Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to end this session on a positive note. First, I want to wish all the Indigenous leaders across the NWT a safe and wonderful summer. As a former chief, I want to wish my former colleagues well and hope they, along with their constituents, all have great summer assemblies this year. In addition, Mr. Speaker, I want to wish all my colleagues here in this House, including you, Mr. Speaker, a good and restful summer. I'd also like to thank the staff of the Legislative Assembly for always helping to ensure we're on track and following all protocols and for the continued support in our work for the people of the NWT.

Also, Mr. Speaker, I want to mention some of the activities that will be happening in Fort Smith over the summer. First of all in June, there will be the Aurora College Thebacha Campus graduation followed by the opening of the Fort Smith Metis Day Care, and then the Treaty Land Entitlement Days that are hosted by the Salt River First Nation. Next, the Smith Landing First Nation will be hosting the Dene Assembly in July in Fort Fitzgerald. And then in August, the annual Dark Sky Festival.

Lastly, Mr. Speaker, I want to wish all the amazing constituents of Thebacha a happy summer season as well. And I'd also like to extend this message to all the leadership of Fort Smith which includes Salt River First Nation, the Fort Smith Metis Council, and the Town of Fort Smith. Thank you to all the leadership and to my constituents for your continued support as MLA for Thebacha.

Thank you as well to my community team for always supporting me and for the people that I serve in our community. You know who you are. And also, I want to once again thank my family for their steadfast support. I truly could not do this work without you by my side, which includes my husband Peter, my sons Jerry and Mickey and, as always, my dog Rambo. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to ask a couple of questions because I mean, each one of us in the room has been touched by addiction in our lives, whether it be someone close to you, someone in the family, and it's always someone you love. And for clarity, we're putting -- I just want to make sure that, you know, there's situations where things happen and people have to go back to -- we're putting a lot of onus on Indigenous governments for their -- I'd rather -- I just wonder how that's going to work because I'm just wondering, you know, where's the anonymity that is going to -- is supposed to be for the person that goes to treatment? There's a lot of times, you know, you're supposed to try and keep everything private and confidential and if we're going to have to go to an Indigenous government to get approval, if you're Indigenous, to send someone to treatment, I don't know how that's going to work. I just have a little bit of a problem with that because, you know, I have experienced this most of my life and I want to be very honest about that. It's a very thing -- it's a situation where it's very close to your heart and many times people don't understand the whole situation. And the whole situation is not -- it can't be government -- it can't be done in this way. There has to be -- there has to be better ways of doing it. And I'm just wondering -- I support the bill. I think it's a good idea that we get the funds that are -- that we've spent to clarify this but it's the -- it's what you're suggesting afterwards as a group that I have some problems with because I never really paid attention to this and -- because I'm not into a lot of social issues. I don't -- you know, I'm very much a -- my knowledge is in a different place. And sometimes, you know, I just -- I don't know, I just -- I have a lot of questions, and I just wonder how people are going to be able to get to treatment quicker. That's my number one issue right now. By giving it to an Indigenous government, does that mean it's going to be quicker or the whole town's going to know? You know, and most of our people are of Indigenous descent and many times they don't want that to happen. And so I don't know. I just want some of these questions answered. And I know that we'll have a -- hopefully -- because I can't support something that I know is not -- is not correct because I dealt with this in my family for most of my life and it's -- it's a very hurtful situation. And with that, I just -- that's it. I just wanted to make a comment. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Speaker, could the Minister tell us if he or Cabinet is content with the fact that the NWT is one of the only jurisdictions in the country who continues to actively use former residential school and Indian Day School buildings for students today? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the community of Fort Smith petitioned and fiercely lobbied our government to replace JBT School. Would that speed up the timeline for our government to consider replacing this school? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, during the last session the Minister stated that, based on current capital needs assessments, JBT School is expected to be replaced in 2035 which would make the school 77 years old until it's finally replaced. But the Minister also said it could potentially take a lot longer. At this rate, the school will only be replaced once it becomes a hundred years old.

