Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of EIA.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The camp did not reach its maximum capacity continuously. I don't believe it reached its maximum capacity ever, actually. But it did not prevent people who needed a home from having a home because there was still -- I know the Member asked about a home but there was shelter space available in Yellowknife, and so there was always shelter space available even for those who could not go to the on-the-land camp. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So has the government worked with partners to look at the feasibility of establishing an on-the-land camp for the under-housed population that would not require sobriety? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So we are expecting the report back from the camp operator in the coming weeks, so we'll have a look at that and see what it says.

I will note that a number of the participants at the camp appreciated that it was a sober camp, and that helped them in their journey. So I think that's something that we need to consider, is that there are spaces if you -- you know, you aren't sober, but there really wasn't a lot available if you were, and so this offered people that opportunity. There is going to be a working -- there's going to be meetings coming up in March with the city and with NGOs to look at other options going forward and determine what is needed and what we can do together. And so options like the Member is speaking about could be raised there. Thank you.

Thank you, Premier. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that. I look forward to outcomes of those further discussions. So some shelter providers in Yellowknife are looking to establish better working relationships with Indigenous governments, both to explore what further supports could be offered to shelter users who are members of those communities but also to explore is the potential for establishing on-the-land camps for shelter users. So what steps has EIA taken to help facilitate those kinds of partnerships between Indigenous governments and shelter providers in Yellowknife given that it's quite well placed to do so? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I also think the NGOs in Yellowknife are well placed to reach out to the Indigenous governments. We can provide phone numbers, contact information, and they can make those connections themselves. What is needed is alignment between the NGOs and between the Indigenous governments so that they can actually work together. And so once we have all of these discussions, there might be opportunities to put together an Indigenous government with an NGO as in try to get them together. But it's really not up to the GNWT to do that type of work. I think the NGOs are more than capable. They have connections with the Indigenous governments. Many of them are made up of members of the local, you know, Indigenous government. So I think there's opportunities for this to happen without GNWT intervention, but we're happy to help where we can. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's been a modernization of the federal disaster financial assistance arrangements known as DFAA. The Northwest Territories has -- well, you yourself, Mr. Speaker, in a different role understand this program very well. This modernization is supposed to improve how money flows to jurisdictions, especially when they face climate change induced emergencies. Can the Minister responsible for emergency preparedness through Municipal and Community Affairs give us an update as to how this is going to help our ability to respond more quickly to emergencies? Thank you.

Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member's probably aware, the program is a federal program and we adopt it or utilize it in order to get funds back from the federal government during an emergency. So some of the changes that have happened in the new update, they have the new strategic investment. This increases funding for disaster mitigation, building back better to minimize impacts and future risks; the risk reduction incentives, encouraging pre-disaster planning; hazard awareness to proactively reduce disaster impacts; also has expanded supports, more help for people experiencing significant disaster impacts, and more efficient administration. So these are just some of the changes that are in the new DFAA that's supposed to be rolling out and effective April 1st. We're still opening the books essentially, if you will, and hopefully by April 1st, we'll have a better handle on what it fully entails. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister mentioned improved support programs for individuals impacted by disaster. I still -- he's aware I still have constituents who are at significant financial hardship as a result of this owing thousands of dollars. Are these changes going to help my constituents recoup their losses from the evacuation in 2023? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think there was a lot of hardship through the territories with the disasters in no particular riding. I think there was a lot of impacts to people's livelihoods. And, you know, we've all worked through them. The government's worked through them and trying to get federal funding to these impacted residents. However, this new DFAA is starting off April 1st. It is not retroactive and doesn't cover off any previous emergencies. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs is sitting on funding that it lapsed for disaster relief. Can the Minister explain why that funding that's been received is still with the department and not being sent to communities or individuals who are affected by disaster? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not aware of any funding that we're sitting on. The money that is approved or that has been sent to us is for estimated disaster costs through what the department has received through the estimates. And that covers off emergency or any expense claims that are eligible through the DFAA. So those claims are being put through and as part of the cycle, we have to account for all that money is being processed. So as far as I'm aware, we're not sitting on any money. This is money that's all accounted for and being transferred to impacted residents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Oral questions. Written questions. Returns to written questions. Replies to the Commissioner's address. Petitions. Reports of Committees on the Review of Bills. Reports of Standing and Special Committees. Tabling of documents. Minister of Finance.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents: 2025-2026 Main Estimates and 2025-2026 Business Plan Update. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Finance. Tabling of documents. Minister responsible for Status of Women.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Status of Women Council of the Northwest Territories 2023-2024 Annual Report. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister responsible for Status of Women. Tabling of documents. Notices of motion. Notices of motion for the first reading of bills. First reading of bills. Second reading of bills. Consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters, Tabled Document 275-20(1), with the Member from the Sahtu sitting in the chair.

Committee, we have agreed to consider Tabled Document 275-20(1), Main Estimates 2025-2026. We will now consider the Legislative Assembly. Does the Speaker have any opening comments?

Yes, I do. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to present the 2025-2026 Main Estimates for the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly.

The proposed budget for the 2025-2026 is an expenditure of $25.446 million, revenue of $15,000 and infrastructure investments of $500,000. The budget of $25.446 million reflects a decrease of $1.5 million. The operations expenditure of $25.446 million, reflects a decrease of $1.5 million (6 percent) compared to the 2024-2025 Budget.

This reduction is primarily attributed to the total decrease of $1.98 million in pension contributions which includes a shift to a flat-rate contribution of $883,0000, down from $1.84 million for the year 2025-2026 to 2028-2029; and, a reduction in pension expenditures of $1.027 million, largely driven by an increase in the discount rate from 3.7 percent to 4.4 percent, as projected for the years 2025 to 2029 resulting in reduced pension expenses.

The overall budget takes a conservative approach to prioritizing fiscal responsibilities. This involves strategic service consolidations and capitalizing on favorable pension returns to optimize funding.

Key budget increases are limited to essential areas specifically to account for collective bargaining obligations and other high-priority initiatives. Thank you, Mr. Chair.