual meeting of the federal-provincial-territorial Ministers responsible for the Status of Women here in Yellowknife. Ministers from across the country gathered in this lovely city to discuss shared priorities.

The event kicked off with an opening reception, held in the Great Hall of the Legislative Assembly, which set a warm tone for the meetings. Guests included partners from the NWT Status of Women Council, Native Women's Association of the NWT, YWCA-NWT, Northern Mosaic Network, Yellowknife Women's Society, NWT Members of the Legislative Assembly and Ministers, as well as the FPT Ministers and their senior officials.

Mr. Speaker, one of the highlights of the evening was the opportunity to throat sing with Tanya Snow, our amiable MC. The federal Minister of Women and Gender Equality, Minister Valdez, even joined in and gave throat singing a try. It was a lovely moment in sharing my culture and connecting with guests.

Mr. Speaker, FPT Ministers held discussions with national Indigenous leaders that were powerful and deeply moving. We spoke about human trafficking, ending violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQIA+ peoples. We also spoke about advancing economic empowerment of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit women. The honesty and emotion in the room were both heartbreaking and healing.

Mr. Speaker, during the formal ministerial sessions, we explored how to increase women's participation in high-growth industries, engage men and boys in ending gender-based violence, and address the emerging gendered impacts of artificial intelligence and online harassment. These are all critical issues that are affecting northern women right now. These threats are real and a reality in the North.

Mr. Speaker, my colleagues from Nunavut, Yukon, and I also emphasized northern realities. We spoke about our high cost of living, infrastructure gaps, inflationary pressures, and the growing effects of climate change on everyday life in the North. These realities pose challenges for all northern residents, but the gendered and intersectional impacts cannot be ignored or forgotten. Recent wildfires and floods have displaced entire communities, with disproportionate impacts on women, children, elders, and marginalized groups.

As decision-makers, we discussed how emergency response and recovery planning must be inclusive and trauma-informed with dedicated support for those most at risk. We acknowledged and agreed that funding must recognize the increased frequency of these types of events, especially for the territories where we are experiencing climate change up to four times faster than the rest of Canada.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud of the work done by the Gender Equity Division and the Status of Women Council in preparing for this event. Local women across the NWT were commissioned to create handmade gifts for the delegates, beautiful tokens that support economic independence.

Additionally, an artisan market was organized in collaboration with the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment to showcase more northern artistry and entrepreneurship. The feedback received from those who participated in the market was quite positive.

Mr. Speaker, hosting this 43rd annual meeting of the federal-provincial-territorial Ministers responsible for the Status of Women was a true privilege. The warmth and hospitality of the North left a lasting impression on our own visitors. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who made it possible. Quyananni, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister responsible for the Status of Women. Ministers' statements. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate the participants who represented Team NT and the NWT Youth Ambassador Program at the 2025 Canada Summer Games that were held in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, from August 8 to 24. The Canada Summer Games provides an opportunity for Team NT to engage and compete with other athletes from across Canada. Not only are the games an athletic competition, but they also provide an opportunity to develop athletes and coaches, strengthen sport systems and create lasting social, cultural, and economic impacts.

Mr. Speaker, sport, recreation, and active living play a crucial role in ensuring healthy people and communities by addressing physical, mental, social, and economic aspects of well-being. That is why the Government of the Northwest Territories continues to support all residents, including the youth, and to provide assistance to attend events like this in Canada.

In St. John's, Team NT was represented by 182 participants from 10 communities across the Northwest Territories. Representation included small and remote communities like Ulukhaktok, Tulita, Gameti and Lutselk'e as well as the larger centers like Fort Smith, Hay River, Inuvik and Yellowknife.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to report that Team NT participants competed in a variety of events, including athletics, basketball, beach volleyball, soccer, swimming, tennis, volleyball, and wrestling. While no medals were brought back to the NWT, I would like to highlight and congratulate the male basketball team in their victory over Prince Edward Island. This is the first-ever win for Basketball NWT over a provincial team at the Canada Games.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the various territorial sports organizations that are responsible for assisting in selecting and managing their representatives at these games. Their contributions are a significant part of preparing Team NT for these games. I would also like to extend special gratitude to Team NT's Chef-de-Mission, Rita Mercedi and assistant Chefs-de-Mission Damon Crossman and Lexie Letzing, and the rest of the mission staff for their outstanding efforts in organizing and supporting the team they brought to the games.

Mr. Speaker, I would especially like to say thanks to the many volunteers and sponsors during this time to prepare them for the Arctic Games. Whether you are volunteering, organizing, or someone who's assisting, all your contributions and preparation of Team NT are very much appreciated.

And finally, Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize the 13 NWT youth ambassadors who volunteered a total of 457 hours at these games. The youth ambassadors had several opportunities to learn and develop leadership and life skills. Their volunteer roles included being parade marshals for the opening ceremonies, supporting venue operation services, sustainability green team, village services crew, and participating with the entertainment crew. Your dedication, enthusiasm, and leadership made long-lasting impacts, not only on the success of this event, but also on everyone who had the pleasure of working alongside of you. I sincerely hope all participants enjoyed their experience! Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Ministers' statements. Members' statements. Member from Range Lake.

Mr. Speaker, as temperatures drop and nights grow longer, winter is coming. But Northerners aren't afraid of White Walkers or of Undead Dragons. No, they're bracing for power bills they simply cannot afford. My constituents can't remember the last time they caught a break on their energy bills, and with each passing year they're forced to make even harder choices just to keep the lights on. It's no surprise that the cost of electricity is one of the most frequent concerns I hear about as an MLA. Northerners have a right to be frustrated when they are paying the highest power costs in the country, and as life becomes increasingly more unaffordable, these costs pile up. Yet every time my colleagues and I raise this issue on the floor of this House, we're told there's no problem. The Minister has a plan, a subsidy, a strategy, an investment. It's all very complicated economic stuff, we're told. But don't worry, it'll work out so don't think too hard about it.

Well, Mr. Speaker, it's time to worry because this government is pouring millions of dollars into our energy grid to reverse the upward trend of our electricity prices, and it's clearly not working. Costs are escalating, outages are increasing. And who's footing the bill? Taxpayers. Now the Minister must answer not only to an affordability crisis caused by soaring electricity costs but also to constituents demanding to know why every move this government makes on the energy file only leads to higher costs and ultimately higher taxes.

Mr. Speaker, a responsible government is a responsive government. When our constituents are hurting, it's not enough to just listen; we have a duty to act. This government talks about affordability, but their commitments haven't been backed by real solutions to our energy issues. What working people need are real policies that make a real difference in their lives for them and their family. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last sitting the Standing Committee on Economic Development published its report on the review of the NWT regulatory framework, and today I want to highlight the government's response to that report. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to note the government fully accepted seven of the committee's recommendations without caveat and partially accepted the rest of the recommendations. While there are some areas, I plan to keep pressure on the government for improvement, I am really happy to see the government take committee's recommendations seriously and consider this to be the most positive government response I've seen yet in this Assembly. So kudos to staff and Ministers for that.

