Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are still reeling from the devastating findings last week at the site of Kamloops Indian Residential School. Ground penetrated radar revealed the remains of 215 children, some as young as 3 years old, Mr. Speaker. Chief of BC First Nations says there are bound to be more. Perhaps many, many more as they comb the rest of the school's grounds. It's a terrible reminder of the unspoken abuses Indigenous people have historically suffered in Canada, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, those 215 skeletons were somebody's children, somebody's nephew, niece, and they had family, cousins, brothers, sisters, aunties, and uncles.

Mr. Speaker, as a residential school survivor myself, this is truly disturbing and traumatizing. I cannot imagine what the families of these children are going through. It is very devastating.

Mr. Speaker, praying is very powerful. Our prayers and thoughts for those 215 children, their families, and for all the Indigenous children and families who have suffered under the Indian Residential School system, we need prayers for the families and our nation for the continued strength and support for continued reconciliation during these very difficult times in Canada's history.

Mr. Speaker, let's never forget this happened. It cannot be hidden. We need everyone in Canada and people throughout the world to know that this history is real. The loss of the children is real. Mr. Speaker, let's remember this day forever. Mahsi.

Masi, Mr. Speaker. Masi, Colleagues. Mr. Speaker, we can't risk on our lowers. COVID and its variants are with us here and forever. This Government has an obligation. That obligation is to ensure we're ready for the new challenges that the new normal are present now and also in the future. I call on the Government to set up a standard task force to anticipate those challenges and ensure the government is ready for them.

I have suggested just a few challenges in need of some actions. Rest assured, there are many more that don't have time to deal with today, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi.

Masi, Mr.Speaker. Logistical roller coaster ride for the Northwest Territories and also the people of the Northwest Territories. But each challenge has been met with calm determination. And for that, Northerners and their leaders, their frontline workers, and caregivers must be commended.

We have shown one of the best COVID-19 responses in the world and have enjoyed the benefits of that sound, science-based approach.

But, Mr. Speaker, we shouldn't get carried away congratulating ourselves in the Northwest Territories. There are still many threats and challenges out there. And as the MJ MacPherson outbreak shows, even the slightest lapse have massive consequences.

For this reason, Mr. Speaker, I want to point out a number of areas that needs attention. First, Mr. Speaker, has to do with ongoing challenge of vaccine hesitancy. Our vaccination uptake has been good so far with 60 percent fully vaccinated and almost 70 percent partially vaccinated. But uptake has been uneven in two regions, my region, as Tlicho, and Sahtu region. Less than 50 percent fully vaccinated. Males trail significantly behind females.

Mr. Speaker, some jurisdictions have resorted to non-medical incentives to convince vaccine-hesitant people to come forward. Those incentives include cash lotteries and offer special privileges.

Mr. Speaker, herd immunity is achievable but only if we are prepared to think outside of the box with incentives such as these. I call this government to study such initiatives.

Mr. Speaker, I see there are a number of precautionary COVID measures the Government needs to consider. The second one has to do with making our schools and seniors homes less vulnerable. Mr. Speaker, we can do that by upgrading our heating and ventilation system to hospital standards, because, Mr. Speaker, we can see what happens with COVID once it's unleashed in such buildings. It's worse it's worth the investment because COVID and variants are here to stay forever, Mr. Speaker.

The government needs to look into virus prevent assistance for seniors homes and also schools. If its already not looked into such investment, it should start that exercise immediately. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Mahsi.

---Unanimous Consent Granted

Masi, Mr. Speaker. I didn't get a commitment there, yes or no. Mr. Speaker, this is a very important matter. It's hundredth year anniversary of Treaty 11, and this is a milestone, and everybody's watching us, not just Tlicho region but surrounding communities. And it's very important that we have somebody that can oversee the election, a non-biased person from outside the community to just oversee the count and to witness it and to sign off that it was a fair process. That's all I'm asking for. And I think if Minister can commit to potentially committing to that, I think it will be more concise and clear election process, smoother process. That's what we want to see. And we try avoid from last four years of criticism that happened, and I think it can be avoided, Mr. Speaker. Those are some of the questions that I have for Minister. Masi.

