Thank you, Minister of ITI. Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Finance. In recent comments to the media around the relief given to the diamond mines as of late, $11.2 million in property tax relief in specific, the Minister has said that this is about maintaining stability for workers, families, communities, and Indigenous governments that rely on this sector. I don't doubt that, Mr. Speaker. But will the Minister consider tax relief for other working families that are struggling to keep food on the table, a roof over their heads, and bills paid in the face of economic pinch that all Northerners are feeling? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this recently introduced measure was fairly targeted, and it was temporary. This is intended to be for one year only in the face of $300 million in losses to this industry that keeps people employed in the Northwest Territories. But to be clear, Mr. Speaker, what we did was we did not completely wipe out the fact that the mines are going to continue to pay property. They are just paying a bit less. They were, up to this point, other than pipelines, which had the highest mill rate, the mineral resource sector faced the second highest mill rate, significantly many times higher, in fact, than that of the education mill rates in other communities and so we just brought their mill rate down to something that's a little bit closer to what the majority of folks pay. And, again, Mr. Speaker, that is for the coming year only. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I am pointing to the relief measures for the diamond mines not because I don't believe that that isn't necessary, I do believe that's necessary, however there are lots of people who don't work in that industry who are struggling, and I'm curious if this Minister has anything in her back pocket for perhaps the next round of budget that we'll be considering real and tangible ways that we can help working families. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are actually just having begun the budgets dialogues process which gets feedback from residents about areas of particular need or pinch and what we might be able to see in terms of changes to the budget for the upcoming year. At this point, I don't have any preannouncements to make about next year's budget. I can certainly say that I hope people are tuning in and participating in the dialogues process so that we can get a sense of where there maybe some opportunities to improve our processes and peruse the budget for the benefit of all going forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Finance. Final supplementary. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think we're always having a budget dialogue in this room and in this House, so -- but thank you for that, and I do appreciate that effort that the Minister does every year.

I suppose my question, then, would be if she doesn't want to presuppose what the outcome of that -- of those budget dialogues would be, could she explain, perhaps, some of the impacts that previous relief packages have helped our residents in times of intense need, such as COVID, such as the evacuation; how are we learning from those experiences for the economic shocks to come? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll try to be brief, Mr. Speaker. I know were all given some warnings on being so, and I'm probably the worst at that. Well, Mr. Speaker, it's a tricky one. We obviously during COVID saw a number of different types of relief issued in terms of industry specific or sector specific, or aviation sector for example, but also had money that went into the pockets of residents and didn't always find that that was perhaps the best form of providing people the supports that they, in fact, required. So, you know, and then, of course, during evacuation, we were able to bring forward very quickly different packages and even so didn't even always meet the needs of everyone in those times notwithstanding the efforts that the public service had to try to fill gaps. And so with that, Mr. Speaker, I'd say really often where we find ourselves is gap filling, identifying areas of particular need or acute need or special need, and then trying to ensure that we always have the fiscal capacity to fill those needs. And last but not least, Mr. Speaker, is always targeting those who we find have the most need.

So for instance back to perhaps the original question, which I didn't really answer, but around tax relief, Mr. Speaker, there are programs -- and I hope people use them because they don't always know about them. This is the time to talk about them. Seniors and disabled persons have property tax relief. There is a property tax arrears program that folks should make use of if they're in a situation where they have high arrears. And, Mr. Speaker, I know there's work happening in housing right now to see what they can do to bring their processes online so that they too are offering arrears opportunities and arrears relief opportunities. So, again, hoping folks can participate in any engagements there and hoping that we can continue to fill those gaps as they arise. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Finance. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to follow up on the questions my good colleague from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh had brought up with respect to the Minister of ECE and the concerns about bringing Alma home.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister had pointed out that the Archaeological Sites Act is being considered or used because of an unmarked grave. First of all, I want to stress that designation forces Alma to be defined as a thing. And Alma is a person. She has family. She was somebody's daughter. She has a resting place. It's marked in a grave in a coordinated site. The family wants her home. The community wants her home. And I believe, if I'm correct, Mr. Speaker, talking to the Alma working group is she even has family lineage to help prove it's really her.

So taking all that into effect, Mr. Speaker, would the Minister be willing, with the spirit of the TRC and how important it is, would the Minister be willing to issue a ministerial directive to waive any interests of the Archaeological Sites Act so the Coroner's Act can step in and help restore Alma's grave to the community and where the family wants it? Thank you.

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

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in regards to -- this is a very sensitive topic. It's a very important topic. And it's incredibly important that we find a way forward that respects the treaty rights of all Indigenous governments -- or and all Indigenous people in this territory. And ultimately education, culture and employment has no interest in standing in the way but certainly has an interest in ensuring that they are upholding the treaty rights of all Indigenous people in this territory.

