Thank you, Member from the Deh Cho. Replies to the Budget Address, day 7 of 7. Member from Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today would like to respond to the Budget Address for this fiscal year by this Government of the 20th Assembly. I am not just looking out for the best interests of my community, my riding, but I am concerned about the Northwest Territories as a whole.

Mr. Speaker, when I took the oath of office of this 20th Assembly, I took this oath very serious because I personally know the state of what our residents of the NWT are facing and what challenges they will have to endure in the near future. We as MLA's set priorities for this government to implement, to ensure the residents can live in a place of hope, a place of safety, and a place of prosperity. The residents of my community of Tetlit Zheh, Tsiigehtchic, and Aklavik, along with the non-government organizations and the Indigenous governments, have also echoed these priorities for this government to act on. To date, into our second year of our mandate, we have very little in terms of implementing the priorities.

Mr. Speaker, housing is the foundation of every community, every family, and every individual. Without a solid foundation our communities and families will not have a secure future. Prior to the 1970's, the Indigenous Peoples of the North were very strong and independent then the government came into our communities and stated that they will build us houses and make our lives easier. Well, some 50 years later we are no longer strong nor are we independent; we are more reliable on the government.

Mr. Speaker, for the past 50 years the Government of the Northwest Territories have been focusing their efforts on public housing, some of their units have passed its life span two times over, and yet our Indigenous population are subject to live in these units that should have been replaced 25 years ago. In each of my communities within the Mackenzie Delta, we have a waitlist anywhere from one to three years long.

Mr. Speaker, housing has been set as the top priority by the Members of this 20th Assembly and all levels of government, but we have witnessed very limited implementation into the living conditions of our NWT residents. Homeownership and market housing should play a bigger role in our smaller communities. Options should be made available to our Indigenous population. Believe it or not, not all of our Indigenous residents are dependent on the government but want their independence back. But with policies and procedures, we have to struggle, living within public housing and the polices that govern our lives.

Mr. Speaker, I have heard stories of our great Chief Julius from Tetlit Zheh. He signed our treaty in 1921 because he wanted a better and secure life for his people. One of the major clauses of this treaty is education. Chief Julius wanted a school built in Tetlit Zheh because he did not want any more of community children taken away to the residential school system. This treaty was signed to ensure that the community's children would receive the best education that is available today. This treaty is being breached and not upheld by the federal and territorial Governments.

Mr. Speaker, the education system of today is failing our students. The system is setting our students up for failure in life before life even starts in the real world. Today the students, particularly in the smaller communities, are graduating without any credentials. The graduating students are not able to pursue a post-secondary education for the mere fact that they are not given the proper education to pursue a career.

Mr. Speaker, when I was going to school, we would await our report cards to see if we were ready for the next grade. If not, some would have to repeat the grade again because we were being prepared for life after high school. In today's system, the students don't even wait for their report cards; they already know they are being promoted, not because they have reached their academic level but because of policies and procedures that the educators must follow. Socially promoting our students is a practice that this government must revisit and make the system right, make the system prepare our students for life after high school, not life on income support.

Mr. Speaker, the income support system in the NWT as a whole is used by 70 percent of the population. In the Mackenzie Delta riding we have 15 percent of the population, most of these recipients are young able adults. As you are aware, I have been advocating and trying to find a way to get these recipients off this program and to be viable partners in the workforce and help build our economy in the Northwest Territories. But we have a majority of recipients of this program making this as a livelihood.

Mr. Speaker, I am aware that this program should assist the select few, the elders and the disabled, because it is these recipients who really require the help because of their inability to work for themselves. But this government, and past governments, are enabling the young residents to make this a way of life. I would like to see the productive choices brought back to the program. Make the people work for the program, not the program work for the people. I don't know what else to say about this program that I have not said in my Member's statements on the subject - maybe give the program to the Indigenous governments to administer; maybe have the recipients be eligible for eight months out of the year; I really don't know.

Mr. Speaker, attending adult education was once considered a productive choice when an individual was on income support but attending Aurora College within the smaller communities may no longer be an option. The board of governors of the Aurora College made a hasty decision that has or will have a negative impact on so many resources within our community learning centres. It is understandable to close or suspend funding to certain learning centres that are not being adequately utilized by the respective communities, but there are few learning centres that are trying to promote adult education.

