Mahsi cho, Madam Chair. It sounds like, earlier, you got another promotion there. I really like this mandate item, as well. I really got a good sense of it when we sat around our roundtable in October with all the regions. That was so powerful, just hearing them. What really surprised me was they were telling us that they had never met with us in that forum before. It blew me away. I think that needs to happen more, that collaboration. We need to work with each other. For too long, I think there was that division between the GNWT and the regions. I feel like the regions felt ignored. We are starting to bridge that now. That makes me very happy, and I think this is a good direction to go in. My question for the Premier is: I am looking here at the timeline summer 2021. It says, "How we will demonstrate progress," and there is a training program that will be developed. Can she just expand a little bit on what this training program is going to be like and just give us some high-level content? What is going to be in that training program?

Thank you, Madam Chair. That's all I have for now.

Thank you for that response from the Premier. Thank you for that. I am looking here at what we will do to review, update, and publish territorial principles and interests to reflect GNWT's new priorities and mandate and there's a "how we will demonstrate progress for terms of reference being developed." Again, I'm going to go back to saying how it's really important. So how is the Premier going to proceed with developing these terms of reference, and is there going to be any consultation with any Indigenous groups for the development of terms of reference?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I will make a quick statement about this. Out of all our 22 items, if I had to label a keystone item, this would be it. I think a lot hinges on this mandate item. I want to just make a quick comment about Oliver Edjericon, who is my great-grandfather, who signed a Treaty 8 in Deninu Kue in 1900. I often think what he would say if he was in here. I could imagine him saying, "What took you so bloody long?" I think in honour of our relations who signed that, I think we have to do it right and do it properly. To echo what my colleague from Thebacha said about having consultation, not just consultation but meaningful consultation, and get these meetings done right. My question: I am looking at page 8 again. It mentions that there is a special joint committee here. Will the Premier be open to having any of our elected Indigenous leaders to sit on this joint committee?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think I am good here. The Premier answered my question, and I'm satisfied with the answer. Mahsi cho.

I am hearing a couple of different accounts here. I just want to make sure I get this straight in my head. Do I need to direct this question to the Minister of Lands? I didn't hear that.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am just looking at the transition of 100 individuals and/or families to home ownership. I think it's so important, this item. I think that, if people have ownership in their homes, they'll take pride in it. They'll take care of it. I'm looking here at how. When we go through this exercise, the how is the most important thing, how we get there. I'm looking at the lease-to-own policy developed and promoted. I would like to ask the Premier: if this policy is developed and promoted, how is land tenure part of this? Is it included in here? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mahsi cho, Madam Chair. After much thought and deliberation about the mandate and our list of 22 priorities, I personally feel like I would have done things a little differently, like you mentioned. We're all very strong alpha males and females in this room, and we wouldn't be here if we weren't. We all have 19 different ideologies and 19 different ways of doing business, but I'm very happy we came to a consensus and came to this document.

For me personally, I think it would be extremely helpful to have knowledge of our current financial state before going into this exercise, but that's how we learn. We learn and we move forward and do the best with what we've got. I know, as newly elected MLAs, a lot is expected of us; and, in fact, there are a lot of new faces here. People wanted real change, and we have to give it to them. They deserve it, but now we have this mandate, and I think, for lack of a better word, this is really our paddle for the canoe that we've got in this uncertain time. I'm going to believe in that and get behind it, and I'm going to think about that single mom who might be living in an isolated community, you know, struggling to support their kids. They could be in Lutselk'e. They could be in Lidlii Kue. They could be in Thebacha. It could be an elder who is having trouble getting by on their old age pension, and that's who we have to think about.

Overall, there are some items in this document that I'm glad to see and I'll be supporting; the Joint Committee on Indigenous Reconciliation, for example. It's a very good idea. However, there is one aspect that I would like to see added, and it's more inclusion with elected Indigenous leaders. If we really, truly want to reconcile, from the inside out, we need to invite our fellow Indigenous elected leaders to the joint committee. The same goes for "establish an internal working group" which this government plans to create. I hope to see, at some level, involvement with Indigenous leaders or Indigenous governments with the creation of that working group.

Regarding employment in small communities, I would like to see a higher number of jobs that will be created by the end of the 19^th Assembly. A figure that was listed, I think, as a fairly low number, but nonetheless, I expect to see at least a few more jobs being created within my riding. Something that really, really angers me and frustrates me is how we always seem to have outside entities, like the Americans, southern companies; they come in and they take some very good business opportunities and jobs away from my community. I will say this until I'm blue in the face: any money that leaves the territories will hurt the Northwest Territories. We have to keep our money here. Again, our people deserve it.

In regard to tourism, I'm happy to see that there is an effort for increasing tourism to the regions outside of Yellowknife. That makes me happy. One aspect that I would like to see included is something about expanding our tourism market. Given the recent outbreak of this coronavirus -- I'm not going to go too much into that -- our tourism industry is probably going to take a hit for this. I hope to see efforts by this government to try to get people from newer markets.

On climate change, I wish there had been something regarding Indigenous guardians of the land. There is no mention of it anywhere in this document, and that is something that all regions would have appreciated. I think, overall, we need a balanced approach. You know, you can't just organize one group or sector over the other. We need a balanced approach going forward, and we can't do that without a healthy economy. We need a healthy economy to go forward. We need jobs, it's important, and more self-sufficiency for our Indigenous governments. That is how, I believe in my heart, we're going to achieve success.

I got a little bit emotional there because I still think about my great-grandmother when I saw the elder, the one prior to me mentioned about elders, and letting elders age in place with dignity, because we still have a lot of work to go in that direction. I'm hoping, if my great-grandmother is still watching, I'm hoping she's giving me a little nudge and supporting me. I'm thinking about her, and I want to say mahsi cho, Madam Chair. That's all I have to say.

Mahsi, Madam Chair. The committee wishes to consider Tabled Document 12-19(2), 2019-2023 Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories. Mahsi cho, Madam Chair.