I'd like to thank Bertha Catholique for the opening prayer and reflections. Ministers' statements. Minister for ECC.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to sound environmental stewardship and the sustainable development of natural resources in the North. As part of this commitment, and in accordance with the federal Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act and several land claim agreements, the government is responsible for facilitating and publicly releasing an environmental audit every five years.

An independent contractor completed the 2025 NWT environmental audit earlier this year. It reviews how our environmental rules work, the reliability of the information we use to make decisions, how we monitor the effects of development, and how the government has responded to past audit suggestions. An audit steering committee, made up of Indigenous, territorial, and federal representatives, helped guide the process. They worked together to set the goals for the Audit and provided advice along the way.

Earlier this week, I tabled the 2025 NWT Environmental Audit, and I am pleased to report that the audit found the NWT's regulatory system continues to improve. No significant new concerns were identified and reported progress on many of the previous issues related to the last review. However, it also pointed out some challenges.

We need better data to track barren-ground caribou. We also need to make cumulative impact monitoring information more readily available in areas where there is development, as well as continuing to work on land use planning, settling land claims, and involving communities.

Mr. Speaker, the GNWT will track its progress in response to the recommendations made in the 2025 Environmental Audit through internal reporting and by coordinating across departments. We will ensure transparency and accountability, and we plan to implement recommendations using existing resources whenever possible. This work strengthens our regulatory system and helps build public confidence that the GNWT and our partners are making informed, balanced, and evidence-based decisions to protect the land, water, and wildlife of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, these efforts bring us closer to fulfilling our mandate to ensure safe communities, healthy ecosystems, through collaborative partnerships with Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of ECC. Ministers' statements. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight the progress the Government of the Northwest Territories has made in addressing homelessness, and to acknowledge the ongoing needs ahead. We have taken important steps to remain committed to continuing this work with empathy, focus, and collaboration.

Homelessness is a complex issue that intersects with all areas of the 20th Legislative Assembly's priorities. It is influenced by the suitability, accessibility, and affordability of housing, a strong economic foundation, access to health care and addressing the effects of trauma and ensuring safe residents and communities. Recognizing these connections is essential to developing effective, long-term solutions.

Teams across the GNWT have worked together to transition leadership and ensure a smooth operational handover of A Way Home: A Comprehensive Strategy to Address Homelessness in the Northwest Territories from the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs to Housing NWT. The Strategy guides our work and identifies areas of action to address homelessness. This includes enhancing support for those at risk of becoming homeless and improving person-centered services for those experiencing chronic homelessness.

One of the most pressing needs identified in the strategy is to increase transitional and supportive housing across the NWT. I am committed to improving these services for our most vulnerable residents.

Housing NWT and health and social services have collaborated with the Salvation Army in Yellowknife and the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation in Inuvik to develop a transitional housing model tailored to the needs of residents returning from addictions treatment. One five-bedroom home in each community has been renovated and will operate as transitional housing for addiction recovery programs. This program provides a safe, substance-free, and supportive living environment where residents can maintain their recovery, rebuild daily life skills and work towards recovery within their community.

The GNWT recognizes that some residents face various barriers that prevent them from accessing shelters. As a result, some residents establish encampments. We acknowledge the reason residents may choose to sleep rough rather than access shelter space. While this remains an individual choice, we will continue to extend shelter supports and work to reduce barriers for those in need. In response, we have been working to ensure that shelter spaces remain accessible and are equipped to meet basic needs and to increase transitional housing facilities to help people move out of homelessness.

A new transitional housing facility, developed through collaboration between Housing NWT and executive and Indigenous affairs, is set to open on Highway No. 3 in Yellowknife. Offering 24 bedrooms, the facility is expected to begin operations before Christmas. The addition of transitional housing facilities is especially important for residents who are ready to transition out of emergency shelters, but not quite ready for independent housing.

Since January 2024, Housing NWT has helped 18 shelter users in Inuvik transition to more stable housing with the help of our programs, such as the homelessness assistance fund or public housing. In 2025-2026, $4.4 million in contributions are being provided through Housing NWT's six homelessness:

• Housing First;
• Emergency Overnight Homeless Shelters;
• Homelessness Assistance Fund;
• Small Community Homelessness Fund;
• Shelter Enhancement Fund; and,
• Northern Pathways Program.

