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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister responsible for the Status of Women.

Mr. Speaker, last week I tabled a policy paper from the University of Calgary that outlines it costs government more and arguably society to do nothing in the face of gender-based violence. That is, perpetrators who are overwhelmingly male get caught in the cycle of repeated violence that harms themselves, perpetuates trauma, and costs the system more. The 94 MMIWG Calls to Justice expressly ask governments to address the root causes of violence. So in alignment with that, the Call to Justice 14.12 that asks territorial governments to work with Correctional Services Canada to provide programming for men and boys that confronts and ends violence, would the Minister be willing to explore a similar model as outlined in this paper where police and social services coordinate to offer offenders rehabilitation-style programming proven in other jurisdictions to reduce recidivism? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister, Status of Women.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. And thank you to the Member for the question. With the gender equity division, they are working with the Department of Justice on offering rehabilitation programming that addresses gender-based violence in the Northwest Territories. The national action plan to end gender-based violence funds programs including the partner program, the intimate partner violence treatment options court, and the justice administrator's funding for men's healing programs in the Northwest Territories. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Calls to Justice include addressing the root causes of crime, calling on a whole-of-government approach to address the root causes of crime. The wellness court, drug treatment option program, and intimate partner violence treatment option court, are alternatives to conventional courts that act as therapeutic interventions to address the underlying causes of antisocial behaviour to reduce reoffending and increase the use of restorative justice in the territorial court system. Community justice committees support the GNWT's commitment to safer communities by addressing minor offences early at the community level and in ways to reduce repeat offending. Continued investments in community justice reflect the GNWT's focus on prevention, accountability, and building community capacity to improve safety outcomes across the territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if you even spend a brief amount of time looking at Stat NWT's spreadsheet of criminal incidents by violation, which is from 2010-2024, you'll see that many of the charges associated with gender-based and family violence such as sexual assault, assault, uttering threats, harassment, they spiked in 2019 and they haven't gone down since.

Does the Minister agree that we need to try new approaches to prevention based on the increase of these crimes? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister responsible for the Status of Women. Final supplementary. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for bringing up the whole of government response that is currently engaged with the GNWT. However, Mr. Speaker, what steps have been taken so far to unify the approach across government on Action 66, In their own strategy changing the relationship? The ones that focus most on prevention of committing violence, those committing violence from re-offending, beyond Action 78 and 79 in that same strategy. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Beyond Action 78 and 79, we are committed to supporting the Northwest Territories community and residents to achieve their wellness goals. This includes supporting communities and Indigenous governments through community wellness initiatives. Gender equity division has also developed a strategic framework for addressing family violence in the Northwest Territories, reclaiming the capable person. We are all capable persons when we have community.

The division is now working on an action plan that will be GNWT-planned with concrete actions that will support a whole-of-government approach to address family and gender-based violence. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Finance.

Can the Minister explain what immediate action this government is taking to reduce cost of living pressures on families and small communities. Thank you.

Minister of Finance.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with respect to measures around affordability, there's -- unfortunately, the number of things that are causing affordability to be challenging, not only in the North but across Canada, are many and varied, Mr. Speaker. One of the biggest ones in the North continues to be energy costs. And, Mr. Speaker, in that regard, we have the territorial power support program that is just shy of $10 million, rate equalization for communities. Government payers pay higher rates than non-governments or residents and non-profits. That comes in at just around $7 million a year, Mr. Speaker. And of course we have one-time costs that we continue to pay so that when there are infrastructure investments into our energy systems to reduce our reliance on diesel, which is driving that current cost, that if the government pays for that, ratepayers are not, so to the tune here in this government of just shy of $50 million over five years to try to ensure that ratepayers aren't responsible for those costs, Mr. Speaker. Those are just some of the things in this space. We also continue to pay for the costs of home heating fuel and for clients who are on income assistance or in public housing. All of those costs, when they go up, Mr. Speaker, we do continue to cover them for folks who are most in need. Thank you.

Thank you. And thank you to the Minister for that answer. But I have to ask again, will the Minister commit to reviewing fuel relief options, including reducing or suspending the NWT gas tax? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this point in time we've not taken any steps to reduce or to change the gas tax. I can say that once when it was clear what was happening -- or certainly not clear what will necessarily happen with a war in Iran, but we certainly have been reviewing and keeping an eye on rising costs, what that's doing to not only affordability for residents and for businesses, but also on the ability of our government to continue to support residents. So, for instance, even just the utilities and housing hitting a new high at $32 million, those are all costs that we want to continue to bear. We want to continue to do it in a way that we're not ultimately taking on more debt and putting that on the backs of our future residents.

So, Mr. Speaker, absolutely, we'll continue to monitor, we'll continue to keep an eye on it, and happy to make that commitment, just not the -- no change at this point in time. Thank you.

Final supplementary. Member from Deh Cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister commit to reviewing current affordability supports to determine whether they reflect the real cost of living in small communities, including the cost of gas and home heating fuel? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we absolutely will continue to make those types of analysis and reviews. Mr. Speaker, it's, you know -- it's very challenging times right now and while there's lots of good news on the horizon for the Northwest Territories, at this moment in time it's costly to move things around, it's costly for residents to move around, and it's costly to pay for electricity. So we will absolutely happy to commit that we'll make those considerations known. Obviously, for folks in public housing or on income assistance, the government swallows up the added costs. But for everybody else, the folks that are working poor, that is a much more complicated situation. So yes, Mr. Speaker, we'll continue to keep an eye on it. And as we do, you know, as we did in the Sahtu when there was a crisis when the fuel didn't get in. So in those situations, we certainly do step in and we keep an eye out for when those circumstances require. Thank you.

Oral questions. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, some time ago I made a Member's statement on the chip-sealing prospects in Inuvik of having the bypass road chip-sealed. Obviously, Members -- my predecessors in the past have made those. I did, thankfully, get a commitment from the Minister of Infrastructure that we, indeed, are going to chip-seal the bypass road in Inuvik this year. I got that verbally in this House as well as I got it in writing, so I am very happy with that.

So my question for the Minister of Infrastructure is, has that contract been let since we are now -- as my colleague had said, it is June 1st, the season has started. And has that contract been awarded, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am happy to announce that the contract has been dealt with and work's underway. Looking to start it as soon as possible here, it looks like, and work's well underway to get that project done. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank the Minister. So I understand some of the prep work is required to be done on that road as well, potentially some culvert work, some upgrading. So I am just, again, looking at a schedule. The contract's been awarded. Has the contract been awarded for all that work, Mr. Speaker?

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. It looks like all the prepping work will be done hopefully by July and ready to be chip-sealed by August, around that time of August. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.