I'd like to highlight several items of success. One is continued progress on targeted amendments to the water regulations. I've made a number of comments on the timeline, which I stand by, but I am happy to see this progressing nonetheless, Mr. Speaker.

One item that I'm excited to highlight is the commitment by the government to collaboratively establish an NWT regulatory web page as an interim step to creating a one-stop shop for project proponents seeking authorizations in the NWT. I am looking forward to obtaining more information about this project.

Mr. Speaker, recommendations 11 through 16 of committee's report address capacity building to assist meaningful participation in the regulatory system. I want to stress the importance of these recommendations to improving operations of the regulatory regime. In my time working in the system, it was clear to me that a significant amount of delays related to engagement and moving projects to the complete application stage were related to capacity of Indigenous governments to respond and participate. This is one area in the government response where commitments to act are a bit mixed. Addressing these recommendations needs to be a high priority and considering several of them address federal funding and programming, I think this needs to be added to our federal engagement strategy. This systemic capacity building is directly related to the Liberal government's Build Canada strong plan. If we want to see projects proceeding through regulatory in a timely manner, we absolutely have to address these capacity issues, and this needs to be a key message to the federal government for how they need to be investing in our territory if they want to help us achieve mutual goals.

Mr. Speaker, there's much more from the response to this report than I can capture in a single statement so I'll have to leave it there, but I will have a number of lines of questioning for Ministers on this topic. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, echoing my colleagues yesterday and, once more, I'd like to talk about same-day health services, including lab services, in Yellowknife. Far and away the most concerns I hear as an MLA are about trying to get same-day appointments, either for lab or for speaking with a health professional. There are a lot of threads to pull on with this persistent problem, and I have gone back and forth with the Minister many times as she and her staff continue to work through technical and procedural barriers to ensure fair and equitable access to health care for the residents of Yellowknife.

Importantly, Mr. Speaker, I'm concerned for residents who, as of right now, depending on the random volume of patients on any given day, often need to line up outside the downtown primary care centre for same-day lab appointments. Right now, it seems that we will be asking our elders, folks with disabilities, and those in chronic pain, to queue in the dark, cold winter weather outside the lab for an hour until staff arrive to let them in just before 8. This is not a viable, compassionate solution.

Mr. Speaker, I know that the crux of this ongoing issue boils down to a couple of key factors. The availability of appointments relies on the number of lab staff on shift, and we are seeing more people seeking lab tests while there are fewer staff available to provide services since COVID.

Mr. Speaker, I would also contend that sometimes miracles do happen. I had the unique experience this past summer of attending a scheduled test at Liwego'ati. As I was leaving, I asked the admin staff if I could book another appointment down the line for other concerns. To my surprise, they said how about now? I was seen immediately by a nurse who addressed all my concerns and did blood draws on the spot because seemingly, at random, I was present at a time when no one had come to get a same-day appointment at the clinic that morning. The nurse and I had the time and space to get through my questions that I couldn't address from an earlier appointment.

Mr. Speaker, I know that that was blind luck, but this also means that sometimes there is capacity, even if it's just in a blue moon. I want to know what is possible to triage those with urgent needs, especially for those who can't physically wait outside in the cold. I will have questions for the Minister of health. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have been hearing a lot on slowing in our mining activities in the Northwest Territories and, more importantly, the economy and the urgency for a response from our government. Having knowledge, there is a huge potential in the mineral sector. As our esteemed Member from Inuvik Boot Lake had said many times, we are resource rich and cash poor. We have -- we must enhance by moving rapidly, supply our process to attract investment responsibly. To do this, Mr. Speaker, the North needs infrastructure and affordable access to our valuable resources. Compounding our recovery is the inability to authorize our own plan as we remain content to rely on Ottawa's formula funding policy. We must act faster in securing NWT's generations.

Mr. Speaker, the fiscal update shared by the Minister of Finance is beyond concerning. The NWT government projects, it has lost more than $150 million in its annual surplus this fiscal year. Our projected operating surplus has shrunk from $170 million to just $16 million. Mining, which amounts to 20 percent of our GDP, is facing big challenges. But, Mr. Speaker, there is also a story of opportunity here. The NWT has the NWT advantage. We have world class mineral deposits that are still largely untapped. We have a maturing regulatory framework that respects the balance between sustainability and prosperity. We have Indigenous communities with major control over regional land use and resource development.

Mr. Speaker, governments receive revenues from taxes. Our colleague from Range Lake highlighted a reclamation economy. However, it is not royalty generated revenues. The federal government has shown a real desire to move forward on investing into infrastructure. We often hear about major projects that are nation building, shovel ready. What is more shovel ready --

-- Member from the Sahtu, your time is up.

(audio).

Thank you, Member from the Sahtu. Member from the Sahtu is requesting unanimous consent to conclude his statement. Seeing none, Member from the Sahtu, please conclude your statement.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. We often here about major projects that are nation building and shovel ready. What is more shovel ready than having two existing permits for the Mackenzie Valley Highway phase one?

Mr. Speaker, in closing, waiting is not an option anymore. We have the resources, we have the regulatory framework, we have the willingness partnerships. We must design a financial model that reflects our current fiscal and solutions. This is coming. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to address an issue that affects those who make the choice to go to treatment facilities away from their homes to get help for their dependency and the lack of resources available to them when they return home. Often, these people who return home fall back in the same cycle of substance abuse because they do not have any follow-up or acknowledgement for their efforts to get sober.

Mr. Speaker, making the choice to attain sobriety is not an easy choice for most people to make. Due to lack of treatment facilities in the NWT, people usually leave their homes to go somewhere like Alberta or BC for long periods of time to do the work to address their issues and heal the parts of themselves that caused them to use substances. Those who successfully complete their programs are welcome home with congratulations, but that's usually when the real work begins to maintain their sobriety because they are back in the same environment that enabled their addictions. They return home to little to no resources to help them stay consistent in their sobriety, which is challenging and discouraging to them.