This funding supports expenses such as one-time financial support for individuals facing homelessness, community-led projects to reduce homelessness and loans to improve existing shelters. Our homelessness programs were developed to reflect the diverse needs of all NWT communities, which is why Housing NWT collaborates with local and Indigenous governments, non-governmental organizations, and community partners to implement solutions tailored to each community.

As we continue to work towards preventing and reducing homelessness in the NWTj, I want to emphasize that our progress would not be possible without the collaboration and guidance of local and Indigenous governments, non-government organizations, individuals with lived experience, and community partners. We deeply value these partnerships and are committed to strengthening them as we work together to deliver housing solutions that reflect the realities and needs of all NWT communities. Quyananni, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Ministers' statements. Members' statements. Member from Frame Lake.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Sahtu region stands at a critical juncture with the Norman Wells oil field. Canada's longest operational on shore oil field operating well beyond over a hundred years. This legacy is approaching the phase end of life and moving on to remediation and reclamation.

Mr. Speaker, in preparation for this huge tsunami, this economic tsunami, the remediation economy in the Northwest Territories is valued at $4.8 billion over the next 30 years, with as many as 500 sites requiring remediation. This represents an unprecedented economic opportunity for our territory, and in particularly for the Sahtu region. However, we are not taking measures adequate in preparatory positions.

Mr. Speaker, education is security. The federal government currently holds $180 million in financial security for the oil field. However, the cost for cleanup is expected to be much, much more. The training plan and preparation must recognize domestic trade demands. Mr. Speaker, this is why I'm championing NORTRAN, a design readiness trades training program for remediation and reclamation. NORTRAN could partner with the Aurora College and other NWT accredited agencies together as collaboration. Mr. Speaker, the infrastructure exists in Norman Wells support this. We have vacant commercial office spaces, student residential units, and the unoccupied Aurora College classroom. The time to act is now, Mr. Speaker. We must ensure that when the Norman Wells oil field closes, Sahtu residents/youth are not watching from the sidelines but credentially ready. I will later have questions to the appropriate Minister. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to bring forward an emergency measure that I feel requires immediate attention. In smaller communities throughout the Northwest Territories, when the community residents are faced with unexpected emergencies, the uncertainty of how long the problem will last puts a strain on the whole community.

On Friday, October 17th, the power in Fort McPherson unexpectedly went out around 10 o'clock am and was not restored until 2 o'clock p.m. The power outage shut the whole community down. Also, there was no communication between NTPC personnel and anyone from the community as to why the power went out and the expected timeframe of the power outage.

Mr. Speaker, in most communities, if not all, have safety measures in place to protect the residents, especially the most vulnerable with a muster point somewhere in their respective communities. While in Fort McPherson and Tsiigehtchic, the muster point is in their local schools, both schools are not adequately equipped to house their residents if the emergency happens for a long period of time. The schools in both communities do not have backup generators.

Mr. Speaker, the residents of Fort McPherson were fortunate that this power outage happened during the day, and it was relatively still warm outside. Imagine the panic if this happened at 2 o'clock a.m. and it was minus 30 degrees Celsius weather.

The local health centre staff immediately offered to use their facility as a muster point to take in any elders who may be old within their homes. Mr. Speaker, we must bring assurance to the communities that we are, indeed, looking out for their immediate safety and make measures to equip each community with backup generators in the event of a power outage. Having a facility used as a muster point while they are not equipped to house their residents is pointless. We need to upgrade the infrastructure to meet the needs of our community residents in the event of an unexpected emergency. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this point in session, many of us start to feel that we're losing our minds, so I thought it would be a good day to speak about mental health with a focus on our young people.

We hear from our education authorities, teachers and parents, that the mental health needs of youth have never been more challenging, both the severity of the problems and the types of issues:

• Self-harm,
• Depression,
• Eating disorders,
• Those struggling with loneliness and bullying and trauma.

Just over two years ago, the number of child and youth counsellors was reduced by about half and moved out of schools with funding redirected towards mental health programs determined and led by the schools themselves. We need to keep an eye on how successful this newer approach is in both meeting the needs of students and helping teachers to cope. Some parents are still unclear as to what might happen if their child had some kind of mental health crisis at school, what school-based services remain available, and what exactly the ongoing wellness programs include.

Mr. Speaker, it is a serious problem that the NWT has no pediatric psychiatry unit at Stanton. That means that kids with suicidal thoughts may often be sent home. It is not safe for them in the adult psychiatric ward and if they're sent to the pediatric ward, there's no psychiatric programming there.

