Debates of March 6th, 2026

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yeah, no, thank you to the Minister for that. And I am hoping if there are formal terms of reference that she could share those with the committee.

Mr. Speaker, also, is it possible for the Minister to share what the committee has accomplished thus far in terms of their review of the GNWT's response to the MMIWG Calls to Justice? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Of course I am able to share that with the Member. And I think it's really important that this advisory committee get up and running with its terms of reference. And finalizing the terms of reference was really important. The first step was really crucial and critical to this committee to get formalized. And they've had four meetings to date as an advisory committee, and I can share those results with the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister responsible for the Status of Women. Oral questions. Member from the Sahtu.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks for the opportunity for allowing me to ask a couple of additional questions here to get the message out. As you can understand there, Mr. Speaker, the departure of Imperial has drastically impacted our community well-being and economy.

My question is to the strategic infrastructure Minister. Can the Minister share some of the progress that is underway for the bridge replacements, specifically to the Oscar Creek Bridge relocation and the Smith Creek. Mahsi.

Thank you, Member from the Sahtu. Minister responsible for Strategic Infrastructure, Energy, and Supply Chains.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, happy to speak to these. Folks may have seen there is now a live RFP out, a procurement event out for Smith Creek. It's specifically for the design element of that bridge, not necessarily for construction. I would anticipate this may well find itself going through a different path in terms of the procurement for construction. But the RFP is out to get this bridge designed, get that moving. It is long known to be the gateway to the MVH and needs to be replaced; we know that, Let's get that done. Meanwhile, Mr. Speaker, on Oscar Creek Bridge, happy to say as well that there's, again procurement processes already in progress, and looking forward hopefully to a decision on that fairly soon so that those two projects, which are just outside of the current EIA, are able to advance as quickly as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thanks to the Minister for that update. Certainly, that's welcoming news there to the unemployed, or to be unemployed.

My last question there, Mr. Speaker, is on the Mackenzie Valley Highway progress and procurement. Can the Minister of strategic infrastructure share some of the timelines on that project. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, the timelines continue to change, but they continue to change because we continue to find ways to shave some time off and to condense some of these timelines. We're feeling that pressure, not only from the residents throughout the Northwest Territories, but, really, some expectation on the part of what we're expected to be delivering from a national projects type of event. So we are with that, Mr. Speaker, aiming to be out in a procurement event next year. So that will require us now to be making some decisions about what kind of procurement this will be. We have that information now. We've just recently done an evaluation of what it might look like to procure a major project like this. We have that in hand. We can make those decisions. And as I say, this -- our target now is to have this in a procurement state ready for next calendar year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister responsible for Strategic Infrastructure, Energy, and Supply Chains. Member from the Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for that fourth opportunity. I will take the advantage of saying it's three.

My question to the strategic infrastructure Minister is, is there scheduling for this anticipation coming that we can expect and share with our chamber members and business community in the Sahtu? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from the Sahtu. Minister of Strategic Infrastructure, Energy, and Supply Chains.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Absolutely. The team was with the Member for the Sahtu in the region only a couple of weeks ago, but it has certainly been my experience that talking about this more and getting more information out is important. It's been talked about a long time, and so to be putting more concrete timelines on it is something new that people will, frankly, not be familiar with. So I am more than happy to make sure that -- to circulate this to all Members. We really do need all of the Indigenous governments on whose lands this is going to traverse, the community governments, hopefully to all be pulling in the same direction so that when the time comes, in my mind when we get referred in and find ourselves as a major project, that we can all stand up and say that we're ready. So I will circulate this to all Members, Mr. Speaker, put it out on social media so that there's clarity on all timelines that were coming. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister responsible for Strategic Infrastructure, Energy, and Supply Chains. Oral questions. Member from the Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday -- I believe it was yesterday; every day feels like a Monday around here some days.

Mr. Speaker, yeah, I believe yesterday I was asking questions about the dental review officer and the fact that I even stumbled across a point in one of the information that we have an annual contract in the range of $25,000 with him. So there is a direct relationship with the GNWT. I'd submitted a bunch of questions on, I believe, February 11th, and I am still waiting for those answers. Can the Minister update the House, and particularly obviously me -- because we have a lot of people hinging on these answers in the background in the dental industry wanting some true transparency -- can the Minister tell me when she'll be responding to my questions? Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when the department staff get back to me, then I will be able to respond. I know that my office did let the Member know that they're going to -- we responded to the initial questions and then came back with a whole another list of questions, so those went back. And so as soon as my office receives them, then we will send them on to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, there is some truism to the statement just made. What I will say is I sent the email on the 11th. She -- there was a follow-up on the 12th saying -- I am reasonable -- yeah, you need a little more time. Mr. Speaker, all of these questions are simple questions. This isn't my question but they're simply asking about their appointment start dates, their mandate letter, etcetera. Most of this is very easy information.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister -- this is the question: Can the Minister articulate before the House the reasoning of this delay; are they waiting for session to end or is there some type of blockage that we need to clarify? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of Finance said yesterday, very, very wonderfully in her statement, about we only have so many people doing so many jobs and so we have a lot of things going on in the department right now, and a lot of that work was to do with budget negotiations and the ongoing work and as well as these -- all of the questions that come in from all of the Members, as soon as my office receives those answers, I will be forwarding them on. When my office receives answers from the department or from NTHSSA or from TCSA or from Hay River, they are vetted through my office as soon as we get them. I do not hang onto them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, these are very simple, uncomplicated questions. They're not tied up with hypotheticals or trickiness. They are honest and genuine questions.

Mr. Speaker, is the Minister suggesting that the department is incapable to responding in a timely way to Members?

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, there are many things. They also ask for a three-year full cost breakdown. That would have to go back to our finance people that are working currently on a lot of other things for this sitting. And so as those things -- they are -- you know, we prioritize them as they come in. And so all of the pieces of the questions might not be to the same person. So as we get the answers to my office, I will respond to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Mackenzie Delta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to my Member's statement, my questions are directed to the Premier.

With several jurisdictions across North America reviewing or moving towards permanent standard time, should the Northwest Territories also examine whether maintaining daily savings time remains in the best interests of the residents of the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Mackenzie Delta. Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you for the question. In 2022, the Government of the Northwest Territories put out a survey about ending time change. I think it's probably the most popular survey we've ever put out. There was about 3,000 responses in two days. 87 percent of the people who responded are in favour of ending seasonal time change. The reason that we haven't done it yet is because we are so closely tied to Alberta that we want to ensure that we can maintain the same time as them because we have lots of medical appointments, we do lots of business with Alberta, there's flights, all of those things. And we don't want to cause any problems. It's also a big issue -- it's also a lot of work to end time change. You have to contact Google and Microsoft and Apple, and you're on the phone talking to these companies trying to get it done. And we've learned from our friends in the Yukon that it is quite an ordeal to do it alone. And so I was very encouraged when British Columbia ended, and I was very encouraged when Premier Smith noted that they're doing some consultation to look at ending time change, and I let her know that as soon as Alberta ends time change we'll be right there with them, and we're ready to go. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.