Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Speaking as the Minister of Justice, I can tell the Members that the conversations about resourcing in the Northwest Territories for RCMP are ongoing. There's always conversations happening. The RCMP are looking at their workload and bringing forward proposals to the GNWT. So that's always happening.

In the Member's region, we've added, I believe, RCMP every year since I've been Minister. So we have been increasing the number of RCMP in the territory, including at Fort McPherson, and that is the community that serves Tsiigehtchic. So while it's not a perfect situation and I understand that it's still, you know, a 45-minute drive if everything goes well from McPherson to Tsiigehtchic, hopefully that additional officer in McPherson will help free up other members and so they can respond more quickly. But we are continuing to work with the RCMP. Where they see the operational need being the greatest, that's where we look to add resources. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So those documents, those are under the Department of Finance, so I'd like to redirect that to the Minister of Finance. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So during this Assembly, I look forward to seeing how we can address some of the issues that we face with housing at large in the territory. I know when we talk about housing, it's often subsidized housing but there's issues with market housing as well. And so with that focus and with the review of the Residential Tenancies Act, I think we can make some progress in this area. But as I stated before, it's up to the individual to bring forward their complaints. It would be ideal if we had the people and the budget to go around and do these inspections and have a very collaborative cross-departmental approach to ensuring peoples' living conditions are safe, but there is an onus on the individual to bring forward their concerns. And if they're facing issues accessing the rental officer, I encourage them to contact the rental officer and have discussions because they're not just there to enforce orders and issue orders. They are there to provide information as well. Alternatively, I encourage tenants to consult with their MLAs. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the rental office enforces the Residential Tenancies Act, and that is applicable when there is an agreement between a tenant and the landlord. So while there are other government entities that may monitor environmental health, such as the environment health unit in the department of health of the fire marshal with MACA, those entities are not part of that contract between a landlord and a tenant. So there is an onus on the tenants who actually do that work and bring forward those concerns to the rental officer. The government isn't going to go and inspect people's units and bring forward issues to the rental officer on behalf of tenants. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the Residential Tenancies Act will be reviewed during this government so all of those issues can be looked at. The access to the rental officer, any barriers that tenants might be facing; we can look at all of that. I cannot commit to remove any barrier that a tenant might be facing, but we do want to make the process as easy and simple as possible so that we can achieve the goals of the act. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So in terms of the government's role in the repair and maintenance of privately-owned residential units, we have the Residential Tenancies Act and, of course, this is administered by the NWT rental officer. The act requires landlords to maintain premises in a state of repair -- a good state of repair and fit for habitation, and they must comply with all the applicable health and safety legislation that we have in the territory. The rental officer, if a constituent -- or sorry, if a resident is having an issue with their unit and they believe it is not being maintained to those standards, they can make an application to the rental officer. The rental officer can provide an order that would authorize the tenant to remedy the situation, essentially do the repairs, and then get that money back from the landlord. The act can -- there can be orders requiring a landlord to compensate the tenant if there are damages to the tenant's goods because of the state of repair of the unit. And the landlord is required to remedy the breach pursuant to the order within ten days of receiving that order, and there are fines if the landlord does not comply with that. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Vince McKay will be absent from the House today and tomorrow to attend meetings of the federal, provincial, territorial Ministers responsible for emergency management in Ottawa. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member from Yellowknife South, that the motion be postponed to Thursday, February 22nd, 2024. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following eight documents: Northwest Territories Coroner Service 2022 Annual Report; 34th Annual Report 2022-2023 Victims Assistance Committee of the Northwest Territories; Administration of the Northwest Territories Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act Annual Report 2022-2023; Department of Justice Corrections Service Annual Report 2022-2023; Northwest Territories Law Foundation 40th Annual Report for the Period Ending June 30, 2022; Legal Aid Commission of the Northwest Territories Annual Report 2022-2023; Annual Report on the Activities of the Rental Officer April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023; and Territorial Police Service Agreement - RCMP Annual Report 2022-2023. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.