Mr. Speaker, this government has to be advocates of all the community learning centres and seek public input from each of the communities to see how they can play a role in their respective learning centres. I believe the local organizations can administer their local learning centres because they know their membership and will promote education within the communities. Education is very important for the benefit of the individual and the community.

Mr. Speaker, the health and social services department has been identified as a priority of this government, the Indigenous government and non-government organizations throughout the Northwest Territories. The health of our Indigenous population is another treaty right that is not thoroughly being upheld. We have our residents expressing their concerns about medical travel, escorts, and accommodations on a daily basis.

Mr. Speaker, although the government is only administering the non-insured health benefits on behalf of the federal government, there is room for improvement. The biggest obstacle that the department is having to deal with is a dental team to set up a practice within the Beaufort Delta region. It is putting a strain on medical travel, medical escorts, and especially accommodations. Having our dental patients travel to another jurisdiction and be fully covered by the NIHB would alleviate the demands on the department.

Mr. Speaker, aging with dignity within our respective communities is a major concern for our aging population. Ours elders would like to stay in familiar surroundings with their families for moral support. Most family members are in the workforce and can attend to their parents or grandparents after working hours. Having our elders move to another community, even though it may be only an hour drive, puts a strain on everyone involved.

Mr. Speaker, sending our residents of the NWT who are battling addictions to a southern institute should no longer be a viable option. Keeping our people in the North, in their own culture, will make the process of the healing journey a success. The resources are right there within the communities. We know the needs of our people and they would be receptive to share their hardships with a local concerned person who will be there throughout the process. Resources should be made available within the communities, like it was in the past. We have seen results and it is still evident today.

Mr. Speaker, alcohol and the influx of hard drugs is in every community in the Northwest Territories. We have our own people killing our own people by selling alcohol and drugs within our communities, and the authorities are not acting on tips from the concerned residents. We need the cooperation of the local RCMP to help us fight this ongoing illegal activity. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to hear that this government is initiating a task force to combat bootlegging and the drug trafficking within our communities. Most of these illegal activities are taking place within Housing NWT public units. The local housing authorities are not following through with the terms of the lease agreement that both the representative and tenant signed.

Mr. Speaker, the SCAN legislation that is being proposed to help control the alcohol and drug sales both in the public units and private homes, I would welcome and support this long-awaited legislation. The majority of the community members and resource people know who are conducting these illegal activities and yet there are policies and procedures that are protecting the criminals. For the safety and health of our communities, we need to expedite the SCAN legislation and the inception of the task force to combat the alcohol and drug activity within our communities. The court system also has to play a big part in this process by prosecuting the criminals to the full extent of the law. The bootleggers and drug traffickers cannot hide behind their children; therefore, we must set a precedent and imprison these criminals so that they do not continue to kill our law-abiding citizens.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Justice should assist the communities in setting up justice committees to give courts recommendations on the outcomes of a verdict and proposed jail terms. The justice committees can also ask that the courts do not allow repeat offenders from re-entering our communities if the community would be put at risk for their safety.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, I believe that the small communities of the Northwest Territories do matter and will play a major role in reshaping the economy of the NWT. This government and this budget should start investing in its greatest resources. No, it is not precious metals or oil or gas, but our people of the North. This government has to start consulting with the general public on issues that will impact their lives in their communities.

Mr. Speaker, with the collaboration on the Cabinet, MLAs, Indigenous governments, and the residents of the Northwest Territories, we can have a territory that will be safe, healthy, and prosperous for today and the next generation. Keep investing in our small communities to make a big difference.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Mackenzie Delta. Replies to the Budget Address, day 7 of 7. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when I replied to the last year's budget, I started with a quote. This year I will simply say, the race is not always to the swift.

Mr. Speaker, that is the moral of Aesop's fable of the tortoise and the hare. For many years, if not decades, the GNWT has been criticized for being too slow and not doing enough. It's a criticism rooted in a truth, which is that this government does tend to move slowly. This is why this criticism is continually repeated. I think there is nuance within that truth, Mr. Speaker. First, however, I want to talk about what I have heard and seen in my time here as a Member.