Mr. Speaker, our people need more programs to ensure they are supported, recognized, and celebrated in their post-treatment journey. There needs to be AA meetings, on the land activities, job and training available to them to begin moving forward in their life that keeps them healthy and productive. We also need to utilize those people by acknowledging and celebrating those through community gatherings like feasts and dance and create spaces for them to share their stories. It's important for this person to feel safe and to share their story, for the community to hear it, because it may inspire and motivate others to follow in their path. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to speak today on Arctic sovereignty and infrastructure, something that, of course, the debate is very live, the topic is very live in this House. I know our Premier and his Cabinet are very, very keen to the topic. We know our federal government, again, Mr. Speaker, continues to have an eye on the Arctic and the North. Whether you're talking major infrastructure projects, Mr. Speaker, or smaller ones, Inuvik, my region, my riding, being named as one of the northern operations hub as well as the city of Yellowknife; I think it's very significant. I understand that both the town of Inuvik and the city of Yellowknife are considering an MOU where they can share the information, Mr. Speaker, in their discussions with DND. Pulling them together on Arctic security topics and discussion, I think is very important. I think it bodes well for our territory and certainly bodes well for us as we pull people together to build these infrastructure projects.

And, Mr. Speaker, not just the major infrastructure projects. I mean, Mr. Speaker, as we know, Inuvik is obviously a very strategic location for the Arctic. We have a forward operating location up there. Hopefully there's potential more work to be done, either through upgrades and through other infrastructure put in there by our federal government. And, Mr. Speaker, even more importantly is our airport terminal build. We know we have the runway expansion. That project, again, done locally, done through Indigenous governments, with Indigenous companies, partnered with them. The project thus far has been on time, on budget, and very successful, and we look to that completion in the next couple of years. But we also, Mr. Speaker, since 2018, have had the new airport terminal build on the books. As I mentioned, being a northern operations hub, there's certainly going to be more traffic in the region. We're going to ensure that we need that new building. I know there's been some delays in the past few years but, Mr. Speaker, I'm hopeful that's still something we can get done sooner rather than later, get that project underway and, again, work with the local contractors, local Indigenous governments, to ensure that smaller but just as important piece of infrastructure gets completed on our journey to Arctic sovereignty and security. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On behalf of elders in Fort Providence and seniors, I need to express a deep concern that has been raised by residents and caregivers alike. The independent living seniors home in Fort Providence, a place meant to offer safety and comfort to our seniors and elders, currently has no backup generator.

Mr. Speaker, as we can see, the snow and cold weather are not too far off, and we know that power outages in the winter are not uncommon. When power goes out, the risk to our most vulnerable increases dramatically. Without heat, without light, and without the ability to maintain basic services, our seniors are left exposed to the harsh realities of our northern climate. If a generator were in place, the seniors' home could serve as a warming centre, not just for those living in the seniors' home, but for the elders in the community who live independently and may not have the means to stay warm during extended outages.

Mr. Speaker, this is not just a matter of comfort; it is a matter of safety, dignity, and respect. I call on Housing NWT to work with the community to explore funding options for installing a backup generator, whether through the seniors aging in place program, the seniors home repair program, emergency infrastructure funding, or partnerships with Indigenous governments and federal agencies. We need to find a way to make this happen. Our elders deserve better. They deserve to know that when the lights go out, the community and government will not leave them in the cold. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I hate wasting time. I hate wasting time of people who are paying to do good work, necessary work, and I hate wasting time of the public who offer their feedback through consultations or questionnaires. There are numerous initiatives within the health and social services system in particular from Indigenous patient advocates to the patient experience questionnaire that continue to gather feedback that seems to fall into a black hole instead of leading to meaningful action or change.

The Office of Client Experience, which includes Indigenous patient advocates, produced a monitoring report for the first half of 2024 when they received 448 requests for support. They listed top concerns raised by patients in each region, including medical travel decisions, language barriers, access to medical records, and people feeling their health concerns are being dismissed. This office is trying to help each individual patient, but it's not clear whether the health authorities are making changes based on the documented pattern.

The report my colleague from Great Slaves spoke about yesterday, called Honouring the Voices of Indigenous Peoples, drew attention to systemic discrimination in our health system, often created by our failure to resource necessary services for Indigenous people. For example, there is no budget for Indigenous language services in HSS outside Stanton. There's no standard procedure for how medical travel staff are supposed to assess a patient's English language proficiency in whether they need an escort. This creates unjust outcomes for patients, and it puts frontline staff at risk of being deemed racist if a patient doesn't agree with their decision. The lack of medical transport to small community health centres is another example of systemic discrimination where frontline staff are being held responsible for racism when it's really a failure of the system.

The patient experience questionnaire, which all residents are invited to fill out up to November 10th, is frustrating because it only asks questions about someone's last health care visit rather than investigating quality of care over time across multiple locations and points of care. Similar questionnaires in previous years have not reported back to the public what actually changed as a result of their feedback. Mr. Speaker, I ask for unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and to my colleagues. In conclusion, it's not enough to recognize systemic racism or dysfunction and then hire navigators to keep running into brick walls over and over. The point is to use the feedback to break down the brick walls preventing people, especially Indigenous people, from accessing vital services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member from Monfwi.

Mr. Speaker, [Translation] *INSERT [Translation Ends].

Mr. Speaker, across the Northwest Territories, seniors are struggling to make ends meet. These are elders who have contributed to our communities for decades, raising families, building local economies and preserving our cultures and traditions. They deserve dignity, security, and respect in their retirement years.

Seniors are among the most vulnerable residents in our territory. Many live on fixed income and face rising costs for basic necessities. Public housing is meant to be a safety net, not another financial stress. Currently, seniors in public housing received up to $1,000 monthly income deduction. Mr. Speaker, can I have unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you. Currently, seniors in public housing receive up to $1,000 monthly income deduction when calculating rent, which helps reduce their housing rental costs. But even with this deduction, many seniors still face rent charges that strain their limited income. For some, this means choosing between paying rent or buying groceries, medication, or heating fuel.

Mr. Speaker, public housing is meant to ensure that individuals and families who cannot afford market rate housing still have to live in place -- still have to live --

Member from Monfwi, your time is up.

(audio) I will have questions for the Minister of housing.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about encampment fatigue, Mr. Speaker. And to be clear, a lot has changed in this particular narrative. I remember even speaking to some constituents, you know, a year ago, fervent supporters of that, and as those encampments get closer to their area, it's funny how quickly that feeling changes and frustration.

Mr. Speaker, people care about the challenges, but they also want something done. The community is facing these challenges of unsanctioned encampments. They see problems where they threaten public health, safety, quality of life, and the ongoing noise and stress people have on and on.