Can the Minister tell us if there is anything that can be done to speed up the timeline for the JBT School to be replaced? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister of ECE has previously stated that the last time a technical status evaluation was done on JBT Elementary School was in 2005. Can the Minister tell us when the next technical status evaluation is expected to be done for the JBT School in Fort Smith? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize Al Karasiuk, the PWK High School principal for many years in Fort Smith, and who's a resident of Fort Smith and plans on staying in Fort Smith. And he's also a great friend of mine and has done many great things for the community, all across the community, and I'll always remember how he looks after the students and guided them down the right path. And he's an incredible guy, and I'm glad that he's here today with us. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I say it numerous times throughout this Assembly that Fort Smith is home to some of the oldest school infrastructure in the territory, and it is also home to some of the last remaining former residential school and indian day school buildings that are still in active use in the country. The buildings I'm referring to are PWK High School and JBT Elementary School.

Mr. Speaker, JBT School is 65 years old and was originally a federal Indian Day School until the building was purchased by the Government of the Northwest Territories and was converted into an elementary school which is still being used for that purpose today. In addition, the former Grandin College used to be run by the Catholic Church as a residential school until the Government of the Northwest Territories bought it and converted it to PWK High School. Since then, it has continued to be used as the former residential school building as PWK High School in Fort Smith.

Mr. Speaker, Fort Smith is the centre for education in the NWT. It always has been and always will be, and I want to stress that we have excellent staff all around. Fort Smith has some extremely caring and devoted educators so I do not want to knock them at all in talking about the historical legacy of JBT or PWK schools.

So my point is the links between federal Indian Day Schools and residential school is undeniable. They are extensions of the same systems of colonialism, oppression, and assimilation towards Indigenous people. Therefore, I believe it is totally inappropriate and unacceptable for these buildings to continue being used as schools for our youth of today. If the young people of Fort Smith knew and understood the history of those buildings, I am sure they would feel unsure of the school they attend because I know that most, if not all the staff there, know of the history as do the parents and grandparents of the students who attend there today. Does our curriculum even teach or acknowledge this residential school and Indian Day School legacy that still remains in Fort Smith and the NWT? Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge the statement by the Minister today on acknowledging what I was trying to say.

Mr. Speaker, both these schools are 65 and 61 years old so it's high time that they are decommissioned and replaced with brand new schools for the people of Fort Smith. It doesn't matter if either school has been maintained well and can still be used longer; the bottom line is these schools carry a heavy legacy and the youth of the future deserve better. Fort Smith needs a brand new state-of-the-art-school for both elementary and high school students so I am going to once again ask our government to follow their own capital needs assessment and replace the aging schools in Fort Smith. I will have questions for the Minister of ECE at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to make a comment because just some of the comments that are being made is -- you know, flowthrough money from the federal government just comes to the government, it's flowed through. Many times, even when I was chief of Salt River First Nation, monies that came to -- that we got from Salt River First Nation flowed through the Government of the Northwest Territories, okay. It has nothing to do with the Government of the Northwest Territories. That's the way the federal government gets the money out the door to go to the First Nation or to the community or -- it's not the fault of anyone in this House. That's just the way it's done.

And if the community at that time is not ready because there's something that happened or -- it could be many things. Like now we're into wildfires, we're into climate change. Like everybody always brings that up all the time, you know. I just -- I don't -- I am used to defending how money flows through governments. But I mean, that's just a standard -- the practice that's been done for years and years. As far as I know, from -- since I've been in leadership and way before that when my husband was mayor of Fort Smith, that's the way that it's done, even for the municipality of Fort Smith. So going on to say that there's something being done wrong when you -- when the money's flowed through here, or making it sound like it's not right, is incorrect information. And I'd like more clarity on that if that's the way it's done. And you know, you can't fault people for -- if someone's not doing the other part on the other side because there might have been change in leadership, there might have been different standards now, there might have been a criteria that they cannot -- they cannot follow, because there's all these criteria that have to come into play before the money is asked for. It doesn't -- you just don't flow the millions through and then it just comes. That's not the way it is. I know that because I -- I've had to do that many times when I've gone to the federal government and the flowthrough money comes through the territorial government. It's all about timing. And most of the time you can extend it and extend it until it's time. So that's just a comment I want to make. I don't expect anybody to answer any questions. But, you know, you can't make it sound like there's something not right here because nobody wants to have anything happen to a community or a municipality or for the capital for that -- for any reason. Thank you, Madam Chair.