In this House, I have heard that communities and residents do not have enough to make do. I have seen families, often led by single moms, trying to make things work in apartment buildings that are dangerous due to the drug trade and buildings in dire need of repair. I have taken the Premier and the Minister of housing to meet some of these folks, to see their day-to-day reality. I have been in communities where buildings are falling apart but people are expected to live in them and make it work. I have seen and I have heard a lot of frustration, Mr. Speaker.

To make meaningful change in the time we are allotted, Members want to see more investment into what we decided collectively needs to be improved in the territory. It is why Regular Members keep circling back to housing and demanding more. In my constituency, I am happy that Housing NWT is taking positive steps with the renovation of Aspen Apartments, slated for opening this fall. But I've also seen an encampment pop up next door to that project, because we don't have enough shelter, transitional, and supportive living spaces in our capital. This budget begins to address those issues, but there's always room for improvement and expediency.

In his reply to the Budget Address, my colleague from Frame Lake spoke about his constituent Emily. And he has told me that since he gave that reply, people in the public service have reached out to him and said I can understand the need for cuts if it means folks like Emily and her disabled child have a safe place to live. For something more nebulous like fiscal sustainability, it's not particularly an easy sell.

Emily's story underlies why we must action and fund core functions like housing more expediently, and indeed, with equity issues in focus. Restoring balance for fiscal sustainability is important, but social stability and social investment are important too. Divorcing one from the other is a recipe for slow-moving disaster.

When we talk about good debt of investments by government, I argue that we need to be talking to the good debt surrounding social investment; in other words, what debt we take on to house and support folks directly stemming from our priorities.

Due to the continual cost pressures that climate change impacts are having on our territory, we have reached a point of perfect storm of lack of dollars for social investment because we are desperately working to cover the basics. Water levels mean that barging of basic necessities doesn't happen, and costly airlifts begin. It means we burn diesel and safeguard residents against massive electricity bill jumps. Extensive snowfall means unexpected expenses to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars spent on clearing highways. Continued wildfire evacuations, well, almost all of us know how bad those can be. I applaud the GNWT for pivoting to handle these challenges financially, but as of right now it means less dollars overall for the extensive social needs of our territory.

Mr. Speaker, I don't know my colleague's constituent, Emily, but the outlines of her story are familiar to me. I grew up with intense family budgetary pressures, so much so that there was a time in my life where it seemed like the bank might repossess our family home. I was young enough to not know all the particulars but old enough to know it was bad. I see people reaching that point right now, and it's why my Member's statements are focusing more tightly on the everyday cost pressures and anxieties of my constituents. I know exactly how it feels to wake up every day in dread that one unexpected cost may break everything you worked so hard to build for yourself and your family.
Mr. Speaker, I know it's tough to balance sound policy decisions with the speed that people want to see the problems that dog us get addressed. I do not envy Cabinet at all in this regard. I also know that move fast and break things might be a great mantra for people who work in tech, but it is not a good way to govern and make choices where the ripple effects of decisions can easily negatively impact residents without foresight and critical, data-based decision-making.

I do not want to be a part of a government that cuts without foresight of the impacts of lost services that can harm so many. Action for the sake of action is hollow and empty and can hurt our territory for generations. To Cabinet's credit, there is not overwhelming doom and gloom in this budget, which I think many folks expected to see. As the Finance Minister said, Restoring Balance is part of shifting the culture of how we deliver programs and services to ensure that we maximize the value from the budget available.

Mr. Speaker, I very much want to see that culture shift realized in the 20th Assembly. However, an underlying problem slowing down that shift is the fact that we don't have extensive, foundational evaluative data on most of our programs and services. I would like to see tangible human resource investments in the government renewal initiative, or what GRI is becoming, as it becomes a responsibility of all departments. The evaluations that result from such an investment would mean that all MLAs, but especially Cabinet, could make better data-driven informed choices. Those choices will remain hard choices but there will be evidence to back them. And that's how I want to talk about effectively investing the dollars we have. I have had these conversations with the finance Minister over many months and given her a suggestion that's fairly cost neutral. I hope she is taking it to heart.

