Thank you, Mr. Speaker. These questions will be for the Minister of ITI. I would like to ask the Minister if she has had the report prepared by the Minister of the advising panel and also our NWT commercial fishing strategy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to continue the discussion on the NWT fishing industry. On September 21, 2018, the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and Canadian Coast Guard announced the establishment of a ministerial advisory panel to examine alternative governance and ownership model for the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation which better reflects the environment and marketing conditions in today's industry. The panel was directed to explore models that support collaboration and cooperation amongst fishers and involve them in decision-making. The report also stressed the change in governance of FFMC: "Increase fisher participation in FFMC by drawing board members from fishers and fisher organizations. Fisher board members should be chosen to reflect the regional geographic diversity of FFMC operations and the demographic pattern of Indigenous participation in the fishery."

After our government received this document, and I am assuming they never read it, as they made a decision to do the exact opposite, this government removed the NWT representative from FFMC, who is a fisher, and replaced them with one of our own bureaucrats.

Mr. Speaker, this government talks about building relationships and working in partnership with our homegrown industries, fishing being one of them. In actuality, what is happening is that we are dictating to them and saying we know better. This may be true when it comes to slowing down a process or not providing a timely delivery of projects; we do excel in that area. When it comes to industry itself, it is the fishers who know best. It is the fishers who are putting their lives on the line to keep the industry alive.

Mr. Speaker, I need to know, and the fishers need to know, that approximately $9 million to be spent on a fish plant is based on sound and factual data. I understand that we have someone on the east coast providing a redesign; however, Mr. Speaker, this is not the east coast. This is the NWT. The importance of having an actual fisher on the Board of FFMC is imperative, and having NW fishers part of revitalizing our fishing industry is a given. If we ever expect to maximize financial return to the fishers for the product they deliver, we need their support and participation of all levels in a business case. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess when this first came up and there was talk about the foundational review, I was under the impression that it would be to take a look at Aurora College and make that stronger. Then, for some reason, it morphed into a university, and I am not sure why. I wasn't happy with that at first. Now I have looked at it. I have looked at it over time, and I look back at my life, I guess, because I did go south. I am proud to say I graduated. I went to my grade one to 13 here in the Northwest Territories, and then, I went south for nine years to school. Part of that was in Calgary, but the other part was in Butte, Montana, which is a small place. I went and we lived there for four years, and the Minister of education was part of that journey. It was interesting. There were a lot of people from Canada going there, people that I actually worked with, and that is why I am encouraging you to go there.

When we say that this may force our residents or our children or the young people to be on the outside looking in, but at least they get to look, and they can see what is possible. That is what we have to give them. We have to give them hope. The toughest part of school is getting in. Once you are in there, it is not that bad. We have to give them that hope. It has to come sooner or later, and it may as well be us that start it, or at least try to get close to completion. I think we are headed in the right direction. While we are probably going to be squabbling over head office. Who gets a new camp, possibly, and all that? I think we are probably going to see Fort Smith continue to be the focal centre with respect to administration and head offices and that. I am just hoping what we do is we don't hire people, "Okay. You are in charge of it, but you get to live in Yellowknife." We don't need that. We need people who are willing to be on the ground where the students are because that is what it is about. If you are not connecting with the students and you are in charge, there's a problem with that.

There is a lot of work to be done. We have been taking a bit of heat on it. At the end of the day, it is a priority of this Assembly. It is your guys' mandate. You guys pick the team that you want to lead it, and we have got to back you on it, and that is all there is to it. I guess there is no question. Just a comment. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a comment. Actually, I am under the non-insured health benefits, the Indian Affairs, and that is the care we get. Thank you, Madam Chair.

---Laughter

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess the other area that we don't tap into, for whatever reason, is through immigration and doctors and professionals from other countries. Why is that? I guess I know why it is, but I want to hear it from you why that is and what we are going to do about it or what we can do about it, working in conjunction with the federal government. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess things have changed with workers nowadays, that includes the doctors and nurses, and people want quality of life. In the past, you could count on doctors and nurses to work 20-hour days. I think those days are gone. Having locums come in here, and nurses, I think that is going to be the standard for a while, and I agree with my colleagues that we can't throw them out to the wind. We should be planning how to best use them to our advantage. Firstly, for quality healthcare for our residents, and the second thing we worry about is the cost.

I guess I am wondering, the healthcare system is, of course, in a deficit. What impact does having to bring locums in, outside medical services and professionals into the North? How does that impact, and are we capturing that back from the federal government? Thank you, Madam Chair.

I thank you for that, and you are right. We do have to look at anything that comes forward because if we can piece something together and make it whole, then that is kind of what we want. It is up to us, I think, as government, in the bureaucracy, to go out and talk to the people. It is kind of like the training for trades and that. You bring somebody in, talk to all the employees. It would be nice to do the same with counsellors as well. It is not hard to do. For me, you will just call somebody up and say, can you come over, but not everybody can do that. Sometimes, people are just so busy trying to make a living. I think we have to take it upon ourselves to find ways to make it easier for people to assist in dealing with these issues. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Most of my life, I have been in business, so this is going to be kind of business-related. I don't hear anything in here with respect to providing support to people who have addictions but are employed and working in small business because small businesses don't have the money to provide the support that may be required, and sometimes that support is good. I guess I put myself as employer, and the people I have working for me, they felt comfortable enough to come and talk to me about their problems and their issues. Hopefully, throughout life, I have helped a few people. I guess you have got training dollars out there for the trades and whatever else, but it would be nice to see, something to assist employers to maybe bring somebody in once in a while just to have talks with employees. We have tried that before, and it seems to work.

I think that, most of the people I have had working for me have been Indigenous people. They have been from around the Northwest Territories. Like I said, I think they felt comfortable around me. I just see a benefit there, and we seem to ignore that. We look south for the answers, or we look other places, and we have tried stuff. It works sometimes. Sometimes, it doesn't work. We keep throwing money at plans and strategies and all that. Myself, I would like to see it go where it counts the most, and that is to help people. I guess the question is: do we have anything in place to assist people with addictions in the workplace? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Like I said, for Hay River, that is a very important industry, and for, I think, communities around the lake. We have got stock there. We don't have to feed it. It is just waiting to be caught and go in the frying pan, so we have to take this seriously. The other thing is that I guess I am concerned that sometimes the expertise we use within the communities, we use the bureaucracy and the bureaucrats who don't quite have that expertise, but they may think they do. I want to make sure that we actually have somebody who knows, who can provide us with some sound advice on how to proceed with this to make sure that it works. Over the years, we have tried and we have tried, and we don't seem to get anywhere. If I can get a comment on that? Thank you, Madam Chair.