Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Justice. So every year, the NWT Rental Office makes many of the same recommendations over and over on ways that the Residential Tenancies Act should be changed to better protect both tenants and landlords. Has the government formally responded to any of these recommendations? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Justice.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, although no formal response has been issued for these recommendations from the NWT Rental Office, the Department of Justice has committed to undertake a review of the Residential Tenancies Act during the 20th Assembly in response to the annual report of the rental officer, and the recurring issue of illegal activities in public housing raised through various channels are certainly one of the key reasons that we're undertaking this work. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the Minister. So I'm interested if the Minister can tell us some more details about the timeline for reviewing the Residential Tenancies Act and how the scope of the changes to the Act will be determined. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department was hoping to have the Act reviewed by the end of the summer of 2025, but this review has been delayed primarily due to capacity challenges, and really those key changes that we've made is we've really focused our resources on the three key pieces of community safety legislation - the Trespass Act, the SCAN legislation, and the Civil Forfeiture Act. And this has slowed the timeline for the review, conducting the review of the Residential Tenancies Act. We have started that work however, and there's plans to do engagement with stakeholders on the Act before the end of the fall of 2025, and I realize that that's coming up fairly quickly. And this review will form the amendments to the Act in the 21st Legislative Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Justice. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I realize we define our seasons in pretty broad terms here, and there are a few leaves still on the trees, but we do have snow on the ground, so I would say fall could be officially deemed over.

Finally, what is the government doing to ensure that tenants are aware of their existing legal rights, including providing enhanced access to legal aid supports? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, so it's important to recognize that the rental office is a judicial body that adjudicates the Residential Tenancies Act to both landlords and tenants. You know, we've recently made some changes to have friendlier applications to the rental office for landlords and tenants, which are now available online. We've updated policies and posted them online for greater transparency. We have a handbook posted that explains the rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants. And upon request, the Literacy Council and the Francophone Association has provided information sessions. We also -- in regards to legal aid support, the Outreach Clinic provides residents within NWT an hour of free legal advice and referrals with walk-in sessions two days a week in community clinics where an outreach lawyer travels to different NWT communities to provide legal advice and public legal education. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yeah, so the Department of Infrastructure has been working closely with their partners to complete this project at the Inuvik airport. This is a strategic airport, as the Member stated, for the Northwest Territories for numerous reasons, and also the interest of DND. So, yeah, we continue to work on the runway extension and work with our partners to the interests of the area, and we'll continue to work with them to complete this project as it is an important project for the Government of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I understand originally in the original plan that the paving of the runway, which has now been complete -- the runway itself is constructed. I know there's some ditching required to be done still. Paving was originally scheduled for 2026. I understand that that paving now has been delayed to 2027, possibly later. Can the Minister speak to why there's delay in the paving project? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yeah, so there is some delay to the previous commitment of paving. However, as the Member's probably aware, the ground in the area is built on permafrost and so is that runway. So what the department is actually waiting for is an opportunity for that ground to settle as much as it can before they start doing a lot of the paving. The problem is, is right now it's moved actually quite a bit in certain areas. In the last -- from last fall until now, there's been some area of movement of up to a foot. So in order to bring that up to grade, they would have to fill that in and, you know, with the pavement and everything like that, there is a considerable amount of weight with pavement that's going to be placed on this. So if we don't allow this to settle and pack down first before we put the asphalt down, it could cause a lot more issues. So the biggest issue is waiting for the ground to settle before we start doing the final phase of putting the asphalt on the ground there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Final supplementary. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister. Certainly, yes, we are aware of everchanging times with settling, and likely that runway will be settling for many years to come as many of the roads and infrastructure are in my region.

Given that, Mr. Speaker, and these delays, can the Minister speak to the communication between both the contractor, the Indigenous governments, and all the proponents, including the town of Inuvik for information purposes on these delays and having that communication open with them as well so they're aware what's happening as the project moves forward. Thank you.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. We continually work with partners, including DND in communicating the status of the project. I'm quite certain they're aware of the issues with the ground and the problems that we're having with that, just to settle it. So, yeah, the department works with the Department of National Defence and communicates with them the status of this project and, you know, the path forward. With regards to the town of Inuvik, I'll have to find out from the department of what communication has been sent to the town of Inuvik in regards to that. I'm not 100 percent sure on that form of communication. But, yeah, we have a good working relationship with the contractors. The contractors have done some great work there, and we continue working with them to improve the Inuvik airport for the area. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Oral questions. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are to the Premier. In the recent months, there has been a lot of lobbying with Ottawa to protect Jordan's Principle funding along with Council of Leaders. Can the Premier update the House on what he and his Ministers heard and achieved at these meetings protecting Indigenous children's education here in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll do my best to answer it. I might hand it to the education Minister at some point. But I will say that Jordan's Principle has been at the forefront of our discussions with the federal government since this announcement was made to change the program. I've spoken about it to the Prime Minister. I was very direct with him about the impacts on the territory.

When we went to Ottawa as the Council of Leaders, we collectively is spoke to the federal Ministers - Minister Chartrand, Minister Gull-Masty, Minister Alty - about Jordan's Principle. Indigenous leaders and GNWT Ministers all spoke with one voice and really let the federal government know exactly how this change has impacted the territory, how we're different from southern Canada. And so we did not get a commitment that they're going to reinstate the program in the territory as it was before, but I think it was an important conversation to have in light of the upcoming budget. And I will say that in our conversations, a number of the Ministers have acknowledged that we have unique circumstances, and they are looking into the program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Education is a territorial responsibility, and under the first principle of Jordan's Principle the government approach first must provide these services without delay. Can the Premier explain why ECE continues to dispute who funds Indigenous education with or without Jordan's Principle? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT is a public government, so we fund public education. Most of the people in the territory are Indigenous, so we provide education to Indigenous students with the general public government funding. So I'm not quite sure what dispute the Member is referencing, but we understand that we are a public government and that we provide education to all members of the public. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Final supplementary. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.