In my reply to last year's budget, I spoke about what good governance looks like when we relate it to those who have the least, Mr. Speaker. I want to expand on that today.

Government culture shifts based on financial choices are admirable, but to make them lasting, sustainable and socially-driven, requires a larger shift in how we approach decision-making and governance. We have started to talk a little bit in this Assembly about ESG, or environmental, social and governance indicators or frameworks, that are most associated with investment and corporate sustainability. I am interested in what approach to governance we can take for regenerative sustainability.

Although I might not agree with my colleagues on what option is best to take, I do support the core concept about talking about improvements to government and decision governance, and decision-making is always a good conversation to have.

As I've said before, we need to stop saying that Northerners are resilient. The goal of government should be to prevent people from being put into situations and circumstances where they need to be resilient to begin with.

To shift our perspective on that, Mr. Speaker, I argue that we must look through a new lens. Almost all systems in our western world are hierarchical. They are rooted in scarcity, domination, exploitation, greed, and prize the individual over the collective. What I love about consensus government is that it prioritizes the collective over the individual. It makes our community of the North its priority. In practice, it does fall short when it comes up against hierarchical, patriarchal ways of acting and thinking that we practice as a western culture in almost every other facet of our lives.

I want us to recommit to prioritizing what puts balance, regeneration, and the health of communities and their people that make those communities vibrant first. I think all of us want to strive to realize those ideals in one way or another. I am uninterested in my own power or domination of making government bend to my individual will, Mr. Speaker. I am interested in a government that puts community care as its ultimate goal.

When I was in Australia with you last November, Mr. Speaker, I had the great pleasure to attend a presentation by Ms. Jennifer Nadel, from the UK group called Compassion in Politics. One slide of that presentation caught my imagination. It was titled old versus new politics. In this presentation, old was assumed to mean Westminster politics.
Key words for old politics are conflict-based, discriminatory, triggering, aggressive, one upping, compartmentalized, winner takes all, short-term advantage drives agenda, simplistic, divisive and rewards lying and stoking division.
The qualities or key words of new politics are collaborative, promotes psychological safety, value led, respectful, builds for peace, protects the needs of most vulnerable, holistic solutions, generative, consensus building, inclusive, nuanced, and kind.

Mr. Speaker, I don't think it's a shock to anyone that I am drawn to the qualities of compassion and generative, nuanced discourse in politics. When we lean hard into divisive approaches, people with the least are those who suffer. Seeking solutions for those who have the least is exactly why I entered politics to begin with. Instead of seeking common ground, I want us to create it. It requires an active effort and intention to focus on what unites us rather than divides us. Passively waiting for that common ground to show up isn't working.

Mr. Speaker, I entered this role with my eyes wide open. I spent nearly a decade and a half in the public service before running for office. I know that culture shifts take time, that change management is a struggle for everyone, and that due to our push and pull between consensus and hierarchical systems in the Northwest Territories, change is slow.

Mr. Speaker, I did not think for one second that I was coming into a time of ribbon cutting politics. I knew from day one of the 2023 wildfire evacuations that the 20th Assembly would grapple with just keeping the train on track, and perhaps thinking of ourselves as custodians or janitors of all the problems that keep dogging us year after year since 2020. I also hope that all 19 of us speak in caucus of regenerative change to our systems, so they work better for the residents of the NWT.

My dream is one day, perhaps in my lifetime if not in my tenure, that we can have a government that prizes the qualities of new politics, of consensus, and less about how we structure ourselves to look like a Westminster system. What I know in my bones is that the only way we can become and stay healthy as a territory, in all meanings of health, is if we prioritize community over self-interest.

Mr. Speaker, you could argue this is a pretty wild tangent to go into when we're talking about money. But if we aren't talking about how we invest our intention and leadership along with our money, I am not sure we are having conversations that challenge us to do better in every aspect of how we govern. And those are the conversations that seem most crucial to me in this time of great uncertainty that pervade almost every facet of our lives.

