This is page numbers of the Hansard for the 20th Assembly, 1st Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was know.

Topics

Question 491-20(1): Eviction Notices Issued during the Winter
Oral Questions

The Speaker

The Speaker Shane Thompson

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

Question 491-20(1): Eviction Notices Issued during the Winter
Oral Questions

Lucy Kuptana

Lucy Kuptana Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there is no policy to not have evictions in the winter months. The Minister or Housing NWT could consider compassionate grounds, but it depends on the circumstance. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 491-20(1): Eviction Notices Issued during the Winter
Oral Questions

Sheryl Yakeleya

Sheryl Yakeleya Deh Cho

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister advise how many evictions are served during the winter months? Thank you.

Question 491-20(1): Eviction Notices Issued during the Winter
Oral Questions

Lucy Kuptana

Lucy Kuptana Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That would depend year to year. Over this last year, I believe we've had ten eviction orders issued over the winter months. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 491-20(1): Eviction Notices Issued during the Winter
Oral Questions

The Speaker

The Speaker Shane Thompson

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

Question 491-20(1): Eviction Notices Issued during the Winter
Oral Questions

Sheryl Yakeleya

Sheryl Yakeleya Deh Cho

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister say how many hearings rental officers held with Deh Cho tenants in 2024-2025 before these eviction orders were issued? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.

Question 491-20(1): Eviction Notices Issued during the Winter
Oral Questions

Lucy Kuptana

Lucy Kuptana Nunakput

Mr. Speaker, I don't have that number for the Member today. I can provide that information and also look it up on the rental officer site as well. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 491-20(1): Eviction Notices Issued during the Winter
Oral Questions

The Speaker

The Speaker Shane Thompson

Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Oral questions. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake, one question.

Question 492-20(1): Inuvik Bypass Road
Oral Questions

Denny Rodgers

Denny Rodgers Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, it's been a day, so I'm going to lob one over the plate for my honourable colleague across the way, the Minister of Infrastructure, so she can knock it out of the park, Mr. Speaker. Will she commit to paving the Inuvik Bypass Road during the completion of the Inuvik runway expansion? Thank you.

Question 492-20(1): Inuvik Bypass Road
Oral Questions

The Speaker

The Speaker Shane Thompson

Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Real easy one. Minister of Infrastructure.

Question 492-20(1): Inuvik Bypass Road
Oral Questions

Caroline Wawzonek

Caroline Wawzonek Yellowknife South

Mr. Speaker, again, I am happy to be able to report as soon as we are paving that runway, we will be chip sealing this portion of the Inuvik Bypass Road. Thank you.

Question 492-20(1): Inuvik Bypass Road
Oral Questions

The Speaker

The Speaker Shane Thompson

Members, oral questions. Inuvik Boot Lake, I guess you got your one question. You're good, right? Okay. Oral questions. Member from Slave Lake.

Question 493-20(1): Public Feedback on Draft Climate Action Plan
Oral Questions

Kate Reid

Kate Reid Great Slave

I'm not from Alberta, but thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm committed to reminding the government to listen and act accordingly on what they hear from the residents of the NWT. So during their public engagement, many thoughtful and detailed ideas were shared with Members as well as government on ECC's draft climate action plan. Most concerning to me is an overwhelming groundswell of feedback requesting clear, plain language, and direct tangible actions.

So to the Minister, I recognize that there will be a What we Heard document coming out in the near future, but can the Minister highlight at a high level what his areas of interest for changes are after reading all of the feedback. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 493-20(1): Public Feedback on Draft Climate Action Plan
Oral Questions

The Speaker

The Speaker Shane Thompson

Thank you -- getting this right -- Member from Great Slave. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

Question 493-20(1): Public Feedback on Draft Climate Action Plan
Oral Questions

Jay MacDonald

Jay MacDonald Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you very much to the Member for the question. As she said, there was a tremendous amount of engagement on this topic, and we extended the timeframe and continued to accept long-form submissions well into January. You know, throughout the process, we had 128 participants at a climate change advisory group gathering. We engaged with Indigenous governments, organizations, community governments, youth, researchers, land users, industries, other partners. We had 44 residents engaged through a public engagement on the website, and two Indigenous governments and six non-government organizations also provided long-form information.