Mr. Speaker, no one is suggesting in any way that these folks do not deserve some type of help, Mr. Speaker. It's quite the opposite. They do need help. But we need good, clear public policy that's transparent, worked on with the public, the public can see what it means, Mr. Speaker. I've been to some of these encampments and in some cases, Mr. Speaker, frankly, I find them disturbing to see the conditions some folks are living in. Now, to be clear, we're not talking about the lone individual who's on a tent who's pitched, trying to get by, and needs a little help. We're talking about these collectives that end up becoming unsafe, unhealthy, and, interestingly enough, the population's even continue to organize. They even ban people in some of these encampments, which is strange, Mr. Speaker. When you drive by one, you start to wonder about the health and safety conditions, the addictions some of these people must be facing, and there's other concerns. And I could stress and underscore individual residents are talking about their frustration where they have to go to these encampments and get their personal items back that somehow were liberated and end up being found there. Oh, and another important one to underscore, where they have to disconnect the power from their home that they're paying that's strung a line across an alley into the encampment, Mr. Speaker. The point being is in some of these things, the disorganization is creating enough stress for the community, and we need clear and practical policy to help.

Mr. Speaker, we're not addressing the challenge of saying what expectations should we provide, when should we restore certain types of supports, how do we help the vulnerable. Mr. Speaker, what do we do for the neighbourhood, the accessibility and respect that they deserve, Mr. Speaker? It seems the neighbourhood keeps getting forgotten about, these particular things. Mr. Speaker, these types of service levels need to be defined so we can be consistent, and we can ensure.

And, lastly, Mr. Speaker, one of the often comments I hear is they want more, such as water, outhouses, garbage, etcetera, but we have space in shelters. We need to have that conversation, and I'm hoping we will later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on August 30, 2025, the community of Tuktoyaktuk, an area along the Arctic coast, was hit with a post-cyclonic surge of water never experienced before in recorded history. The area endured record break in surge levels of 2.6 metres, almost 10 feet inland. Subdivisions within the community were cut off from essential services like fire, medical, RCMP, and utility services as their roads were underwater and blocked by massive piles of driftwood. Six major roads were quickly overwhelmed and damaged by high water levels. The community had been proactive over the last 10 years and built up the roads based on research and recommendations. We were very close to evacuating, Mr. Speaker. Our one road by the reservoir was eaten away by the storm surge, by half by the storm surge. The road leading to the hamlet garage was under water, so the staff had to come up quickly with an alternative route through airport lands. The airport instruments stopped recording the wind levels as the gusts were up to 130 kilometers an hour, and we saw water underneath our house, and 14 other houses were surrounded by water and compromised. We also watched many smoke houses and workshops being swept away from the storm surge.

After the storm, because of many roads being underwater, there are still massive piles of driftwood and debris laying throughout the community. The council met and through advice they decided not to declare an emergency at the time, not knowing that this is tied to territorial and federal disaster funding or thinking the NWT Association of Communities would cover their road and cleanup damage through an insurance claim. The council spoke to GNWT MACA and requested both cleanup and road rebuilding funds, but we're now told to look from within. A small community with limited funding is told to take care of themselves and not look to the GNWT for funding assistance and use their own limited funds to clean up from a major storm event.

Like any other emergency, including flooding events that happen in Northwest Territories, why is this community asked to use its limited funds? The community is told to look from within, put off paying down its own debt, and halt any shoreline protection projects while it continues to clean up from a natural disaster. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Nunakput. Members' statements.

Colleagues, Asger "Red" Pedersen was a respected leader, public servant, and former Speaker of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly passed away on May 30, 2025. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, November 19, 1935. He came to the Canadian Arctic in 1953 with the Hudson's Bay Company and went on to dedicate his life to the people and communities of the North.

Mr. Pedersen was first elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1983, representing the Kitikmeot West constituency during the 10th and 11th Assemblies. He served as a Member of the Executive Council, holding numerous portfolios including culture and communications, renewable resources, status of women, the science institution, and later personnel and equal pay. In 1987, he was appointed Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and served in that role until 1989.

I had the pleasure of first meeting Red Pedersen in December 1987 at the hockey rink in Kugluktuk. It was clear from that first conversation that his passion was the people of the community. He truly considered them his family. Over time, I came to understand just how deeply woven he was into the fabric of the North. He served not only as an MLA and Speaker but also as mayor, councillor, and board member on nearly every organization in Kugluktuk and the Kitikmeot region. Yet, if you asked him, he would say his greatest accomplishment was his family. Red's life was one of service, love, and humility. His passing leaves a tremendous void, but his legacy will continue in the lives he touched and the lessons he taught. He was more than a colleague; he was a beacon of hope and strength.

Red Pedersen brought decades of experience in community development and northern governance to his work in the Assembly. He served as an area administrator in Kugluktuk, Pangnirtung, and Fort Res, and was deeply involved in local governance and volunteerism. His leadership was instrumental in organizing the first settlement council in Kugluktuk, where he also served on various community committees and was active in Boy Scouts and Canadian Rangers.

In recognition his unwavering dedication to the Inuit people and their community, Mr. Pedersen was bestowed the honorary title of Inuk, a distinction that held immense personal significance for him. Despite not being of Inuit descent, he played a pivotal role in establishing Inuit institutions, always advocating for their autonomy and ensuring that membership remained exclusive to Inuit beneficiaries. His commitment to the North was not just professional but deeply personal as he devoted his life to the people and the land he came to cherish.

In 2003, Mr. Pedersen was made an honorary lifetime Member of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, the first person to receive this distinction in recognition of his longstanding contributions to the region. He was also a member of the Order of Nunavut and the Order of Canada.

Like most individuals, it is hard to speak on his impact on the residents of the North, so I have attached Freddy Pederson's Celebration of Life and Denis Patterson's news article, which I will deemed as read.

The family would like to thank everybody for their support and kind words during this difficult time. Red will be sadly missed but not forgotten.

Thank you all for coming today as we say farewell to our father, grandfather, great grandfather and great, great grandfather, Red Pedersen. He lived a good long life, he was born in 1935, he was 89 years old when he passed. He got to experience a new life when he came here from Denmark in 1953. He lived with, then lived and worked with Inuit, becoming "adopted" by Steven Angulalik and his family. Emily, thanks for coming and spending this time with us, and Gwen for your beautiful words. He learned much during that time about how to live and survive in the North, and to apprentice with the HBC at various posts.

After getting married to our mother and having a family, he moved to different parts of the North with new job opportunities, to support his family. We lived in Cape Dorset, Pangnirtung, Rae-Edzo and Yellowknife, before settling back here in Kugluktuk. This was where he felt "at home". He tried to move a few times but always returned to where he felt most comfortable, here in Kugluktuk with family and lifelong friends.

You all know of the things he has accomplished in the different public, community and private positions he has held throughout his life. We as a family know that too, however, we have also known him as our dad. And, as our dad he was many things to us. We will miss him dearly. We have the support of a big family, he has 108 descendants, plus all of you, our friends, to lean on when times are tough. That "family" togetherness will help us all cope with his loss.

