Caroline Cochrane

Thank you, Madam Chair. I had earlier said that I am glad to have a lawyer in the House. I am glad to have a few lawyers in the House. To answer the lawyer's question, I will allow Martin to answer that. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is pretty conservative. Again, I realize that some people are going to be judging us in two years on the mandate to see if it's accomplished or changed, and other people are going to be judging us and trying to take us out of our seats, so I purposely have done that. I know that; that's fair.

There is no way, actually, to say that we will have ten jobs in this one and ten jobs in that one. Once we open up just the public housing alone, it might just flood. We've got people, I know, that are making slippers. I'm going to be careful here, because I buy my wood from...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I already said that relationships were critical. I have to recognize that one negotiator at one table might seem like the worst person in the world, and the next table, they might be the best. I have seen that because I have had people come to me and say, "You need to fire So-and-so." Then I went and met with another Indigenous government, and they said, "That is the best person we ever had." What it tells me is: we need to have more than one negotiator and be willing to move them up. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I do know that there is a funding formula that is worked on with the NWT Association of Communities. We work closely with them on this. They represent all communities. All communities have a say in that organization, but I will commit to actually finding out more information for the Member. All I know is that we work with them, they help us allocate, and they represent all communities. They allocate where the monies go to, and that is done in partnership. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. There was quite a bit said. What I heard, though, was clearly "people, people, people," and I think that that's reflected in our mandate. I think all of the Cabinet is very people-focused but recognizing still that you have got to have a strong economy and to support social programs. Anyone that's in the social program area field knows that there's got to be money to pay for programs. You have to have a balance.

I heard: if everything's a priority, then nothing's a priority. It's a very wise saying that has been around for centuries, and I think it's true. I think that...

Thank you, Madam Chair. What I can commit to: as soon as we get the working group in the summer of 2020, the first conversation we'll put on the table is, do you want an AIP or an MOU or a terms of reference to be able to do this? That, I can commit to and work from that. I'm not seeing that we're downloading it and we're going to say, "This is all about you." What I'm saying is that we need to make sure that they are the voices that we're listening to, not just a whole bunch of bureaucrats. Because we all agree, I think, that just having a whole bunch of bureaucrats do it might not be the...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Our commitment is to getting 125 jobs in small communities. This is not talking about Yellowknife or bigger regions. We can't control the market and who's going to move and come, but what I can say is that there is a lot less mobility going south, people, residents, leaving from small communities than there are from Yellowknife or larger centres. This goal is specifically for small communities. There is less migration out of small communities outside of the territories. They tend to come to Yellowknife or Inuvik. Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I think the Minister...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I will commit to providing a letter that I will share with both reserves. Give me a little bit of time. I want to meet with the reserves first to make sure that it's the letter that they want because we are talking about advocating. Once we've met with both reserves and we know what we're going to bring forward to the federal government, I will stand beside them in that battle, and then we will provide a copy, as long as the reserves, I'm being careful now, agree that we can open it up, and we will provide a letter. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Agreed. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am pleased to present the 2019-2023 mandate for the Government of the Northwest Territories. This mandate is built on the priorities we set together as newly elected Members of the 19th Legislative Assembly in October 2019. Under the current process conventions, Members of the Executive Council discussed how we might implement these priorities in the best interest of all Northerners and in our current operating environment. I sat down with the standing committee in November and heard from each Member about the needs of our regions and communities, and the actions we...