Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Trailcross home for teenagers closed in October of last year because there was a very low attendance rate, and it was no longer worth having an entire building. So the youth were accommodated in therapeutic foster homes and the building since has been evaluated as suitable for use. The system that the Department of Health and Social Services uses is that they go over their programming and decide whether there's programming for the building, and if there is no programming that fits within the building then they will surplus it to infrastructure.

So the next thing that's going to happen in that building is it will be part of a pilot land-based treatment program, which is happening in three communities, one of them is Fort Smith, and there's a need for the kind of infrastructure that the old Trailcross centre has. And so this pilot project will be the next thing that happens in there.

In the meantime, I have continued to talk to the NWT Council of Leaders about addictions treatment and aftercare and to understand from them what their priorities are for establishing those services and what kind of infrastructure they would need to support them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I apologize for the embarrassment this is going to cause my page, Amelia Bishop, who is here with us today from St. Pat's School where she is in grade 8. And I would like to thank her and all the pages for the work that they're doing for us in this session. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wondered if we can go back to number 5 on the order paper, recognition of visitors. I would like to recognize my page. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, the regulations themselves haven't changed, and the department is working with the operator to resolve the situation around the permits. And so I encourage the MLA to transmit that message to the operator. I certainly don't want to see them lose a season of business. I went there last year -- I don't think the Member was there, but I went there last year on a retreat and it certainly is a very nice place to be, and I think that this is a problem that can be resolved so that others can enjoy it as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's true that some small lodges are exempt from the water system regulations; however, Frontier is not a small lodge; it's more the size of Blachford Lodge, and so the water system requirements are different for Frontier than they would be for a smaller lodge. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the regulations haven't changed in more than a decade but the information available about the water system has changed, and that's why we're at a different footing now than we were a year ago. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, water regulations are under the Department of Health and Social Services. It's my information that the environmental health officer has been working with the Frontier Lodge to resolve the issues around permitting that have arisen, that this work has been ongoing for a year, and that what we're trying to achieve here is public safety. We're not trying to put anyone out of business or to inconvenience. We actually regulate collaboratively, if you will, with the operator to ensure that it's a resolution that is feasible and practical. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As is the case with the Member for Boot Lake and for all of us here, the first -- probably one of the first people we met was Tim, and one of the first things we did was look inside the sausage maker that is politics and try and understand how we fit into this very process-oriented and pretty rigid institution. As a person who has a brand-new job, a very responsible job, having just been elected by the voters, it is truly daunting to come through the door and to try and understand which way is up. And so, you know, some of us were here in the 18th Assembly, and Mr. Mercer coached us through some of our learning curve.

I'm going to tell a story on Minister Thompson, has a lot of logo clothing from sports competitions and was always trying to sort of get away with wearing it by wearing a longer thing over it and being told no, that's not what we're looking for.

Soon after I started this job, I unfortunately had a huge burn and I had to spend weeks in bed. I had to spend weeks in recovery, and I couldn't have asked for a more compassionate and accommodating person than Tim to help me through that period. It was just such a difficult time of my life. I had just started this job, and then I was almost immediately out of action. And it turned out that that compassion was really a hallmark of the way that he treated Members and staff, you know, the -- we all lived through the death of Haylee Carlson. I saw great compassion in that and in other instances that were not as high profile. And I think that we've all benefitted from his generosity.

Certainly, as the Member for Boot Lake said, politics can be very rough and tumble and sometimes having a place to vent and trying to figure how to go for a different outcome is a very valuable thing, and Tim has always provided that for me and along with a lot of advice and guidance, which I truly appreciate and which I've benefitted from tremendously.

As far as I'm concerned, his greatest accomplishment was the assistance he gave the special committee on increasing the representation of women. It was he and the Speaker at the time who had gone to the commonwealth conference, had looked to the Samoan model for guaranteed seats for women and launched us on this process of how we could increase the representation of women, hopefully voluntarily, but if not voluntarily then with quotas. And then there were many iterations of that. There was a motion. There was an interim report. A final report. And I think that he deserves a lot of credit for the fact that we were able to really attract, through our efforts as the standing committee, a number of women to run in the last election who were successful and who are here today.

I also want to say that both of us are big fans of Arctic and Antarctic exploration, and that's been really fun to exchange articles and ideas about that, especially the infamous Sir Ernest Shackleton who went to the Antarctic, lost his boat, and came out alive, which is a pretty amazing story in itself.

I want to just note a few good changes. It's true that the focus on Indigenous languages, culture, and representation has really been heightened in Tim's time, and those are all very positive changes from my point of view when I see all the people in the interpretation booths. I'm very grateful that people throughout the territory have the opportunity to hear what we're saying in their own language.

I've also known him to provide opportunities for people to shine. He has been able to coach them to better things, to opportunities to attend conferences, training, to try new jobs, and to explore new boundaries and new successes.

And finally, I think we have with Tim our most foremost champion of consensus government, someone who understands it, somebody who's lived it, somebody who can explain it, somebody who doesn't give up on it when the going gets rough, which it certainly does from time to time. So I think that Tim's leadership here has really been transformative, and I would like to say how much I appreciate that. And I would also like to add that if Kevin were here today, I think he would say some of the same things, but he would argue with others. And he would want me, on his behalf as well as my own, to wish Tim the very best with his -- the rest of his journey in whatever that is coming forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At a recent Council of Leaders meeting on mental health and addictions, I heard from Indigenous governments about what is working well in their communities as well as some of the challenges. There are many successes, and it is truly inspiring to hear about the programs and initiatives going forward in communities across the NWT.

One of the challenges leaders identified was the administrative burden of applying for multiple funding pots for mental wellness and addictions recovery funding. In response to this feedback, I am pleased to advise that the department will be combining the On the Land Healing Fund, the Addictions Recovery and Aftercare Fund, and the Addictions Recovery Peer Support Fund, into one fund called Mental Wellness and Addictions Recovery Fund.

This combined fund will continue to prioritize Indigenous governments and will help reduce the burden of compiling and completing multiple applications and reports. Bundling the funds will also provide Indigenous governments with greater autonomy over the kinds of mental wellness and addictions recovery projects they offer and how funding is allocated. This change will take effect on April 1st at the start of the new fiscal year.

In addition to the proposed combining of funds, the department will be revising the application process in 2024-2025. Applications will be accepted prior to the start of the next fiscal year so Indigenous governments can receive early confirmation of funding which will support program planning, provide stability, and enable funds to be spent earlier.

Mr. Speaker, this is a positive step forward in our ongoing partnership with Indigenous governments, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with them to meet the mental wellness and addictions needs of NWT residents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.