He is now resting and has met up with his parents (Otto and Ebba), his sister (Sanne), his daughter (Vera) and his son (Hans), and the many other friends and relatives that have passed before him. We can be happy knowing that they have all embraced him and are happy to be together again. We can yearn for the day when we too will meet up with all of them again, but at the same time we want to make sure that until then we take the time to be with our families and friends here, where we live and work. We will keep that strong family tradition alive that he had in his long life.

We have been fortunate enough to have him around to see great great grandchildren, and we still have our mother. Both of them have lived the longest in their families, we can only hope that many of us will move that mark ahead. He always said that there is nothing so bad that something good doesn't come out of it. We'll wait to see what that good thing is that comes from losing him. It's something that's hard to imagine right now.

We miss you already dad and it hurts that you are now gone, but we will keep your spirit alive in our hearts and remember all the great times we've had, the good memories we've made, and the memories still to come. We know your spirit will be with us.

From all of us here today, we say farewell to you Dad, we'll keep you in our hearts forever. Rest in eternal peace, we'll always love you.

Asger 'Red' Pedersen, an Order of Canada and Order of Nunavut holder, honorary Inuk and lifetime Member of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, died in Yellowknife an hour and a bit away by plane from his beloved home community of Kugluktuk in May at the age of 89 after more than 70 years in the Arctic.

Red was a soldier for the Nunavut cause because he fought the forces that would have hived off the Kitikmeot Region to remain in the Western Territory. Red understood very well that the people of his region were connected in history and geography to Yellowknife and Edmonton.

With his lifelong home community of Kugluktuk just 55 kilometers from the NWT boundary, 601 kilometers from Yellowknife and a daunting, expensive two days away by plane from Iqaluit, which was to become the capital of the new territory, many Kugluktuk residents and those in other western communities feared being forgotten as the distant rump of the proposed new territory in the Eastern Arctic.

But Red Pedersen had a long-term vision of a homeland for Inuit that would make the Inuit language and culture strong and give his beloved Inuit control over their lands and resources.

He was so successful in persuading Kitikmeot residents to set aside their doubts and support Nunavut that in the second plebiscite to affirm the Nunavut boundary in 1992, 78 percent of Kugluktuk residents and 70 percent of Cambridge Bay residents voted Yes to a boundary proposal which would see their communities remain in the Nunavut territory.

To understand the change of sentiment in favour of Nunavut that Red's leadership encouraged in the 1982 plebiscite asking should the NWT be divided, Kugluktuk was split with a dismal 25 percent turnout and 51 percent voting No. Cambridge Bay voted 58 percent No.

While we can now look back on the creation of Nunavut as a result of a unified march toward self-determination where all three regions were united in common cause, the Kitikmeot could have been the weak link.

Cambridge Bay vied to be chosen as the capital in the public vote of 1995, and later threw its support behind Rankin Inlet as an alternate to a distant capital in Iqaluit. Leaders like Charlie Lyall, president of Kitikmeot Corp., once famously said the Kitikmeot was better off under the NWT: "I've always maintained that Iqaluit people think the western boundary of Nunavut is the airport runway in Iqaluit!"

The challenge of ensuring the far western region of the Kitikmeot is not forgotten exists to this day. Red Pedersen himself acknowledged that challenge only 18 months after the creation of Nunavut, famously telling CBC North: "At the extreme tip of the tail of any good prime white fox, there are always two or three black hairs. We sometimes think of ourselves as the two or three black hairs at the very tip of the white fox; sometimes we feel very little wagging!"

But Red Pedersen nonetheless always strongly supported Nunavut.

He earned the respect of the people he was twice elected to represent in the NWT legislature. They knew Red as the loyal worker who came to Canada from Denmark at the tender age of 17 to work for Angulalik, the unilingual, legendary Inuk business tycoon who owned the trading post at Parry River and traded up to 2,000 valuable prime white fox furs in a season.

This was where Red learned Inuktitut and became a mentor and lifelong friend of his mentor Angulalik and pioneering Inuit leaders like Norman Evalik.

They knew Red as a devoted, lifelong community Member who was instrumental in forming the first settlement council, the Kitikmeot Inuit Association. He was also a Canadian Ranger (a tradition carried on inter-generationally in his family), and a pioneer businessman (taxi and hotel and outfitting).

They knew Red as a strong supporter of youth, who once said we need to be more supportive of the younger generation: "There's only 14 inches between a kick in the assessment and a pat on the back!"

It was the respect Red Pedersen earned among his people that persuaded them to set aside their doubts and overlook their historic ties to the NWT and instead vote twice, in 1982 and 1993 (and increasingly in favour) for the creation of a new territory for Inuit that followed the treeline boundary all the way to the Arctic Coast and even included the farthest west community Red's hometown of Kugluktuk.

Red is one of those exceptional people who won the esteem of his peers by being a modest, gentle giant whose devotion to community marked his reason for being.

His impact on his community and our territory revealed itself in many ways, large and small. He dismantled and moved houses from outpost camps on the land into Kugluktuk to form the basis for a now-thriving community which he later served as acclaimed mayor.

He was also a champion for Inuit during his political career.

When Red was a Cabinet Minister, he persuaded the NWT government to appoint Helen Klengenberg as the first woman and first Inuk as regional director, recognizing her stellar leadership and later achievement as the first Inuk to earn an MBA.

Recently, at a public event held to honour Kugluktukmiut who earned university degrees where Helen was recognized for her two degrees, Red surprised Helen by presenting her with a caribou antler carving made by her late mother, Lily Angnakak, in 1965. He said he thought it was time the carving was returned to Lily's family. She was surprised and overwhelmed, since that precious caribou antler carving is the only memento, she has from her mother.

As the government's Minister of renewable resources, as a native Dane with credibility in Europe where the animal rights movement festered, Red Pedersen and his late deputy minister Jim Bourque led the drive in Canada to switch to humane trapping. Red pitched himself with vigour against the animal rights movement in Europe, which threatened to decimate Canada's fur industry.

As the Minister of culture and communications, he insisted traditional knowledge must be given as much weight in the NWT government as modern science. That stance presaged the recognition of Inuit Qaujimajaqtuqangit, which is now embedded in the Nunavut regulatory processes. His daily diary entries are a treasure of the history of his beloved region and home community.

And he was elected unanimously by his peers in the NWT legislature to be its Speaker after also being acclaimed as MLA for Kugluktuk in the election of 1987.

As Speaker, Red elevated the position in many ways. He scrapped the formal robes of the British colonial era, insisting on wearing a traditionally designed Speaker's robe reflecting his pedigree as an honorary Inuk. Red even persuaded the Assembly to resurrect a venerable Cadillac limousine out of mothballs for ceremonial occasions and visits by dignitaries and established the Speaker's residence in the penthouse suite of Yellowknife's first high-rise apartment building, Fraser Tower.

