Thank you, Madam Chair. We agreed to work with Regular Members on developing the statement of consistency. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Within this bill, I mean, like the Member pointed out that they were given notice -- or advice if there's a shared agreement that's to be signed.

Madam Chair, I'd like to say that within a lot of the acts in the Northwest Territories, they don't define the roles of Members that I can point out. I may be wrong. If that's wrong, then please correct me. But I don't think that's the role of acts. The acts defines what shall happen and then the roles of Regular Members are in our legislative protocol that we all adhere before a bill gets passed in the House. They have a chance for questions and answers, they have their own roles, and those maintained. But, again, going back to not every act in the Northwest Territories has the roles of Regular Members that I can point out. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thanks, Madam Chair. Am I just answering the one question or the two? Just the one.

Thank you, Madam Chair. On my right, I have Mr. Martin Goldney, the deputy minister of executive and Indigenous affairs. On my left is Anne-Marie Guedon, the manager of Indigenous affairs. And, in fact, on the right behind me is Christina Duffy who is the legislative drafter. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Yes, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here to introduce Bill 85, United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Implementation Act.

This bill represents an important step forward in advancing one of the priorities of the 19th Legislative Assembly tabled in October 2019 which directed this government to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The drafting of this legislation has been done with Indigenous governments in a way that respects their diverse needs and priorities. This is consistent with the requirements on the GNWT set out in the United Nations Declaration when undertaking implementation. The collaborative development of the legislation, as well as the requirement in Bill 85 to collaboratively develop an action plan, is just a first step. This legislation will be yet another tool we have to formalize an ongoing relationship between the Government of the Northwest Territories and Indigenous governments to support the long-term work of implementing the United Nations Declaration in the Northwest Territories.

This government has taken significant steps forward to be inclusive. Among them, our co-development of legislation through the Intergovernmental Council and the inception of the Northwest Territories Council of Leaders have not only been resounding successes here, but are also being watched by other provinces and territories who are keen to learn from our progress and adapt our lessons into their own systems. Within this context, our consensus system includes distinct roles for Regular MLAs and for the executive. Among them, the executive works directly with Indigenous or other governments to advance shared priorities while Regular MLAs have the power and responsibility to debate, amend, and pass laws. Both functions are necessary to a healthy public government, and it is crucially important that the separation of these branches, consistent across all public governments in Canada, is respected in the way we implement the United Nations Declaration in the Northwest Territories.

I want to thank the Standing Committee on Government Operations for the opportunity to review the bill in detail on September 20th. It was helpful to provide some insight on the bill and receive clarity on the proposed amendments.

Madam Chair, we have much work ahead of us. We've gotten this far by working together, and we'll continue to do so as we advance the goal we have set for ourselves to implement the United Nations Declaration in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Madam Chair. That concludes my opening remarks.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What can be addressed in -- what's going to happen in the next six months, I can't speak to that, Mr. Speaker, because there will be an election within the next six months. So what I can speak to is by the end of this government, we shall have that team organized and put into the Executive and Indigenous Affairs.

Mr. Speaker, though, this cannot -- this issue is huge and it needs to be addressed. The reason that we did the homelessness strategy, the reason that we pulled it into the executive is because it's been off the side of the table for departments for many, many decades, and we've realized that that is not okay. So personally, I'm going to do my piece to make sure that this gets integrated into the executive to be as strong as it can. I need MLAs in the next Assembly, and residents -- I will be part of that chain banging the drum. We need to make sure that homelessness is a priority, that homelessness stays a priority, and that the integrated services, not just the people, but departments working together continue so that we can address homelessness so that people have the basic standard - a home to live in. If you don't have a place to live, Mr. Speaker - food, clothing, and shelter - lots of research says you won't prosper. So my hope is that the MLAs sitting across the table, those that get re-elected, will continue to make this a priority and will continue to push government because even if you are or not, I will be doing that as a resident to the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the commitments for the -- by the end of this government would be that the integrated case management workers would be housed within the Executive and Indigenous Affairs. We were working on the job descriptions, the evaluations, etcetera, just before the evacuation happened. I believe that process, if it's not finished already, will be close to. And I'll make a point of making sure that it's done before I leave. And so before the end of this government, the job descriptions, the people that will be hired, that integrated case management team will be located in the Executive and Indigenous Affairs, and we will begin to make those connections with all of the agencies because it can't be done alone by the GNWT. It has to be done in consultation, side by side, with the agencies addressing homelessness. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can't really speak for the next government or governments to come. The Premier does have the option to be able to shuffle departments, move Ministers as appropriate, consolidate as we did, or make departments bigger. That's always under the purview of the Premier. However, I did my best, Mr. Speaker, to try to make it sustainable within the Executive and Indigenous Affairs, and that's why purposely I brought the homelessness strategy under the Premier's portfolio in this government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.