And so what I would like to say to the Member, Mr. Speaker, is that I really welcome the opportunity to sit down with the MLA, to sit down with the chief, sit down with their project team, and be able to have a conversation because I truly do believe that there is a path forward and that conversations face-to-face are best for things like this. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I was on the conference call on the weekend. I was listening to the Alma working group. They have experts from the Kamloops experience. That should be considered the gold standard of how to do these things.

Mr. Speaker, I don't know if another meeting is required. I'm going to say I don't think it is. Mr. Speaker, we need a ministerial directive waiving interest under the Archaeological Sites Act so the Coroner's Act can be done and assess and remove Alma from her current place to exactly where the community and family want her.

Would the Minister agree to this House that she will initiate every stop, on whatever this train ride needs to be, and accelerate it to the end which is the outcome of allowing Alma to go home as the family wishes it, using the Coroner's Act? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, under the Archaeological Sites Act, I don't have the authority to issue a directive. I have to ensure that I am following the law.

That being said, as I stated earlier, there is also a mechanism, if what the Member says is true -- and I have not seen the site, Mr. Speaker, nor has our NWT archaeologist either. But if the community is under firm belief that they know the identity of this person -- it is clearly marked and that they know the identity of the individual, then the Archaeological Sites Act does not apply here. So I want to be clear on that piece there.

But I think that there is room for conversation because I know that in previous years leading up to this year, in 2022, 2023, and 2024, the Archaeological Sites Act was used and permits were awarded and everybody was working together, and so I do believe that there is an opportunity to continue that. And I know that the team that they are working with, the archaeologist has an incredible reputation and also has a relationship with our archaeologist here, and so maintaining that would be absolutely ideal and that is something that I would love to do, and I would welcome the opportunity to sit down with the community. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Mr. Speaker, I have to do everything in my power to contain myself because now I'm really upset, because if we follow the process of the archaeological sites, Alma is designated a thing. And if she is a thing, she becomes a property of the state. And if she becomes a property of the state, what symbolism does that represent that Indigenous people are a property of the state because we have to follow that process? I think it's so important that the opportunity -- the path forward that's being asked by this side of the House is let the Coroner's Act proceed. Because this is a very emotional issue, I'm asking the Minister to stand down. If she doesn't want to write a ministerial direction -- directive, stand down the archaeological Act -- Archaeological Sites Act and encourage the Coroner's Act to step forward, and we will all welcome it and champion the success of this initiative. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, under the Act there is no indication that ECE would have to take control or possession of the remains of this person. The Act, as I have indicated before, the language in it, does need to be updated. It wasn't drafted long ago under the knowledge that we would be here in this place years later. But we are here, and we are taking remedies to acknowledge that this Act does need to be updated and taking steps to start that process to update this piece of legislation.

In other pieces, for example in other modern treaties in this territory, language like heritage resources are used. And so different terms are used for human remains and in this -- in this type of instance, and this Act does use the term "artifact", but in no way, shape, or form is the respect or dignity of this process or the importance of this process diminished because of that. And it is incredibly important that I reiterate that there is no desire to stand in the way of this work; there is a desire to ensure that respect is being afforded to all Indigenous people of this territory and Nunavut who may have family who are buried at the sites of our residential schools in this territory. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise here today just to -- I'm very emotional about this whole thing. I'm first generation residential school survivor, federal day school survivor, and I think about the mother -- the grandmother that's in Fort Smith that wants her child to be brought home, a promise to her sister.

Mr. Speaker, I tried everything here to figure a way where we could try to build collaboration, relationship and trust, but I'm not hearing it here today. It saddens me that we can't find a solution. Again, policies of government overriding over our treaties, our culture, and our values.

If the Minister refuses to implement a mandate letter that she's got from the Minister -- Premier Simpson, then would the ECE Minister resign here today to -

-- point of order, Mr. Speaker.

Member from Yellowknife South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe that the Member has overstepped the bounds that there's making inferences here about the Minister's intentions and the Minister's process and what the Minister may or may not be doing, imputing negative motives and a motive that's not present. The notion that she's not working with the Member or the Members of this House is -- in my view, it's not fair. That's a mischaracterization. It's not a characterization of work that's happened on this file, that's been described in this House today, and that we have information, all of us, knowing about the work that's been attempted by the Minister, by her office, with this Member. It's not fair, Mr. Speaker. It's an emotive that's being imputed. It's not fair, and it's not proper, and it shouldn't be on the floor of this House, certainly not on this issue that's important to all of us. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife South. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, to the point of order.

To the point of order, Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.