For all these reasons, I say this Danish-born giant of a man who married a Greenlander and leaves behind 108 descendants at last count "family was everything to my Dad," his son Baba said.

He was a soldier in the Nunavut cause, a champion of Inuit self-determination and the exemplar of a devoted community resident.

Gone, but never forgotten.

Members' statements. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Reports of standing and special committees. Member from Monfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your committee would like to report on its consideration of Bill 23, An Act to Amend the Children's Law Act.

Bill 23 received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on March 13th, 2025 and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review.

The standing committee held a clause-by-clause review of the bill on October 20th, 2025, with the Minister of Justice. The committee moved to amend four clauses in Bill 23 at the clause-by-clause review. The Minister of Justice concurred with all four motions.

Mr. Speaker, the committee reports that Bill 23, An Act to Amend the Children's Law Act, is ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole as amended and reprinted. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Reports of committee on the review of bills. Member from Monfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your committee would like to report on its consideration of Bill 24, An Act to Amend the Family Law Act.

Bill 24 received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on March 13th, 2025 and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review.

The standing committee held a clause-by-clause review of the bill on October 20th, 2025, with the Minister of Justice. The committee moved to amend one clause in Bill 24 at the clause-by-clause review. The Minister of Justice concurred with this motion.

Mr. Speaker, the committee reports that Bill 24, An Act to Amend the Family Law Act, is ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole as amended and reprinted. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Reports of committees on the review of bills. Member from Monfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your committee would like to report on its consideration of Bill 27, An Act to Amend the Protection Against Family Violence Act.

Bill 27 received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on May 28th, 2025 and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review.

The standing committee held a clause-by-clause review of the bill on October 20th, 2025 with the Minister of Justice. The committee moved to amend five clauses in Bill 27 at the clause-by-clause review. The Minister of Justice concurred with all five motions.

Mr. Speaker, the committee reports that Bill 27, An Act to Amend the Protection Against Family Violence Act, is ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole as amended and reprinted. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Reports of committees on the review of bills. Reports of standing and special committees. Returns to oral questions. Acknowledgements. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My first question will be to the Minister of Health and Social Services today and, of course, I hope I have time for other Ministers to enjoy a great and fun question period. Mr. Speaker, my question is the challenge about housing. Now, believe it or not, this is a health issue.

So I was visiting constituents at a public housing place last week, and the smoke in this multi-unit was so difficult to breathe, I thought I was actually chewing it. It was that thick and disgusting. And my understanding is housing won't declare these public housing units non-smoking or they insist new leases can only be done. However, we could approach this particular problem by change, the Minister of Health and Social Services leading by making some adjustments and declaring them smoke-free. Would the Minister of Health and Social Services be willing to look into this situation so all public housing in the Northwest Territories, which wouldn't be unique to other places in Canada, are smoke-free? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And my colleague and I, Minister of Housing NWT, have had ongoing conversations on the best way to move forward, and I believe on April 1st, there will be a blanket policy for no smoking in all housing units in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm glad to hear the Minister isn't defending smoking in public housing units. I said I'm glad you aren't defending. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I guess two parts to it is why are we waiting, and is there exemptions? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as throughout the Northwest Territories, some of these homes, people have been living in them for almost -- like, I can honestly say in my community, there are some families that have been living in the same home for 30 plus years. So they're just giving them the time to, you know, offer up, you know, the information first, give them the information, give them time, you know, those information on quitting smoking because we know in the Northwest Territories that we do provide smoking cessation for all Northwest Territories residents and all those types of things. So we're setting a start date as to when this will take effect. And all new leases, my understanding, are going to -- that are currently happening are for non-smoking. Thank you.

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

Mr. Speaker, in a multi-function building or multi-unit building, you can't have one smoker and one non-smoker right next to each other through airness.

Mr. Speaker, what will the department of health do in order to step this up to support these people? I believe the carrot to stick approach, no smoking is the new rule. Can she be very clear on how the full weight of the department of health is going to come in there and support individuals who have smoked for years, if not generations, Mr. Speaker, because we can't leave them hanging, but the workers in there need this protection as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as most landlords, and we did the -- like, I think throughout the Northwest Territories already have it in their leases that there is no smoking in their units. Housing is changing their policy to create that now. What we'll do as health is we'll continue to, you know, monitor what is going on in those units that are multi-units. We'll work with housing. I think that is the biggest thing that we will be able to do is to see moving forward in the future if there's more work that will need to be done through legislation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, given the Member from Nunakput's statement today and given the fact that certainly my community in Inuvik is on the Mackenzie River, we've often had flooding, not as serious as what has happened up there obviously, but considering the community experienced a post-cyclonic storm surge on August 30th, I have a question for the Minister of MACA, Mr. Speaker.

Can the Minister of MACA confirm, has the community been offered or did they receive any financial assistance from the government to help the community remove the debris and certainly get the roads back into working order? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT has not offered the community any disaster assistance arrangement to rebuild any of the roads or remove any driftwood or debris as the disaster assistance policy has not been applied to this event with the information that MACA had received. After our most recent meeting, MACA's still assessing the situation to understand the full scope of damage.

Mr. Speaker, no additional funding has been provided to the hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk for the clean-up or the road repair from the department. The hamlet does not have to apply for funding or identify specific projects to receive community government funding. Community government funding is distributed evenly and equitably through all the communities, and it's up to the hamlets and the communities to decide how they spend it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I understand that MACA did council the community to -- not to declare a state of emergency but to apply through the NWTAC through their insurance program to help build roads and remove the debris. Can the Minister -- I wonder if the Minister is aware how successful they were in receiving that insurance funding from NWTAC. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Declaring a local state of emergency or not declaring a local state of emergency doesn't always provide access to disaster assistance policy. It all depends on the type of emergency and the scale of the emergency.

In regards to the hamlet of Tuk, accessing the insurance, the Member would have to contact the hamlet to get that information as it's through NorCIP with NWTAC. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I know the community of Tuktoyaktuk, similar to other communities in my region, are already struggling with infrastructure. I know the community of Tuktoyaktuk are now paying down the debt for their new water treatment plant they've had, they've built there, and they've also -- there's a major shore erosion project going on up there, Mr. Speaker. So then I guess, you know, is the Minister suggesting that the community do rollbacks? I mean, is it something that -- I mean, obviously, we have limited funds in municipalities and in hamlets in our region. How does the Minister then feel that the community can pay for this if the existing funds simply isn't there? Thank you.

