Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my questions are to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change. On the Public Lands Act, last spring I brought this forward. Today I'm asking questions on the progress. My first question there, Mr. Speaker, will the Minister share what regulatory drafting progress has been made to date? Mahsi.

Thank you, Member from the Sahtu. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Public Lands Act was passed in the 19th Legislative Assembly. Regulations are required to bring the Act into force. This government is committed to working collaboratively with our Indigenous government partners through the Intergovernmental Council on the development of the lands and resource legislation and regulation. The Public Lands Act and regulation is one of the pieces of legislation that is moving through the process right now. There's currently a technical working group under the Intergovernmental Council Secretariat which includes representatives from NWT Indigenous governments and organizations and the GNWT working together collaboratively to develop regulations under the Public Lands Act. There are a few issues that still remain outstanding to the technical working group, and they are being discussed and considered by the group at this time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that update. My second question on the same subject on the Public Lands Act, can the Minister update the Assembly on the next steps on the process? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. Our hope is to reach consensus with the technical working group very soon which will allow us to proceed to the next steps in the process. Once the technical working group has reached consensus, the next step would be to reengage with the technical advisory panel made of interested public stakeholder groups, and the proposed regulations would be discussed at that time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Minister for that information. I'm sure our audience are listening.

My third question is on the timeline for the completion of this; can the Minister share that. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we work through this process, like I said at the technical working group level and as we move on to the final stages, our hope is to have this work completed and have the draft final regulations prepared by the late to end of summer of 2025. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Member from Frame Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we currently don't have that specific data as I don't have that data. But I can tell you that there are 147 NWT residents receiving out-of-territory care. There are also 55 clients within the Northwest Territories receiving supportive living services. To be eligible for out-of-territory supportive living program, there must be evidence that their support needs cannot be met within the Northwest Territories. But I can confirm that the department is undertaking an analysis of the support needs of the out-of-territory clients to inform models and resources needed for in-territory supportive living services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And certainly I look forward to seeing the results of that further investigation. Mr. Speaker, how much is the GNWT currently spending on sending clients for short-term or respite-related stays in the south? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the territory currently does not send short-term respite stays. They're not part of the out-of-territory supportive living program; therefore, no funds are being spent on this. There are, however, oftentimes when families have, you know, reached capacity and when they're providing services and sometimes, you know, those needs are so complex that end up -- you know, there's an admission into our health care system, into our hospitals, but there isn't a short-term out-of-territory program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I do appreciate that clarification. Mr. Speaker, has the GNWT explored options before for programs such as income supports or grants for families supporting persons with disabilities to organize their own in-home services or respite care? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the model of individualized funding for supportive living has been identified as a recommendation in the supportive living review of 2023. The department has established a working group to examine the resources that would be required to establish these types of options for Northwest Territories' residents, and this work is in progress. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to see, as part of that work, an analysis of whether the territory could save some of the money that's being spent on out-of-territory service for the reasons I spoke to today. Does the Minister have a timeline for the Assembly as to when she expects to see the conclusion of this investigation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can get back to the Member of an update or a timeline of this review. I would like to, however, say that a lot of the things that were in the review, the supportive living review of 2023, those that have been done have been able to be completed internally and so this review is some of the stuff that's being done internally to analyze those clients that are out of territory, you know, bringing them back if they're -- what that might look like. But, again, many of the things that have -- the recommendations that have been accepted of this report also need funding to go along to implement. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. So one of this Assembly's priorities is improving access to primary care. Just so everyone's clear, primary care is the first place people go for health advice and care, whether that's a community health centre or a family doctor. So has this government defined anywhere what exactly improving access to primary care means to us and what we're trying to accomplish? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just want to say, you know, I've had ongoing conversations with the Member and, you know, every time we have this dialogue, you know, there are more things that come to light. And so having these conversations here in this House but also having this conversation with my counterparts last week in Halifax with all of the federal, provincial, territorial Ministers, you know, and saying health care across Canada is changing, and it's not just changing in Canada and Northwest Territories; it's changing around the world. So people having to access care, you know, we're trying to -- we're moving away from the traditional model of having one family doctor for life is no longer realistic. The demands for family physicians at an all-time high right across Canada so, you know, over the life of this Legislative Assembly, our priority is equitable access to health care particularly, you know, we have a high number of non-Indigenous clients who are on the higher end of chronic disease rates throughout our territory. So we are organizing our system so that every resident has access to the care that they need to reach their full health and wellness potential while the system actively works to remove barriers to this equitable access. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

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