Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Health and Social Services has been updating the long-term care projections to ensure that we're planning appropriately for the needs of our aging population. Those updated projections are expected to be released later this summer. I've just recently been briefed on them, and they'll be released this summer. Once released, the projections will inform how we work with communities to ensure seniors can access the care that they need as close to home as possible and will support ongoing discussions about infrastructure, staffing, and service delivery in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister update the House then on the current status of the expansion in Inuvik and how those bed projections will be factored into the project once they are completed this summer. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, currently the process of issuing the RFP for design, we're currently in the process of issuing this. I believe it's in the infrastructure ready to -- going through that procurement process to go out for design services. The bed projections will provide important territory-wide data and then for our -- like, for each long-term care, it will show where we have planning in place if that's enough beds once we build them. So in Inuvik, you know, the numbers will remain the same. I believe there's additional 18 beds. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and yes, if it ends up being 18 beds, 20 beds, or 15 beds, certainly that will be appreciated.

I know I've had conversations with the Minister both publicly and in our constituency meetings in our hometown regarding the design stage, and we're anticipating construction starting in 2027. Can the Minister speak to when she is now anticipating construction to begin, and are we still looking at 2027 for shovels in the ground, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe we have a schematic design cost estimate completion anticipated for March 31st, 2027. And then we have a construction completion date by 2032. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure.

Given that licensing numbers for the Tlicho region are overshadowed by Yellowknife under the broader North Slave region, will the Minister provide the most recent numbers for how many restricted class 5 driver's licenses were issued in Behchoko? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Minister of Infrastructure.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That level of detail, I'd have to go to the department to find out the amount of restricted driver's licenses that have been issued in Behchoko or the Tlicho region. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Fort Simpson provides unrestricted class 5 testing when it is a smaller regional centre with comparable road conditions and infrastructure while Behchoko continues to receive limited service. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit to lifting the restricted driver's license status for NWT small communities? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would love to lift the restricted licenses across the territories however restricted driver's licenses do apply. Actually in just a quick little Google search, I found that they still exist in many provinces across Canada and territory. You know, usually what happens is because we follow a Canadian standard, there is infrastructure that is missing within communities. You know, some of the things that Behchoko may not have compared to Fort Simpson is street markings, street crosswalks painted on, stuff like that, and also maybe curbside -- or curbs. However, I am committed to work with the Member for her community to see what infrastructure is required for the community of Behchoko and if we can work with the community government to see how we can improve the infrastructure there and work on getting the restricted driver's licenses lifted for Behchoko. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Final supplementary. Member from Monfwi.

Thank you. Thank you for that response. So will the Minister commit to establishing a designated road test route, making the modest improvements required, and providing unrestricted class 5 driver testing in Behchoko? Thank you.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, you know, this is a lot to do with the Canadian standards and national standards of what we follow for testing. And like I said earlier, we'll have a look at it and see what we can do in the community of Behchoko to work with the community governments and the ability to improve the infrastructure and if it's something simple that we can do, like line painting, that's something we could probably look at doing with our regular seasonal contracts of line painting. But, again, we'll look at what we can do in Behchoko to improve the driver's testing and hopefully get rid of the restricted driver's license in Behchoko. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Infrastructure. Oral questions. Member from the Sahtu.

Thank you, Member from the Sahtu. Minister responsible for Housing NWT.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In terms of the Tulita housing delivery, the modular units for Tulita are being provided by two contractual agreements, each with NWT-based manufacturers. Four units, again, we talked about this earlier in session, are manufactured in Fort Good Hope with the K'ahsho Got'ine Trade Centre with units -- with plans to bring the units to the community on the 2028 winter road. The remaining six units will be manufactured in Hay River by Metcan Building Solutions, an Indigenous-owned business. These units will be delivered to Tulita on the 2027 winter road with the 2027 barge as a contingency plan. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Minister. We're not only growing the community home needs, but we're growing the NWT economy. That's very grateful to see.

My next question, what benefits can the region expect? It's a project, it's a contract, is there training plans within the procurement system of these developments? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated earlier, I think it's important to recognize that four of the units are being built in Fort Good Hope, a small, remote community in the Northwest Territories. So much benefits to the community, especially around local labour component and a workforce component as well as an apprenticeship and training component. And the units with Metcan in Hay River, again training and employment, local labour workforce. So many benefits across both communities adding to our housing stock. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister responsible for Housing NWT. Final supplementary. Member from the Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I share this inspiration for trades. Locally, we have a young fellow that has his journeyman as an electrician. So that adds to -- is there a capacity on trades from these projects and for the other customer builds in Good Hope, some kind of trades component to be shared with the young people and the high school students as well? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the MLA for sharing that. It's really important to recognize that we need tradespeople locally in our communities, in the workforce, every day, and also apprenticing like others. Because I think right now in the Northwest Territories we're seeing a lower level of tradespeople compared to perhaps the last generation, and we need to boost up that capacity, like the Member has indicated, especially with major projects and Build Canada Homes. The potential in Northwest Territories is great. It's just that we've got to get the local workforce engaged. And that's why Housing NWT is placing that in their contractual agreements that there is that apprenticeship makeup in the agreement itself. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.