Again, Mr. Speaker, you know, municipal and community affairs applies all the funding through the communities and applies -- or distributes it equally through all the communities. The hamlet does not have any debt with the new treatment plant that they put through as it was part of their community planning. The plant's been operational since the commissioning last summer. So a little bit of information in regards to the cost, so total cost of the plant was estimated to be about $4.9 million. It was about $4.7 million. You know, the hamlet funded this by their community funding. So any of the community funding that they received could be used any -- essentially anywhere they want when it comes down to some of this stuff. Tuk still has about $2.8 million in CCFB holdbacks that the GNWT can pay if they receive their reporting. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said in my Member's statement, Northerners are sick of paying for power bills that are the highest in the country, and it's not just households; it's businesses as well. I've received letters from businesses in my riding that are complaining about the power failures in particular, not only the costs that results in tens of thousands of dollars annually in equipment damage, lost sales, and reputational damage. They want the Minister responsible for NTPC to answer this question: Why has reliability failed to improve, and in fact has gotten worse over time, despite repeated funding from this government into the power system? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Minister responsible for NTPC.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There's a couple different types of funding that we see here frequently, one of which is the subsidies that we provide through territorial power support programs and also direct subsidies on the water events, for example, to keep affordability where it is. But the other type of investment, Mr. Speaker, is in the infrastructure component and in this case, Mr. Speaker, we have systems that were built in the '60s and '70s that have not been brought up to speed that we're now having to catch up on and in the meantime we do wind up with isolated grids here in the north, an isolated grid down in the south, and isolated community grids all around the Northwest Territories. So that creates a problem for reliability, it creates a lack of redundancy, and it creates a lot of catch-up for the people of the Northwest Territories. So it's going to certainly take quite a lot of effort and quite a lot of time to catch up on a system that is this old. And certainly the money that we put into the subsidies to maintain affordability, that doesn't help us catch up where we need to be. So this should be an issue that is front and centre. It's one that I raise frequently with the federal government. We need to be brought up to speed with where the rest of Canada is, and that certainly remains a commitment of mine and of this government to continue to do that, to continue to advocate for that, and make sure that it's not being done on the backs of our residents and our consumers alone. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm pleased that the Minister is aware of what -- the diagnosis of the problem; what we need is the solution. These businesses also want to know what specific infrastructure upgrades are planned to prevent on going surges and blackouts. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are different things planned for different communities and different regions, as I said. And as we all know, we have a number of isolated grids across the system. So I can say one of the things that they've been working on in the Taltson zone, for example, is to make sure following -- and actually this is true, really, across the territories right now is that following a lot of the wildfires, just by way of one example, it creates a situation where there's a lot more risk to the power lines, to the different power systems, where there is a lot more deadfall that can impact on power line systems. And so there's a lot of effort going in to making sure that they're doing the work to clear areas and to make sure that the areas that would be at risk as a result of the wildfires are being maintained so that the poles and the wires aren't likely to be at risk. Beyond that, Mr. Speaker, there's a lot of work happening to try to -- in a broad sense, to connect our grids, to create transmission connections, and to bring a greater redundancy to our system. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister responsible for NTPC. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, while we're waiting for those infrastructure improvements, you know, we've seen businesses that have had to close because of blackouts and power equipment failures that have led to fires. I have a constituent who's out of home because of that. We have the community of Fort Smith that started court proceedings to recoup money. So what does the Minister suggest for people who are financially impacted by these outages; what recourse do they have? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is part of what gets approved by the public utilities board are the term and conditions of sale both for the generation component that tends to be exclusively done by the Northwest Territories Power Corporation as well as the distribution that is done both by NTPC as well as Naka Power, and regulated utilities in Canada are not permitted to reimburse customers for damages. That is one of the standard situations that everyone in Canada does find themselves at. Regulated utilities in Canada are only allowed to charge customers for the costs to operate their system, which is then what unfortunately leads to folks who have experienced extreme or other kinds of claims outside of that process. But, again, it's the one that is -- it's one that is regulated all across Canada and for us by the public utilities board. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given the circumstances, can the Minister of housing confirm that installation of a backup power generator would be considered an eligible expense within Housing NWT's programs for the seniors' home in Fort Providence? Thank you.

Minister of Housing NWT.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. I think a conversation with district staff at this point and looking at the facility itself to see if a backup power generator is warranted. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Will the Minister support community-led proposals to install backup generators in the seniors' independent living home, and can NWT Housing provide technical and/or financial assistance to help communities develop these potential solutions? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Member from the Deh Cho, a couple questions there. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.

Of course I think Housing NWT would be happy to lend some technical expertise if we're going to look at potential power solution, power generation solutions within the elders' facility. And once we have a technical type of review, then we could talk financial assistance. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Final supplementary. Member from the Deh Cho.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Are there any other specific funding streams, either territorial or federal, that Housing NWT can access to support installing a backup generator in seniors' homes? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, having a conversation with the district office, there is a few funding streams that are available, and working perhaps with the local housing organization, the local band, there's a community housing support initiative grant, there's also a co-investment fund that would require, like, investment from both the community and Housing NWT. So there is some possibilities, Mr. Speaker, that we could look at for a solution. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Oral questions. Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of ITI.

Mr. Speaker, in their response to the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment's report on the regulatory framework, they mentioned an NWT regulatory web page that they'd be establishing. Can the Minister provide more information on this initiative, and can she give us an idea of when this initiative will launch? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Minister of ITI.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, it's essentially a one-stop shop where we can bring all of the players, if you will, in our regulatory system and our pathfinders together into one place for stakeholders to be able to gather information about working within our system, and our deadline for having this available to the public is the end of this year, calendar year. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm just noting a bit of clarification. In the response, they spoke to establishing that web page as an interim measure and then moving on to a one-stop shop. It sounds like the two are being completed as one, and if they are, that's fine, and I've got a timeline. I just wanted to make sure we're all on the same page. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, we've divided our approach to a one-stop shop into two phases. The first phase will be an online presence and the second phase would be working towards a physical presence. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of ITI. Final supplementary. Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister's timeline on the website. Does the Minister have any idea when the physical presence might be possible? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the question from the Member. So this would be bringing together all the stakeholders within the regulatory system so that being the GNWT as well as our regulatory boards as well as the federal government, so we want to make sure that we're working closely with the federal government to understand how we fit within, for example, their major projects' office and the way that they're driving projects forward. So we're looking at the end of next calendar year for that. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when I asked about same-day services this past March, I learned that there are 24 same-day appointments between the two Yellowknife clinics Monday to Friday and approximately 18 on Saturdays. Can the Minister clarify if that is for clinic appointments only or if those numbers include lab appointments, if those numbers are still accurate. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With that level of detail, I would have to get back to the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that commitment from the Minister.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell me what steps are taken to fill empty spots that exist for same-day appointments with waitlisted patients, especially those with urgent and complex needs, such as elders and those with disabilities; and, if this isn't a thing, is there any contemplation of closing that gap. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Kind of a multiple question there, but I'll turn to the Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know from the information that I have that there are urgent slots at the Stanton Territorial Hospital lab site, and at the primary care lab site there are as well urgent designated times for the day. And when patients are, for instance, having surgery or something like that, they usually have a preop the day before. If they need to have blood work, they should be ensuring that they're utilizing their physician or whoever their preop was with to consult the lab to make sure that they have that appointment. And with waitlists, I know that they routinely try to fit in waitlists, so when people are there you can show up. There's so many booked appointments, and then you can sit and wait and attempt to get fitted in. There's also a waitlist you could put your name on and that they would contact you if something opens up throughout the day. And we encourage residents to pre-book appointments in advance. So if they know that they're -- you know, if they have ongoing routine blood work -- and I think that that's one of the things that if they have to have an appointment every so often, get their appointments for blood work done way in advance, there's certain things that they are working on to try and to reduce, as we are aware that there is an issue with the appointment times. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister. I know she's working on a communication strategy of how to explain that to the public better.

