Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is an expression of gratitude to clerk Tim Mercer for dedicated and exemplary service.

WHEREAS Tim Mercer was appointed Clerk of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly in August, 2003;

AND WHEREAS Mr. Mercer has provided devoted and outstanding public service to the Legislative Assembly and its Members for 20 years;

AND WHEREAS during Mr. Mercer's tenure as Clerk of the Legislative Assembly he was a strong advocate for Indigenous peoples, languages, and culture;

AND WHEREAS during Mr. Mercer's tenure as Clerk, the Legislative Assembly has undergone rapid and significant change;

AND WHEREAS Mr. Mercer will retire as the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly on March 31, 2023;

AND WHEREAS it is customary for Legislative Assemblies to recognize and express their gratitude for such long and distinguished service.

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, second by the Honourable Member for Hay River North, that the Legislative Assembly expresses its sincere gratitude to Mr. Tim Mercer for his dedicated and exemplary service to this House.

Thank you, Mr, Speaker -- oh, I didn't see the back, sorry.

AND FURTHER, that the Legislative Assembly designate Mr. Tim Mercer as an honourary officer of this Legislative Assembly with an entree to the Chamber and a seat at the table.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too would like to recognize Minister Vandal to the House. And just to acknowledge that the two oldest federal day schools that are left standing in the Northwest Territories are both from my riding. One is 64 years old and the other one is 60 years old. And they were connected to the residential school situation. But just for acknowledgement that, you know, we talk about all these things, but I always do it through process. You know, I want to -- there's processes that we have to follow here, and I adhere to that, and I want to just thank him for coming to visit Yellowknife and the Northwest Territories. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, of the many things I've discovered as a Member of this House, there's one thing that sticks out to me all the time, which is the slow pace of conducting government business. It takes so much time to simply make a decision about anything and to get things done in this building, which can be frustrating at times because I'm a very busy MLA and I'm used to getting things done at a faster pace. But regardless, I persevere, and I continue to press forward because I know that the work we do here is important and it does impact the people of the NWT, whom we represent.

Partially for that reason, Mr. Speaker, I feel that my work here at the Legislative Assembly is not yet complete, which is why I will take this opportunity to publicly announce my intention to run for re-election as the MLA for Thebacha in the 2023 territorial election. Mr. Speaker, if I have the privilege to be re-elected as the MLA in the 20th Assembly, I will continue to work hard, as I always do, for the constituents of Fort Smith, as well as all the people of the NWT. I take my oath of loyalty very seriously. So as a Member of this Assembly, I will always be loyal to the people of the NWT, and I'll always honour and respect the treaties and land claims signed with Indigenous peoples.

Mr. Speaker, as we near the end of the 19th Assembly, I want to take a moment to thank all my colleagues in this House, both on the Regular side and on the Cabinet side for all the work we are able to do throughout this term. It was difficult at times; there's no doubt about that. But we were still able to get many things done for the people of the NWT, which is a very good thing. I want to wish all my colleagues good luck in their re-election efforts this fall. However, for those not seeking re-election, I want to thank each of you for your service in this House, and I wish you all well in your future endeavours. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement

---Unanimous consent granted

Also, Mr. Speaker, today this Assembly is going to lose a very special person. Today marks the last day of employment of our long-time clerk, Mr. Tim Mercer, who after today will be retiring from the Legislative Assembly. I want to thank Mr. Mercer for all his 20 years serving this House. His presence will most certainly be missed in this building. I wish him all the best with whatever life brings him next.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all my amazing constituents of Thebacha for their continued support. I also want to thank all the Indigenous leaders throughout the NWT for their continued support in me and for them always reaching out to me to share their concerns. And lastly, I would like to thank my family for always supporting me in my work, which includes my husband Peter, my two sons Jerry and Mickey, and my dog Rambo. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, second by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that Bill 76, An Act to Amend the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act, be read for the third time. And, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, second by the honourable Member for Nahendeh, that Bill 73, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, No. 4, be read for the third time. And, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, ever since this bill was introduced, this Bill 60, I have been opposed to it and I continue to be opposed to it. I think as elected Members, we are elected by the people that we represent within the communities, ordinary people, people who will never be able to go through the door, okay. We speak for those people, for the middle class, for the poor, for the seniors societies, you know, for the senior population, for small business, for the Indigenous groups, and for everyone. And I just cannot vote for Bill 60. I think that we have an obligation to the people of the NWT to do the right thing, and the right thing is to not support Bill 60. It's going to come back and haunt us if we do. And, you know, I can't understand how, you know, we elect -- we elect Cabinet, you know, and I have a lot of faith in a lot of Members across the room here. You know, we elect them and yet they don't vote for whatever they don't want to vote on; they all stay together and there's no -- you know, there's not an open -- you know, you have to start -- I know there's a lot of compassionate people on the other side and it must be very difficult sometimes for people to not understand that we are in this, at the 11th hour at this stage. It's just -- it's not acceptable. And for that reason, I don't waiver. When I say I'm going to do something, and the people of the Northwest Territories and all these groups that submitted submissions with regards to Bill 60, those groups represent a lot of people. And nobody wants Bill 60 the way it is right now. So I'm sticking to my guns and I support -- I do not support Bill 60. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm going to make a short comment. In my previous role, I saw a lot of abuse that occurred to men also. And I think that this is a really important motion. It's -- there's also the reverse, okay. It's not only women that are abused within society in a home life. I saw both sides of the abuse that could happen, and sometimes it could be pretty, pretty awful. And so I really support this particular motion. Thank you, Madam Chair.

This Homelessness Prevention - Supporting Pathways to Housing NWT Residents is extremely important to my riding. We don't have a homeless shelter and, you know, we made every attempt to address the individual needs of people that are homeless and not one -- not one of those cases came out positive. It goes on deaf ears. Yeah, how many point systems could you take to make a change, you know. It's not about that at all. It's about making sure that people are not sleeping on mattresses. You know, there's an elder that was kicked out just before Christmas with a daughter and sleeping on mattresses and couch surfing. And the house is still all boarded up and locked up. Then you have the other elder who was in a tornado and he has to pay the highest rate ever because now -- and he has -- he has medical problems. And now recently I have two students who are trying to do -- make a better life and were in addictions and they're young; they're young people. They already have three children, and they have one on the way, and they're on a waiting list because now they're rated on a point system. You know, homelessness is extremely important issue within the Northwest Territories and, you know, I'm speaking only on behalf of the -- like, the people of Fort Smith because I don't know what happens everywhere else, but I'm sure it's everywhere. And I don't see a lot of change. I've been here now -- well, we're in our final year, last six months, and positive change has not happened. And I'm very concerned about the way the files were dealt with. You know, we have to go through this, we've got to go through that, we got --you know, and then you never hear. In fact, I had to run down the hall today a couple times just to get an answer. And it's a negative answer again, you know, so -- you know, Madam Chair, homelessness, no matter who it is, whether it be a youth, a single parent, family members, a whole family, it's a major, major issue. And if you don't -- how could you fix anything in society if you don't have a home or some place you call that is your own. And with that, you know, I just -- I think about all these things, and we have to do better.

You know, you can do 20 strategies. I don't care how many strategies anybody does but common sense sometimes prevails. You know, common sense and making a decision and showing leadership. Sometimes I don't see that. And as, you know, a former chief and, you know, I've been in politics now, this'll be my 18th year, and saw many things. It concerns me that these issues we're talking about now are unbelievable.

You know, I met -- you know, I saw a lot of different situations when I was at Salt River, and I see the broader situation now that I've come here and listened to some of my colleagues. You know, like -- like Jackie and like everybody around this table, and I'm sure even across the aisle.

You know, it's a sad situation when we're talking about this in this day and age and the country that we live in, Canada. You know, one of the best countries in the world they say, yet we're sending all this money off to other countries to make sure that they're okay but they don't look after our own. And that really concerns me. And, you know, I'm very concerned about the homelessness situation in the territories, and I will continue to advocate on behalf of the people that don't have a home within Fort Smith, the broader South Slave, and the NWT. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Speaker, could the Premier tell us if she considers the centralization of government services and jobs as a problem, and does she consider it as a threat to small communities or regional centres? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.