Earlier this year, the Standing Committee on Social Development made a recommendation in our Mental Health Act Review to address this gap. It's good news that there are plans to reopen the Children's territorial treatment centre, but I would urge the department to find an operator as soon as possible since that's often the critical make-or-break factor, as we've seen with the day shelter and transitional housing.

Finally, I'm concerned reading in the news about the reduction this year in mental health support services at the Inuvik hospital on weekends. The on-call medical social worker used to provide suicide risk screening and assessments as well as in-person counselling act but the weekend service was cut as it apparently wasn't considered part of the core job responsibility. As the health care sustainability unit sorts through what services are core or non-core, I think we can all agree that services to support people in mental health crises should be core, especially for our children and youth. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mr. Speaker, like the Member from Yellowknife North just said, I think that everyone can struggle with their mental health, which is just as crucial as their physical health. For me, an excellent way to make sure I'm taking care of myself, both mentally and physically, is to go outside and touch dirt and then dig that dirt. I love to garden, and it provides me not only with nourishing food but a great deal of peace.

Mr. Speaker, with both session and surgery, I had several interruptions into my favourite summer hobby this year, but after I took some time to heal, I'm pleased to report that I was able to grow many different vegetables, including potatoes, Mr. Speaker.

Back in March, I challenged the Minister of ITI to a friendly competition. She in turn challenged her Cabinet colleagues. The rules were simple. Everyone gets a box of potatoes from Kam Lake's own bush order provisions, and we see who wins by weight of harvest. With your indulgence, Mr. Speaker, here are the total yields by Member.

• The Member for Thebacha, 7.3 pounds.
• The Member for Yellowknife South, 8.5 pounds.
• The Member for Hay River South, 9.6 pounds.
• The Member for Kam Lake, 10.6 pounds, though it could not be independently verified if that included the container, Mr. Speaker.
• The Member for Great Slave, 16.5 pounds.

Honourable mentions go to the Member for Yellowknife South's radish harvest and the Member for Thebacha's tomato harvest, Mr. Speaker, which I'm told were both extremely abundant. And I have also been told that the Hay River North spent a lot of time shovelling dredge dirt, which wasn't the assignment, but I'm sure benefitted his health as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. I think Cabinet needs to work with the Great Slave Member to learn how to grow, especially for those people south of the lake which you got all that fertile ground. Members' statements. Member from Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a father, the health and safety of my kids is my foremost responsibility. So when I learned, along with other members of our community and this House, that high levels of led were found in Yellowknife's schools, I was shocked. It was hard to believe that somehow staff and students of William MacDonald and Range Lake school -- the Range Lake North School were unknowingly consuming potentially dangerous high levels of led for an unknown period of time. This was relayed to me by many of my constituents and staff and faculty at those schools. During these revelations, a third school, MJ McPherson, was initially reported to have only minor, unresolved issues, which gave parents and staff a sense of reassurance that the school was not at risk. But, as we later learned, that confidence was based on flawed assumptions.

Months later, when the Minister released an independent report on the elevated led levels, it became clear that concerns about school drinking water that had been first flagged as early as January and that the initial testing had been flawed, as a result, testing at William MacDonald and Range Lake north continued well into April, long-before parents and staff were informed in May.

Concerns about the methodology of the drinking water tests prompted another round of testing this summer, and it was only then that we finally learned about elevated levels of lead at MJ McPherson were, indeed, above the Health Canada guidelines, directly contradicting early assurances that the high readings were false positives.

Make no mistake, Mr. Speaker, the parent downplaying of the concerns at MJ McPherson and delaying of that retesting until the summer postponed the necessary measures to protect students and staff longer than they should have. In the -- because we had those measures, the mitigation measures -- remediation measures public health orders at Range Lake north and William MacDonald during the same period of time. Parents must be able to trust that their children are safe at school. It's a fundamental principle of the education system. When the Minister released a report and accept the responsibility in July, the scale of the mismanagement on such a critical issue, the health of children, needs more reassurance from this government. We know remediation processes have been put in place. Now we need to know how serious this Minister is that this never happens again. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to bring attention to an event that's happening here in Yellowknife this week. It's been happening this week. Mr. Speaker, it's the Housing NWT maintenance conference.