Mr. Speaker, will we see reasonable accommodations to make sure that folks aren't standing outside in the cold for a same-day appointment this winter? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when the lab staff arrive, I think -- I believe that -- you know, that's the issue, is that the place where they are downtown is the landlord is the responsible person and so the staff can go in, but the doors open at a certain time. And then the issue that was raised not just today but yesterday with the chairs, that that issue has been raised with the landlord; however, they do not recommend that chairs be in the lobby of the waiting area. They don't recommend that even moveable chairs that could go there and be removed. So this is an ongoing discussion that I will have NTHSSA continue to follow up with. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. I know the Minister herself has been a big champion of the Office of Client Experience. And yesterday in her response to oral questions from the Member for Great Slave, the Minister noted she had personally met with the Indigenous patient advocates and heard about many of the same concerns that we talk about often in this House. I'm interested in how the documentation of those concerns actually leads to action.

So can the Minister explain what is the process for how the concerns being documented by the Office of Client Experience are supposed to lead to action at a systemic level by the health authorities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you know, and I appreciate these questions because one of the things as, like the Member has said, I do support the work that the Office of Client Experience do and the patient advocates. I'm a champion for the work that they do. But we didn't have any actual data on the things that were being brought forward, especially when it came to Indigenous people. We've heard it multiple. We all can stand up in here and say we know that some of these issues. However, like, I'll use, for instance, medical travel. Medical travel, anybody -- I've travelled to most communities. That is one of the biggest issues. It's the understanding of the program, though. It is not a -- you know, and I'm not saying that there is -- there is a problem, but the problem lies within the policy that because it's not an insured service, we use different policy and we use non-insured services to move people around. The escort piece is the biggest piece that we have the most contention with, is the non-medical escorts that have to travel with people. That is something that has to be approved through NIHB, through Ottawa. And we don't have -- like, if it doesn't meet the standard criteria on the policy, all of those have to go to Ottawa. So this is a -- this is also data that's driving us to be able to bring that to NIHB and sit down and say this is our most contention; this policy is not, you know, working for the Northwest Territories and our small and remote communities where we still speak a lot of Indigenous languages, and so we need to do better. So the work that this does is helping us fight that fight. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I appreciate that, but I also understand that many of the concerns being raised are not exclusively related to federal policy or NIHB, including feedback received through the patient experience questionnaire.

Can the Minister explain what is the process for publicly reporting and taking action on the feedback received through the patient experience questionnaire, both this year's and previous years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know that the patient experience questionnaire, somebody who's worked in the system for many, many years, that this happens every two to three years. So the questionnaire goes out, and it's through the quality program, and it goes out to anyone on their experience or current experience with the healthcare system. What it does is it comes back and then there's a report -- it is usually public. I think the last one was done in 2022. And what that report -- what it helps to do is work with those areas with the executive team and to work within those areas to try and improve those areas. And so that's generally how it goes. And it also helps us to build that for business plans. Like, if the -- NTHSSA is coming forward because there's something that we're lacking, then that evidence, also those questionnaires, the data from the public can help generate some of that work. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll just note I was looking online for a report from any previous patient experience questionnaires and couldn't find any. So if the Minister can direct us to that, that would be great.

I was also looking in annual reports of the health authority, and the last time that there was detailed statistical reporting on performance measures, including patient satisfaction, was 2019 and 2020. Will the minister direct the health authority to resume detailed reporting on patient satisfaction and patient outcomes? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what I will do is I will have a conversation with NTHSSA as to what has happened and what has changed, and I can report back to the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following on my Member's statement, we have a lot of people of all ages going for treatment for alcohol and or drug abuse. There's a lot of people from my community, my region, go out to, as far away to Toronto for up to six weeks, and upon the return they're going back into their same old habits, they have no resources to go to. There's absolutely no help and some of these people are falling back into their old habits within a week or so. It would be good if the government can follow through and make some of these programs available in our, especially in our smaller communities. So how can we as a government ensure that we are not setting up our people for failure by sending them to another jurisdiction for treatment to heal themselves but bringing them back to an environment that made them sick. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister responsible for Health and social services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in order for a resident of the Northwest Territories to attend a treatment facility, they have to be referred by a caseworker, a caseworker who works with them. That caseworker also creates an aftercare plan for when they return home and then before they're discharged, they are to communicate with the -- that is part of the work that happens and, you know, and so I encourage that if residents are returning back to their community, to speak with the caseworker that has referred them out because that is part of it. And if the Member has, you know, residents that want to, you know, have this looked into as to why, he can feel free to reach out to my office and we can work together as to what is being missed, because my understanding is that that is a whole part of the referral process, is the aftercare plan coming home. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'd like to thank the Minister for that opportunity. I'll be taking her advice and reaching out to her. It's been a long time. There is people going out and not following through or don't have the capacity or don't have the resources to reach out to. How long is it going to take us, take for us to move forward and support our people who are crying for help to move forward and break the cycles instead of taking steps backwards because of the lack of resources, especially in our smaller communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the things that we have done as a government with feedback from Indigenous and small communities is that we've created the Community Mental Health Awareness Fund, which is something that it incorporates for the Indigenous governments have an opportunity to apply on funding to run their own types of programs, wellness programs, recovery programs, anything that their community chooses to. Then once the initial period is open for regional Indigenous governments, after, I think it's January 31st, I can get the details and send it to the Members on this, but it opens up to everybody else. So for February and March, whatever the funds are left in that community, that community organization that's tied to an Indigenous Friendship Centre. We've funded Friendship Centres in some of the communities in the past. We've funded GTC in the past. We've funded Tetlit Gwich'in to run programs in those communities however this year, we haven't received any applications from the Member's riding. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member for Mackenzie Delta.