So from my personal perspective, you know, resilience, ensuring that we have proper knowledge into this process, and that we're working to provide every option that we can to assist in the target for net zero by 2050 is certainly high on the mandate. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 493-20(1): Public Feedback on Draft Climate Action Plan
Oral Questions

Kate Reid

Kate Reid Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that. I'm glad he took the time to review all of that feedback. Can the Minister outline if the next iteration of the draft -- or I guess the next climate change action plan will take the concerns of plain language seriously, and how is the department working to address and incorporate feedback on this particular issue? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 493-20(1): Public Feedback on Draft Climate Action Plan
Oral Questions

Jay MacDonald

Jay MacDonald Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the importance of plain language was the theme of the what we heard engagement throughout. And, you know, this is very important feedback for us in that we're considering the changes and improvements to the planned climate actions. We take this responsibility to communicate with the public in a clear, concise manner that everyone can understand very seriously. And to that end, already through the engagement process we have taken some opportunities to change how we were doing things. And the department worked closely with the local graphic artists to create some broadly accessible visual presentations that were used throughout engagement. And this is just the first step of how we will make change going forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 493-20(1): Public Feedback on Draft Climate Action Plan
Oral Questions

The Speaker

The Speaker Shane Thompson

Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Final supplementary. Member from Great Slave.

Question 493-20(1): Public Feedback on Draft Climate Action Plan
Oral Questions

Kate Reid

Kate Reid Great Slave

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you for that. And I think graphic representations of conversations is a fantastic way to bring everybody in. But, you know, the other big theme I heard, and I know the Minister saw that, was that, you know, especially from youth, there's a lot of climate anxiety right now. So can the Minister explain what bold action he wants to see in his action plan that will address the concerns he's heard especially of our youth. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 493-20(1): Public Feedback on Draft Climate Action Plan
Oral Questions

Jay MacDonald

Jay MacDonald Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is a topic that's close to my heart, ensuring that we are engaging with our youth across the NWT. I have grandchildren that are going to be coming along here into this environment soon and, you know, I'm encouraged by the participation that we had, and we had the NWT Climate Change Youth Council participate in a forum in October, Ecology North facilitated discussions, with a total of 190 students here in Yellowknife. MLA Morgan and myself are planning an engagement with high school students later in the month here in Yellowknife to discuss the issue, to listen to their concerns and their issues. And I think, you know, as a department and from my position as Minister, addressing the anxiety and the uncertainty of the changing climate with the youth in the Northwest Territories is a very high priority. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 493-20(1): Public Feedback on Draft Climate Action Plan
Oral Questions

The Speaker

The Speaker Shane Thompson

Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Oral questions. Member from Monfwi.

Question 494-20(1): Aurora College Community Learning Centres Closures
Oral Questions

Jane Weyallon Armstrong

Jane Weyallon Armstrong Monfwi

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with the CLC closing, can the Minister commit to discussing partnership opportunities for apprenticeship and other programs with Indigenous government and community organizations to strengthen the presence of Aurora College in small communities? Thank you.

Question 494-20(1): Aurora College Community Learning Centres Closures
Oral Questions

The Speaker

The Speaker Shane Thompson

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

Question 494-20(1): Aurora College Community Learning Centres Closures
Oral Questions

Caitlin Cleveland

Caitlin Cleveland Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm happy to say that meeting with Indigenous governments is something that Cabinet does often, and education always shows up on the agendas for those meetings. In addition, I meet with the development corporations that are associated with our Indigenous governments and have met with the Tlicho Investment Corporation just recently as well and are having conversations about this very thing. I'm doing those conversations in my role as Minister of education, not through Aurora College, but certainly would want to invite the Member to work with the college to invite them into the community as well and to encourage those conversations to continue. So ultimately, Mr. Speaker, my answer is yes, from the perspective of Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Question 494-20(1): Aurora College Community Learning Centres Closures
Oral Questions

Jane Weyallon Armstrong

Jane Weyallon Armstrong Monfwi

Thank you. Masi, Mr. Speaker. Community learning centres are currently staffed by full-time community adult educators as well as visiting instructors. Can the Minister explain what will happen to these jobs once the centres close? Thank you.