Masi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker

[Translation] Mr. Speaker, I made a statement earlier regarding the elections in my region. It will happen on June 14. But I want to ask the Minister, before the elections, whenever there's election, there's a lot of complaints that comes out regarding the regulations. I'm hoping for a smooth election and encourage the communities to work with each other and respect the final decision. But as in the past four years, we witness election and the commotion we had in the communities. [Translation ends].

The election in my region for communities, Tlicho region, are slated for June 14th. With every election, not just my communities but other communities as well, there's always criticism, whether it be breaking bylaws, nepotism, whether it be all these different accusations. That happens every election.

And I have a question for Minister of MACA. It could be just one question, depending on her answer, if it's "yes" or "no". But if there could be a dedicated MACA representative that's involved with elections on an annual basis or on the election basis. So I'd like to get a confirmation from Minister if she's willing and also dedicating, I guess, MACA representative to be at the final count June 14th in all four communities, Mr. Speaker. That's my first question. Masi.

Masi, Mr. Speaker.

[Translation] Mr. Speaker, about our Tlicho region, there will be an election coming up very soon. The closing date for the candidates for Tlicho region has closed May 17th, and I feel people that's running right now, and for that -- for the Tlicho region for the four communities, there will be an election, and for the Chief and the Council as well. For Behchoko, there is 5 candidates for the Chief for Behchoko alone, and there's 31 candidates for the Council.

And for Whati, there is three people that's running for the Chief, and there's about 15 that is running for the Council.

And for Gameti, there's two candidates for the Chief and 12 candidates for the Councillors.

And for Wekweeti, there's two candidates for the Chief. They don't have enough candidates for the council. So now they had to add a few more days.

So today, Mr. Speaker, so much is happening in Tlicho region, and there's also lots of activities because people are also campaigning. And so we are hoping or -- or I am hoping it will turn out very well for all the candidates that's a lot.

So I like to say good luck to all the candidates. And so through this, all this, I just like to give all my good luck to the candidates. Thank you very much. [Translation ends]

Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, my statement will be regarding we're losing a lot of young people in the Northwest Territories and also in the Tlicho Nation. There is a lot of young people that we lost. Some of them, I may mention, but I might not mention all. Just recently, this person is our brother, our uncle. His name is Freddy Bishop from Whati. Not only him, Justin Tutcho, as well. He was living with someone from Behchoko. Lastly, they have passed on, but just recently a young person, David Sangris. His funeral is today. When we look at this situation, we also lost Kelly Washie, a young man, and just recently I lost my brother, as well.

Why I am mentioning all of this is because alcohol and drug use is related to that. We lose a lot of young people because of alcohol and drug addiction. We need a treatment centre. If we had a treatment centre, do you think these people would still be alive? We need an addiction centre where people can work on themselves and start healing themselves. There are a lot of people who work for Health and Social Services. They need to go out to the community to reach out to these people. Would we have all these people alive today if we had more people reaching out to the people?

As the Government of the Northwest Territories, we can make a powerful statement. All the time, we make these powerful statements, but when we look out the window here, we see a lot of people that we're losing that are passing on. I really disagree with that. When we talk, we need to walk our talk. As a government, I want to send them a message. We want to prevent these things for our young people. Let's reach out to these people. Let's make available any kind of addictions programs that they can use. There are many resources out there that they can use. We can't keep on talking. I don't want to stand here again and talk about who has just passed on because it's very difficult to do that. All these young people, we want to pray for them and pray for their families that are grieving. We want them to have a healing process. That is my Member's statement. Thank you. [Translation ends]

Masi, Mr. Speaker. The Minister touched on the formation of a working group to deal more specifically with the Whati transmission line project. I would like to know whether that will be established during the life of the 19^th Assembly? We still have two and a half years. Obviously, I would like for this to be expedited because the community wants to prevent this from happening, the 20-plus-hour power outage, so could we expedite the process of establishing the working group and, during the life of this Assembly, a proposal be submitted to the federal government? Is that possible, Mr. Speaker? Masi.

It's important that we highlight the proposals that are going forward with the GNWT and the federal government, talking about the technical work that the Minister alluded to. I would like to ask more specifically: regarding the hydro hook-up for Whati, what technical work needs to be completed for this government to finalize its application for the Investing in Canada infrastructure program?