Caroline Cochrane

Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, at this point, I've been focusing on building relationships and, so far, Madam Chair, it's working quite well. Like I said, governments that said, "We don't want anything to do with you," are coming back to the table. Trust is critically important, and the belief in the leader is critically important. We don't have any specific work groups or anything that are working on that, except, Madam Chair, we have the Indigenous reconciliation committee that, Madam Chair, you are the chair of, and part of that goal is to, within the term of this government, give us...

Actually, I do believe that the ministerial travel is posted on the website and is available to all Members already. I think it has been done. My understanding is that no Minister, as I said, has left the territories since COVID-19. The only Minister who actually left the territories when COVID started was myself, as Premier, at the beginning of COVID, when I was down there and I got hit. Sorry, I have been corrected. There was a Minister, again, who left because of extenuating circumstances, but not during the Christmas period. That record is public. That record can be obtained. If the Member...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, that's impossible to do, to say that. I have given direction to my department. When the Indigenous governments are at the table and ready to negotiate, ready to talk, we're there. Put everything aside and make it your priority. When the Indigenous governments say, "Back off," we back off. So, out of respect, Madam Chair, I can't give a timeline. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As our Government House Leader raised in the point of order, it is inappropriate to speak about people who are not in the House. I will not speak about the people who left because of extenuating circumstances. What I will speak about is to the process. Ministers are directly responsible for approving leave for their deputy ministers. However, in saying that, deputy ministers have to notify, but they are responsible for their own. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. If you're so happy, that means that that's your one ask for all of the MLAs? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, COVID-19 is a time of exceptional situations. I do agree with the Member that we need to be flexible. If the organizations that don't traditionally access this don't need all of the funding, then yes, I think that we should be able to do other wellness events. Indigenous rights and treaties, et cetera, are critically important, but if they are not going to access it all, we should be looking at other events. Cultural events, I'll call them, so that they fit within my line budget. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I do remember this. It was in the last Assembly, and I was part of that Assembly. The original intent of the $250,000 was to actually build capacity for the friendship centres so that they could access other sustainable funding. The goal was that they would hire a coordinator, and that person's job would be to actually solidify funding. Sadly, Madam Chair, I am not sure if that happened as much, but what I can say is that the friendship centre has met with Cabinet, has presented to us on their needs. My worry is that that it's more than just throwing money. We need to...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I may ask my DM to expand on what I am saying. There is a cycle of how the MOUs are done. One year, the Indigenous governments will meet in Yellowknife, and the next year we will meet in their communities, et cetera, so that does make an impact on the budgets regarding where the travel is. Madam Chair, I would like the deputy minister to expand.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Respectfully, I beg to differ with the honourable Member in that every young drummer is an excellent drummer. In my opinion, every person who picks up any kind of traditional instrument, or begins to sew, or begins to fish or hunt, is excellent in my opinion. I don't want to quash people. They need to be brought up because they learn as they grow; all of us, even as we're old.

With the money for the special events funding, like I said already, if this money is not needed by the organizations that currently have it, we would be willing to look at using it for other issues...

Thank you, Madam Chair. At the beginning of this Assembly, we did have a presentation to the Executive on the negotiations. They do have mandates. They know exactly what. As stated yesterday, Madam Chair, the difficulty is that, when it becomes too financial, monies et cetera, they need to actually come back to the executive for approval. The negotiators are not executive. They do not have that authority to make excessive decisions without a Cabinet approval. That is a common process. In the last government, they said that they would all be done; probably not the best commitment to make on the...