Ultimately, Mr. Speaker, I am inviting the Government of the Northwest Territories to formally expand its focus on investment to include how we are creating systems of intangible wealth for our residents; systems that do not exclude dignity, autonomy and a healthy environment. These are things that have no dollar figure because they are invaluable. They require our investment with no expectation of a 'return' beyond social prosperity. Economic and administrative efficiency cannot be the only criteria that budget expenditures are measured by just because they are quantitatively easy to measure. Qualitative and mixed methods are wonderful tools that can help us take bold new steps.

Mr. Speaker, if I could leave this on a note that wraps it all up, it would be invest wisely. Invest in initiatives that help us make good choices. Invest in the priorities we have all identified, especially housing, but also in how we address trauma. If we don't address trauma, we can't make nearly as much headway into all the priorities of the Assembly as they do interlock.

Mr. Speaker, if we invest in social good and health of our territory, it will pay dividends. The nuance of our situation is that taking steps to do that thoughtfully and sustainably takes effort. This must be balanced with urgent issues like increasing our housing stock. For cultures to shift and endure, however, it takes time. And so yes, Mr. Speaker, we are the tortoise, and I am confident we can win the race. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Replies to the Budget Address, day 7 of 7. Member from Yellowknife North.

Mr. Speaker, when people have asked me what do I think about this year's operating budget, I've been describing it as a status quo budget. The government describes it as providing stability. It reminds of a lesson I've learned while paddling some of the beautiful rivers of the Northwest Territories, especially whitewater rivers. So when you're in turbulent waters and the boat feels like it's about to tip, your instinct is to grab the gunnels of the boat and to try to stabilize yourself. But the problem is that that doesn't work and sometimes it makes you even more unstable. You can't control the waves underneath by holding onto the boat, and you have to let go of our paddle to grab onto the boat. So you lose control of where you're going.

Anyone who's ever taught white water paddling will tell you over and over again, whatever you do, don't grab the gunnels, keep your paddle in the water. And yet almost everyone grabs the gunnels, and I've grabbed the gunnels more times than I care to admit. Because it's just our instinct. When things get turbulent, we reach for stability, the status quo. We hold on tight to what we already have, and we resist change. But what I hope that we can do as an Assembly is to keep our paddle in the water no matter what, to keep focused on where we need to go. That is the only way towards real stability and safety.

Most of the spending items that the government has highlighted in this budget as evidence of achieving this Assembly's priorities so far are really just signs of us barely treading water, or to use my previous analogy, barely keeping the boat afloat.

For example, we're highlighting that we've spent -- or we're spending $12 million to dispute to ratepayers to mitigate impacts of the general electricity rate increase. But that's not a sign of a robust economic foundation. That's a sign our power system is in major trouble.

We've got hemorrhaging health care costs. We're showing that we're spending an additional $64 million on health care. But that's mostly a sign of a population that is sicker and failing to get the preventative care and the primary care earlier on to prevent more serious illnesses. So that's not a sign of success. We're spending more, but we're not necessarily getting better results.

So we can't be both pointing to those things as the source of our fiscal crisis but then turning around and bragging about spending money on those things like electricity bailouts and health care costs to demonstrate that we're working on our priorities. You can't have it both ways, Mr. Speaker.

I do want to acknowledge that this government has taken a few major steps in positive directions. The health care system sustainability unit represents a significant investment in trying to make our health care system work better. The establishment of a new unit within executive and Indigenous affairs to create a strategic approach to homelessness, including the creation of new transitional housing units, represents a notable commitment to help our most vulnerable community members. But by and large, what's been missing in this era of fiscal sustainability is a positive vision of what we're building, where we're going, what difference we want to make in people's lives. The message coming through is that we need to tighten our belts, do more with less, just hold on with our fingernails.

Now, we don't always need to be on this march towards progress and change, getting better and better and better year after year, but we do need to show that we're making positive impacts. We need to nurture the seeds of where there's positive energy, grow the momentum where there's initiatives that are working on a local level, things that are motivating people. And what I keep hearing from my colleagues here is that people in NWT communities need to feel more sense of ownership over their lives, less helplessness and dependency. And so we need to seriously rethink how we deliver housing and income security and education.

