Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I am pleased to speak to Bill 73, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, No. 4. This bill would adjust the indemnities and allowances listed in parts 1, 2 and 3 of Schedule C, annually using the average change in the consumer price index over the past five years.

Currently, indemnities and allowances for Members of the Legislative Assembly are adjusted each year on April 1st based on the CPI for the previous calendar year. If the status quo is maintained, MLA indemnities and allowances will increase by 6.8 percent on April 1 of this year. However, if Bill 73 passes and a five-year rolling average is used as the basis for the adjustment, that would reduce the adjustment from 6.8 percent to 3.02 percent. This method is used in Manitoba and smooths out temporary spikes in inflation like we are seeing now. That concludes my remarks on Bill 73. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Right from the beginning, I took the stand that I was going to vote against the carbon tax on Bill 60 because we had written submissions from the NWT Chamber of Commerce, you know, NWT Metis Nation. I've heard from at least six other Indigenous government leaders who are very much against the carbon tax, the NWT Seniors Society, and mostly all the residents of the NWT are against the carbon tax no matter where they live. It doesn't matter if they're from the Arctic or they're from the South Slave. All costs have gone up overall and there's a snowball effect. And there are some people who cannot -- who decide what they're going to eat for supper, it's either going to be wieners or steak because they don't have that choice, and it's going to get worse because the way things are going after the pandemic -- the pandemic was a big one too. And the -- also I'm very -- I'm very concerned about the small business community. You know, we pay too much, and we don't have the -- we don't have them numbers for the -- to survive in most -- in the regional centres and the small communities. It's not only in the small communities. And I'm sure it's like that here even in the capital. The cost of everything has doubled or tripled in some cases.

And therefore, because of all these submissions -- and I listen to the people of the NWT, and small business, the Indigenous organizations, and especially the seniors of the NWT. And because of that, I stick to what I've decided at the very beginning, and I'm not going to waiver on this one, I will be voting against Bill 60. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, P3s have a purpose, and I've always said that in this House. They're -- you know, you're not using capital dollars to advance something in small communities or regional centres, and hopefully not always in the capital. I am -- I don't like what happened. That was inherited by another -- they inherited this with another government. And, you know, governments have to inherit bad files sometimes. I've inherited a lot of bad files when I was at Salt River. And I will be voting for the supplementary for that reason because I'm very much about making sure that we move forward with this government in an economic way. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a former chief of the Salt River First Nation and was there for 14 years, I fully support this motion because I feel very strongly that the land claims settlements that are in place prevail over any other -- any other law, as the mover has explained in her explanation. And I firmly believe that this is the only way that we are going to go ahead with reconciliation, and I think that the government has an opportunity to make that right. And with that, Mr. Speaker, I fully support this motion, and I'm very happy that our non-Indigenous colleagues on this side of the House are also supporting our rights issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, March the 30th, 2023, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, second by the Honourable Member for Hay River North, that the Legislative Assembly express its sincere gratitude to Mr. Mercer for his dedicated and exemplary service to this House;.

And further, that the Legislative Assembly designate Mr. Tim Mercer as an honorary officer of the Legislative Assembly with an entree to the Chamber and a seat at the table. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this project could be a win-win situation for not only the residents of Fort Smith and the broader South Slave but for the whole NWT, thus we must ensure that communication occurs, and we must carry out our mandate items.

Will the Minister work with Cabinet to ensure that this project continues to be advanced and we will work with the First Nations that are most affected by this project, especially the one nation that has reserve lands bordering that dam. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, this project is probably one of the most important projects on green energy for the NWT. This is a major priority in reaching our emission targets for 2030. Therefore, as the MLA for Thebacha I've supported this project wholeheartedly so we must ensure that there are no roadblocks with the success of this project. Does the Minister agree with that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this project is extremely important to the community of Fort Smith and all people of the NWT. Delays in this project could occur if there's no communication with this group. As the MLA for Thebacha, I would be very concerned if this happened. Does the Minister agree, yes or no? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday in the House, the infrastructure Minister had talked about the Memorandum of Understanding with the Taltson Hydro Expansion and referenced all the members of that MOU. However, as I said in my statement, there was one nation who has not signed on to the MOU, which I'm concerned about. Can the Minister explain if she shares that same concern, yes or no, and why? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.