This event, Mr. Speaker, brings together LHO maintenance foremen and the district technical staff for a week to get together to discuss, of course, ongoing maintenance and the importance of preventative maintenance, Mr. Speaker. There was about, I think, close to 50 participants here. They're all at the Explorer Hotel where the conference is taking place. And especially, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to give a shout-out to the Beaufort Delta district office. Last year, they, Mr. Speaker, completed 100 percent of their preventative maintenance, which is a huge accomplishment. It's the first time it's ever been done. And, Mr. Speaker, that Beaufort Delta district office includes Inuvik, Tuk, Aklavik, Tsiigehtchic, Paulatuk, Ulukhaktok, Sachs Harbour, and Fort McPherson, Mr. Speaker.

So, again, a big congratulations to our staff up there. I know how hard they work. It's a small community, so obviously we all know each other, and I know how proud they were of that accomplishment, Mr. Speaker, so a big shout-out to them. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Members' statements. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier this year, the Dene Nation hosted a public safety forum here in Yellowknife to address the growing challenges our small communities face from violent crimes and drug trafficking. Across the North, our communities are hurting. Families are being torn apart as drugs spread deeper into our territory and into our homes of our people. Local leadership knows what's best for their communities.

And this forum was an important chance to come together and find real solutions to keep our people safe. Our communities have s strong Indigenous leadership on crime, but we also need a government that listens, partners with us, and ensure new strategies are put into action with real, right resources in place.

In this era of reconciliation, our right to self-determination must guide policies and decisions that affect our future, and one of the biggest threats to our future are drugs and violence and suffering they bring.

At the forum, the Dene Nation passed several comprehensive resolution on crime, mental health, and addictions. From this work, they will engage with their communities to provide feedback on Indigenous justice system and strategies. Study on Dene led policy programs and a call on government to consult Dene communities on RCMP contracts. I know that the RCMP are working with Indigenous government and small communities to keep people safe, but it's up to the Minister to make the structural changes needed to deepen those ties and ensure local leadership is at the table.

The Minister must also work with Indigenous leaders to urge the federal government to address chronic understaffing and high turnover in our communities. Later this afternoon, I will have questions for the Minister of Justice on how we can bring more RCMP to the North and ensure that Indigenous communities have meaningful authority over how the communities are kept safe. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about the encampment again today, but I also want to talk about it from the perspective of the impacts on the community. And what I mean by that is the residents have to live next to them, businesses, and even in situations like such as yesterday, the museum, government, and other types of organizations, and private businesses in that. They have to be silenced. You can't have the museum director over here yelling do something here. No, government can't get away with that. But residents, let's start with that, Mr. Speaker. They have to listen to the noise. They have to deal with the mess. And, of course, as I said yesterday, liberated items that seem to go missing from their yard but mysteriously are found in the encampments. Businesses are saying the same thing: Noise, mess, personal items, even watching extension cords running from their buildings that they're paying the power in all the way across the road into the encampments. Where is the housing Minister on responsible policy that takes care of the bigger issue. Oh, well just dump it there, and everyone, you absorb all the problems without support, Mr. Speaker.

Imagine this: You're a tour operator in Yellowknife -- and this has been called upon me many times, Mr. Speaker -- tour operators are complaining. They pull up to show the jewel of the NWT, our Northern Arts Centre, and sure enough, the encampment's right where it says bus parking, Mr. Speaker. Shame on this situation. They have to show our guests we roll out the red carpet, they spend thousands and thousands of dollars to come here and they see this. And they feel the pinch and strain, Mr. Speaker, about the disappointment. We're all feeling this, Mr. Speaker.

Now, yesterday the Minister said when I called her to seize action on writing a policy over the weekend and do something, she said, hey, I've only got two people in the policy shop. I listened. Now, with that said, I verified. I went to the NWT Housing web page, and under the policy and planning shelf there's actually not two, not three, not four. All the way to 12 people work in that particular shop. Not two, but 12, Mr. Speaker. So there is talent there, and I believe in them.

Mr. Speaker, as I work towards a close, as I'm running out of time, someone even sent me a picture today that we have permanent structures that are being built behind the Chateau Nova hotel. There's one structure, Mr. Speaker, it looks like a tree House, a watch tower. So when building materials are going missing from the yards, how are they showing up at these semi/non-permanent but turns out to be absolutely permanent encampments, Mr. Speaker? We need the housing Minister not only to have compassion for those who need help; we need the housing Minister through the homelessness to have compassion for the residents who have to absorb the garbage and the mess here, Mr. Speaker.

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