For a long time, we've thought of government money as coming from this bottomless well. So if it gets wasted or spent on silly things, people often joke and say, whatever, it's just government money. But we're realizing now that the well is not bottomless and that attitude can't be sustained. So what if we used public resources and spent government money as if it was our own money, our own family's money, not as if it's government money.

When it's our own money, we want to see results. It's not enough just to show that money was spread across various communities and processes were followed, and boxes were checked. When it's our own money for our family, we need to make sure that money gets us meat on the table at the end of the day, wood in the stove, that our home is fixed up nice and sturdy and cozy, and that there are trained health care practitioners and emergency responders to keep us healthy and safe, that our children are well cared for and learning everything they need to know to ensure our communities continue on over the long term. When it's our money, we spend it on the things that really matter at the end of the day.

The common theme here seems to be accountability, that we all need to take more care with the precious resources that we have, to make wiser choices, and that people in each community need to take more ownership over what's happening there. Residents need to feel a sense of ownership over their own homes, and that's not all on the GNWT, obviously. But we can start with what we do have control over, such as helping more residents in public housing take ownership over their units.

To circle back to where I began, Mr. Speaker, as we sit in this boat together on turbulent waters, as the waves start to crash over the sides, we have to remember we're not going to steady the boat by holding on tight to the status quo. We have to keep our paddles in the water, keep moving towards where we need to go, even if it's slow, even if we're fighting against wind and currents, and most of all, we have to all paddle in the same direction. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Replies to the Budget Address, day 7 of 7. Member from Monfwi.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak to the 2025-2026 Budget. The government has proposed a budget projecting $2.7 billion in revenue, $2.5 billion in operating expenditure with the $170 million surpluses being used for infrastructure or to pay off debt. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Minister of Finance and government for tabling a sustainable budget. It is important that we live within our means while providing programs and services for the residents of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, I recognize that we are treading on dangerous ground as we are within 2 percent of the debt limit of $1.8 billion. It is good that the GNWT requested an increase. Hopefully, we will get a positive response from the federal government in April.

Mr. Speaker, this government is in a difficult spot. On the one hand you want to have enough borrowing capacity in case an emergency situation comes up. On the other hand the solution to our fiscal problems isn't to just continue to borrow money; money that someday will have to be paid back by our children and grandchildren.

Mr. Speaker, on a personal level. I used to live my life like the GNWT, when I ran out of money I borrowed. I borrowed from the banks, I borrowed more money from the banks. This is a bad long-term financial strategy. One day I woke up under a pile of debt that had to be paid back. There is no easy way to do this except lifestyle adjustment which is something this budget is trying to accomplish.

Mr. Speaker, using credit in an irresponsible way leads to financial ruin. I would like to see the GNWT borrowing capacity be reserved for infrastructure projects that are in the public interest that contribute to the economy and ultimately pay for themselves. Mr. Speaker, we need to find ways to reduce our debt levels so that our children and future generations are not negatively impacted by the decisions we make today. We should be investing in their future not borrowing against it.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the Minister of Finance in her commitment to discuss the topic of creating a Tlicho administrative region. It is good to see that the GNWT and the Tlicho government will address this topic at their bilateral meeting in April 2025. Mr. Speaker, in the meantime, it is important to have information on revenue and expenditures for the Tlicho region. I will continue to ask for this information to be provided. Tlicho financial information should be distinct from Yellowknife/North Slave region.

Mr. Speaker, in 2005 the Tlicho Agreement came into effect, we have our own 39,000 square kilometres of land and communities. The residents of the Tlicho region should know what programs and services are being delivered by the GNWT and what those programs cost.

Active positions. Mr. Speaker, there is a proposed reduction of 4 positions in the Tlicho riding while the rest of the North Slave and Headquarters will gain 20 positions. There are no significant program changes. It is disappointing that my region must provide essentially the same services with fewer positions.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Minister and Department of Finance for all the work and effort that went into creating the budget. While the budget does not have everything that that we want, but we must continue to work together as elected MLA/leaders by the residents of the NWT to provide the best programs and services possible that help the residents of the NWT. We must always remember who we do this work for and that this will have an impact on all our people.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that this budget is responsible, sustainable, and the first step towards reducing our debt so that our future generations are not burdened with it. I look forward to working together on future budgets that will get us even closer to reaching our collective goals. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Replies to the Budget Address, day 7 of 7. Reports of committees on the review of bills. Reports of standing and special committees. Returns to oral questions. Acknowledgements.

