Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the federal government's Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements allows for innovative recovery solutions under section 3.4.1, a tool provided to help those impacted by disasters. What are the barriers stopping the Minister's department from using this tool? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on September 20th, 2022, after meeting with residents individually, MACA shared their process document entitled Process to Rebuild or Purchase a Home on a Different Property for Residents of the Town of Hay River and the Hamlet of Enterprise. In early March 2023, some residents, not all, were advised the GNWT was no longer pursuing a buy back or property acquisition option as originally explained by MACA staff.

So, Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister responsible for MACA, has his department reconsidered its decision of not using property acquisitions as a mitigation tool for those areas of Hay River and Enterprise that have experienced flooding and now damage due to a forest fire? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Finally, I got permission to recognize somebody. I'd like to welcome my wife Betty, my daughter Chelsea, and my granddaughter, Aniya; that's the one I've taking to her first day of school since kindergarten. And I'll continue that on into university. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the communities of Hay River, Enterprise, and K'atlodeeche have been through not one, not two, but three evacuations in 15 months. This fact is not lost on me, nor should it be on this government.

Mr. Speaker, we have not recovered from the 2022 flood or, for that matter, from the 2023 spring fire, and now we add to that the most recent fire and the extensive damage it caused in Enterprise and Hay River. Considering the rate of which government moves, in addition to the lack of labour, trades, and contractors, I see flood and fire recovery going beyond the life of the next Assembly unless we do things differently. We need to add a level of support with sufficient financial resources to action each file in an efficient and timely manner. We need a clear, concise, and transparent process for those impacted.

Mr. Speaker, there are residents who have been living in motels for over a year and who have been asking for our help to either provide them with a replacement home or more suitable long-term accommodation. These are people who have lost everything; they are people who may not know how to navigate a system we have created; they are people who may not have the financial resources to find a temporary rental home; they are people who want their life back. Let us provide that help.

Mr. Speaker, we have residents in Paradise Valley who, rightly so, are concerned that property values have substantially declined to the point that their properties are unsaleable. Many are at a loss on what to do. Do they walk away from their properties and mortgages; do they push for property acquisition or buyback which some residents consider as the only viable option, an option that is allowed and set out in Section 3.4.1 of the federal "Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangement Program, which states that, "any solution that reduces or prevents recurrence of damages up to an equivalent of the cost of repairing and replacing actual damaged facilities, plus mitigation enhancement values as appropriate, will be considered for eligibility..." - a program this government refuses to use.

Mr. Speaker, it is time to ramp up support for those wanting to get their life back before they throw up their arms and say enough is enough and to hell with the NWT. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, when I look at this bill, it -- you know, it doesn't really require the -- or it doesn't require the Minister to share any information because it says that the Minister may disclose it, and there's no definitive requirement.

For me, the economy is very important in the Northwest Territories even more so now that we -- you know, with what we've been going through in these last few years. We need jobs. We need training. You know, we need -- you know, we need opportunities for -- you know, for NGOs to, you know, to provide support as well to the economy through, you know, maybe upgrading students and that type of thing as well. But, you know -- so with this bill, I don't really see -- like I say, I don't see any teeth in it, and I don't see it really doing anything. And except, you know, it'll sit there on the books, like a lot of the legislation that we actually have and doesn't really make a difference.

We have a process. Like the Minister said, we do have a process that's in place right now that we're going through, and I'd like to let that kind of roll out on -- you know, and see what comes of, and the future Assembly, you know, the Members hopefully will have a say in what happens there and as well as hopefully, you know, with Indigenous governments as well because they've got -- you know, their participation is paramount in anything we do. So, yeah, I can't support this bill either just being, you know, on the side of, you know, economic development at this point and, you know -- and the stages that we're in in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there seems to be some confusion, or there has been anyway right from the start with Pathfinders in place, as to who was actually making decisions to either approve or decline applications. You know, I think that's very important so that when people are going to see a Pathfinder, you know, sometimes they think the Pathfinder is the one who might be approving an application, but I don't -- my sense is that they're -- it's not them. So I'd like -- I'd ask the Minister to provide, I guess, maybe with a flow chart of the process of who is responsible for the different aspects of the application as it goes from -- from when it gets taken in to when it's finally approved. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, considering that, you know, we still have, I think, 22 files left over from the flood that -- you know, that haven't been completed, haven't even started to be actioned yet, and we do have, I think, three Pathfinders in Hay River, and I'm not sure what we have for staff here, but now with the fires and the magnitude of, you know, what happened in the South Slave, will there be additional staff added in the South Slave to help people, you know, deal with their claims? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once the assessors do their job and the information is gathered, who will be responsible for working with those businesses and persons who had structure and equipment damage by the fire? Will it be Pathfinders; who will it be? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. These questions are for the Minister of ECC. I'd ask the Minister have any assessors visited the communities that had structural damage to assess those damages as of today. Thank you.