Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the response. Mr. Speaker, given the imminent closure of the Diavik diamond mine and Gahcho Kue mine just recently announced -- so what step is this government taking to develop a comprehensive transition plan for affected Tlicho communities and other northern communities in the NWT? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so for quite some time we've known that the diamond sector is going through a transition and the market is not quite as robust or stable as it used to be, and so we have already, for a number of months now, had a partnership with the Tlicho government and the Yellowknives Dene to ensure that we are pooling resources, we're getting information out there, and we're supporting residents the best way that we can. So that work has already begun. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Final supplementary. Member from Monfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, House is this government working with both Indigenous government and federal partners to advance the proposed Arctic Economic and Security Corridor and secure funding for critical road and trades infrastructure? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And how we're doing that is in partnership. Once again, we were just down in Vancouver at the AME Roundup where I signed an MOU with the Yellowknives Dene and the Tlicho to advance the Arctic Economic and Security Corridor. Of course we have a Minister of Strategic Infrastructure, Energy, and Supply Chains -- see, it's not that hard of a title -- to focus on this work with an associate Minister who -- and I have found that arrangement actually to be one of the most effective things that we do as government, to have an associate and a Minister focusing on these specific projects. It has really helped to move them along. We've travelled down to Ottawa many times, both as Council of Leaders -- or rather, with other Indigenous governments, to advocate for the economic security corridor. I've done this to the Prime Minister, to a number of Ministers, as has the Minister of infrastructure. We have a timeline that we're working through with the proponents, the Yellowknives Dene and the Tlicho, to advance this. We're in had regular contact with the leadership of those Indigenous governments. And so we're doing everything we can to move things forward here. We have a federal government that is receptive. The world has a focus on the Arctic and on critical minerals, and we are doing our best to take advantage of that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to ask questions of the Premier.

The Government of the Northwest Territories signed socio-economic agreements with each of the diamond mine operators as they were starting up operations. The one with Ekati was signed with BHP as far back as 1996. One was signed with Diavik in 1999 and then amended in 2015. And two have been signed with De Beers, in 2004 and 2013. So these commit the operators, amongst other things, to use certain levels of northern and Indigenous employees and contractors. They also commit the GNWT to certain actions like training and apprenticeship programs.

My first question: How is the GNWT enforcing these socio-economic agreements including, at this time as several mines are reducing their operations, how can we enforce their promises to prioritize reserving northern workers and northern contractors as they scale down? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so of course socio-economic agreements don't have enforcement clauses. There's not levers to enforce. There's not fines that can be levied on the mines for not meeting those targets. And so this is about building relationships and ensuring that we're staying on top of this. So I know the Minister of ITI has quarterly meetings with the mines where they go over these numbers, the employment numbers. When we learn about mines looking at changing their workforce, reducing the workforce, of course we ensure that they're going to follow the appropriate legislation. But we also do our best to ensure they keep as many northern staff as possible. And a lot of effort goes into that. That's always a live discussion at the Cabinet table whenever anything happens with any major industry or employer in the territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So of course it's disappointing to hear that these much touted agreements with companies are actually not enforceable. How is the GNWT ensuring, then, that the diamond mine operators fulfill their commitments according to the agreements to work with the GNWT as operations are being scaled back or moving towards closure and, particularly, to retrain workers and ease their transition to new jobs? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so when certain companies wind down, for example up at Diavik, for years they've had a my path program where they worked with the employees there to help them transition to whatever might be next. And so as I mentioned earlier, we have formed a partnership with Yellowknives Dene and the Tlicho to look at any training opportunities that might be available, trying to figure out where, you know, those individuals are working, how we can best support them. I want to also point out that there's already a lot of different programs available in the territory. There's different training programs that can be accessed. And not everybody needs those programs all the time. But when they do need them, they exist. And so in these situations, we don't need to always come up with a whole new suite of programs. We already have existing programs. That said, we do lobby the federal government to enhance the funding through -- that we get through some of these programs to address these issues when there's large closure or a large number of job losses. We want to ensure that both the federal and the territorial government are working together to maximize our resources and getting as much money into the territory and into the hands of the people who need it as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So given that mines such as Ekati have been sold over the years to new operators, if the socio-economic agreements have been assigned or transferred to the responsibility of the new owners, was there any assessment of whether the new owner or operators had the financial capacity or know-how to actually fulfill the obligations in these socio-economic agreements? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the department of ITI does review the socio-economic agreements when there is the sale of a mine, and those socio-economic agreements do transfer to the new owner. So, yes, we do review those. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh .

Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I heard the Member mention the Minister's priorities of medical travel and cultural safety. I am not sure if he mentioned the other priority of care in small communities, and so I think a focus on care in small communities, which are primarily Indigenous in the territory, is -- you know, is a direct -- you can directly point to that to say we are working to fulfill the treaties. But I will comment since I am on the subject there that we do fulfill the treaties, I would say more than any other jurisdiction in Canada. We put more effort into ensuring that we do fulfill the treaties. I am very confident in the Minister of health, and when I travel around the territory and I meet with different leaders, including Indigenous leaders from the Member's own riding, they go out of their way to tell me what a good job the Minister is doing and how much faith they have in her. So, Mr. Speaker, I am excited with the changes that are happening. I can see the -- you know, we -- I have access to more of what's going on, I would say, than obviously the general population, and there's a lot of stuff happening in the departments right from putting in a public administrator, to straighten things out, to ensuring that we are understanding what we're actually spending money on, to ensuring that the medical travel is being dealt with today. You know, we're not waiting until text term to start looking into this. So there's a lot of great things happening, and things do take time, but we're seeing those changes now. And I think that in the next few years, we're going to see a significant transformation of the healthcare system in the Northwest Territories for the better. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does the Premier believe the Minister of Health and Social Services is upholding the spirit of consensus government and the open collaborative approach required in her mandate letter when she refused to work with Regular Members on protecting treaty rights and improving quality of care of Indigenous people received through medical travel policies? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, I don't accept the premise of the Member's question. We do uphold the spirit of consensus government. Ministers appear in front of committees. Committees give feedback to Ministers. Ministers go and give direction to departments informed by that feedback. Just because a Member is not getting everything they want or they make promises that the Minister can't deliver on for them, it doesn't mean that we're not fulfilling the promise of consensus government, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Final supplementary. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Meaningful progress is not being made by the Minister in advancing UNDRIP or upholding treaties, strengthening partnerships with First Nations as required in her mandate letter. What steps will the Premier take to ensure these commitments are fulfilled during the remaining of his term? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We're going to stay the course because, again, I don't agree with the premise of the Member's question. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.