Colleagues, realizing that we've been talking for an hour and a half, to give the translators a break we will take a short break.

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Oral questions. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Member first and foremost for raising this very important intersection of legislation and how it impacts the lives of Northerners. And I think that's really very important that we always take a look at, we always keep in mind, and making sure that our legislation is responsive is incredibly important.

Mr. Speaker, under the Archaeological Sites Act, Justice has provided a legal opinion that this legislation does include ancestral remains of Northerners. Mr. Speaker, I think it's incredibly important to note here that this is a piece of legislation that was mirrored off federal legislation post-devolution and that we are in the process of updating that through our Intergovernmental Council process, and I look forward to updating this House on that work. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As well as you know, in the 19th Assembly, I think it was Bill 85 on the -- where we worked on the UNDRIP file, and we did that for about a year and a half and we finally brought it to the House in the 19th Assembly, and we passed it, and that legislation. So that legislation recognizes and respects the Indigenous governments' culture and values. So I just wanted to ask the Minister now that there's a chance where we could go back and revisit to make -- to modernize this agreement -- or sorry, this new legislation so that we are able to exhume further remains that we have buried in the graveyard. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I agree with the Member and had the privilege and honour of working with the Member on that legislation from the other side of the House. And this -- the work there really is to determine what pieces of legislation are prioritized and go first and as identified within the legislative priorities of this Assembly, this piece of legislation has been identified as needing to be updated and be reflective of where we're at in the territory, be reflective of what the Member did bring up, Article 12 from UNDRIP, and making sure that our legislation is in line with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. That's incredibly important to this whole House. And so that work will be done through the Intergovernmental Council, and that work will be done in concert with Indigenous governments. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Short supplementary. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just want to briefly talk about that little 5-year-old boy that we want to bring home to the family and Fort Smith. And I just wanted to ask the Minister now that we know what needs to get done, what can we do now to bring that little boy home? Like you got to remember, this little boy was buried, had no family around, died of probably TB or whatever at the time, but the family wants to have a proper burial now in Fort Smith. I just want to ask the Minister what can we do now to work together in collaboration to bring this little boy home? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is what is ultimately the most important here.

Mr. Speaker, in relation to the entire legislation, ECE is working in consultation with Indigenous governments, and that work and the speed of that work will really be determined through the protocols with Intergovernmental Council. Specifically for this individual case here, you have the absolute commitment of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and myself to work as quickly as possible through the decision points that do remain but also with the associated consultation that needs to take place not only within Deninu Kue but also with other Indigenous governments across the territory. Because as we know, children across the territory were removed from their homes, and so the children who are buried there may also be from other traditional territories as well, and we need to ensure that we're respectful of that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of ECC, and I -- who I endearly used to call him the Maytag man, waiting for questions ever so patiently and loyally. My questions will be about the financing for the PFP project.

This House had to pass this legislation immediately in November with great fervency and zeal, and there's a lot of talk out there about this $375 million not being passed on to our stewards who wanted this money to, you know, take care of the North. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister give this House an update where has that agreement gone, when can the Northerners expect the money, and when can we see some action on the ground? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister for Environment and Climate Change.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, currently, project finance for permanence is being worked on at the partners' level. There are a number of items that needed to be completed to meet the requirements of the treasury board. And currently the $300 million that will be provided by Canada needs to go to the House of Parliament in a supply bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I think Members, if I may speak for myself or at large -- I'm not sure in this case -- but I think we were given the assurances this was a Cabinet document to be approved through the treasury board, etcetera; it didn't require special legislation to approve. Has something significantly changed that may put this financing at risk? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we were moving this process through our legislature, unfortunately parliament was prorogued by the federal government, and this has delayed the process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.