Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too will be supporting the budget. I'm happy with the housing funding that's going to be distributed within the Northwest Territories but there's still work to be done on distribution, especially within my region after I looked at where the preliminary distribution dollars were going, it didn't look very bright for the communities of my region. So there is room for improvement. So I am happy with the housing allocation. But there's room for improvement in other areas, especially with the -- my favorite, the income support program. You know, we have to work at finding a way where we can get our -- those recipients to be part of the economy. 15 percent of my residents in the Beaufort Delta are on income support so I'd like to find -- you know, get the Indigenous governments and other agencies involved in trying to get funding from ECE to create programs where they can build their self-esteem, where they can join the workforce, and be partners with the rest of the Northwest Territories in building our economy, especially in the Mackenzie Delta where unemployment is high.

Closures of the community learning centres was a shock. I've stated in our meetings that -- committee meetings that this was ongoing since June of 2023 and then within a couple of weeks, they just dropped this on the whole NWT. We wouldn't need the adult learning centres if improvements to the kindergarten to grade 12 was put -- was made better rather than socially promoting our students and sending them to income support where they make a living off it. So kindergarten to grade 12 is where everything starts. We have to make improvements in our education system. It's pretty sad to see a graduate from a recent grade 12 program and see him at the front of the class having problems with simple arithmetic, and you expect these students to go virtually learning? It's a hard task to even comprehend.

The health care, you have to improve that within the smaller communities. About every week, I'm getting notifications from the regional health department saying that one of the medical -- one of the health centres are closed because due to staff shortage. They'd be open only for emergency cases.

And I'm getting calls about medical travel accommodations. We need collaboration with these -- with Cabinet, with the Minister, to bring clarity for the residents of the Northwest Territories when they're travelling; who's obligated to take these tasks on? We need clarity.

We got to find solutions for what I've been trying to bring forth the last few sessions is the crisis we're in with the drugs and alcohol. The biggest places where they're setting up shop is right in with Housing NWT's public housing units, and the local authorities or Housing NWT can't do nothing. It's sad when you see you go past a person's house, and you know there's criminal activity there. But I've tried, I went to the RCMP myself. I held interagency meetings. Our hands are just tied. We can't do nothing but, you know, hope and pray for the best of our people and, hopefully in the future, a budget will come out where everyone is happy. But that's impossible. You can't -- I can't get everything from this budget that I want, that the residents of my constituency want, but we can be optimistic and hopefully we can negotiate throughout the year and try get programs to heal our people to make them feel better about themselves, be part of the workforce, be well educated. Education is just a big factor; it's where everything starts. Then you get into alcohol and drugs and it affects every department of this government. Every department, alcohol and drugs effects.

Collaboration and consultation with communities is a big one. This government has to consult with the residents of the Northwest Territories in seeing what they want, what's hurting them. There's a lot of people out there hurting. Even just walking -- walking home from after session, you see people are struggling. It's hard to see that. I don't know them, but I tell you I brought this up before. I was in their shoes for five months until my cousin Stanley, he rescued me. I would have been probably still there because I didn't feel like I was an alcoholic, but I was surviving. And I think that's what these people are doing. You just have to give them a little encouragement because they all have potential. They all have work ethics. But they just -- they're stuck in a rut right now.

But I will be supporting this budget. But, you know, there is room for improvement as the year goes on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.