Caroline Cochrane

Again, I think it might be a communications issue. At no time have I broken the law. In fact, we have had more legal opinions on this than not. The Premier is responsible for hiring and terminating associate deputy ministers and deputy ministers. Appointments to positions are not contingent on the Minister having to hire or terminate. There are many statutory positions that the Minister is not responsible for hiring. In fact, very few positions can a Minister hire for. We are blending in two things that should not be blended.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does that mean I am open to ask the MLA questions?

What I was asking for was clarification. My understanding, correct me if I am wrong, was that the question was: did the Premier give appropriate notice for termination to the associate deputy minister? If that is the question, then appropriate notice depends on situations, and that is in various acts. If somebody is giving you, for example, termination that I am going to leave my employment, it is customary to give two weeks' notice. If somebody is terminated from a position, the custom is you don't have to give notice...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is a difference between the appointing of statutory appointments and employment contracts; totally different. There are actually a number of statutory appointments across the Government of the Northwest Territories. The appointment process appoints the individual to a position in the public service; statutory appointments are made by the Minister and assigns responsibility under the legislation. In some cases, a position may have more than one statutory appointment. For example, the territory executive director, who is not hired by the Minister, for Child and...

Unfortunately, I can't commit to saying that I would stop the project in Inuvik. I mean, it would be very inappropriate for a Premier to stand here and make a commitment when there has been no research or assessment on the need, so I will not make a commitment to stop a project without the research done.

Like I said, there is not a Cabinet Member here who wants to take seniors or elders out of our communities. Every single Cabinet Member understands the needs of our community, our seniors, and our elders, but we have limited resources. Resources, not only money, but also capacity of staffing...

It's a good thing we have Ministers all around us talking to things. I believe the Member had mentioned not only his riding but the Sahtu in his statement. The health centre is going into Tulita at this point. Inuvik is having a long-term care facility built at this time. To have a whole list of every project and every contractor, that, I do not have. It probably is something that he should give notice of so that we can compile that information. However, I will commit to getting a list of every major project -- not every small project; that is too cumbersome -- every major infrastructure...

Again, in the last Assembly, it was more of a little bit of competition, feed the money through us. That didn't work very well for us. I try to learn. We are politicians. I think one of the Members had said we are not God. Absolutely, we are not God. The best thing a politician can be is humble enough to admit when they need help. The worst politician, in my opinion, is somebody who thinks they have all the answers.

What we are committed to doing: we have already been talking with our Indigenous governments. We are talking about having a strategy, not only around housing but all of the issues...

Absolutely. The commitment to actually do community housing plans in each community was a commitment actually from the last Assembly. I remember the Housing Minister bringing that forward. During this Assembly, I know that they have just finished one with the community of Whati. As they move forward, the goal is to have community housing plans in every community, because it is inappropriate for a government or any individual to believe that one size fits all. Every community has distinct strengths and distinct challenges. If we are doing services under best practices, we work with communities...

Sorry, Mr. Speaker. I was unclear if it was Indigenous partnerships or just partnerships, so I would have to ask clarification on the question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, later today, I will be tabling the Mandate of the GNWT 2019-2023. The mandate will guide our actions as a government and serve to hold Cabinet accountable as we work to advance the priorities of the 19th Legislative Assembly.

The Northwest Territories faces unprecedented challenges. We have been elected in a time of global economic uncertainty, increasingly complex social issues, and multifaceted impacts of climate change.

In the face of these challenges, I truly believe that the only way our Assembly can fulfill its promise to the residents of the Northwest Territories is to work...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "2019-2023 Mandate of the Government of the Northwest Territories." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.