Caroline Cochrane

Again, that is within the Minister of Justice's department, so I'll defer the question to her. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Some communities are working in partnership a little bit differently than other communities. Some communities are working with their Indigenous governments on their checkpoints. Indigenous governments did get money. They got money from the federal government for COVID-19 with flexibility on being able to use it. We want to help our municipal governments. It's not a matter of if we want to help them or not. We do want to help them. We are waiting for the $10 billion ask to see what that happens with. We're still collecting the debts from our municipal governments, as well. We're looking at...

Absolutely. Like I said, our job, especially with Indigenous affairs, is to help the Indigenous governments. However, I do need to clarify that the Indigenous governments, and I am respectful of them, have asked me to not interfere with their federal funding, that they wanted it directly. I have advocated and lobbied the federal government that that money should go directly to the Indigenous governments, so it's a fine line. I am careful of how I lobby. I will lobby for additional money, but I will not ask where, how much, or to whom because I think we are crossing a line at that point. Thank...

As spoken, we are in the process, ENR is in the process, of reviewing the harvester assistance program to see how we can make that more flexible, but the key thing is that the Indigenous governments did receive federal money. I do not know, Mr. Speaker, how much that was, respectfully. It was given directly to the Indigenous governments. However, my understanding from the department is that the federal government is looking at perhaps supporting more money to the Indigenous governments for COVID-19.

Again, those were conversations at the beginning. I did promise to have feedback from MLAs. Those are the conversations we will be having. I will not make that decision on my own; I don't think it's appropriate. I will be having conversations with our Cabinet, and then I will present to committee, the appropriate committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I can't make a commitment that we will address climate change in this government. This is a longstanding issue. However, it would be inappropriate for any government, any Legislative Assembly, to not try to address climate change as we go forward, from now until the end of time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Absolutely. The GNWT is known for not being the best communicator, but this Assembly is trying to do better, so I will make sure that Municipal and Community Affairs reaches out to the community governments, to the communities, let them know what services are available. I do know that the Minister of ENR has also got regional representatives in the area that can provide information to harvesters, as well.

If they do fall within the Disaster Assistance Policy, if they qualify for that, then there would be funds provided for that. I'm not too sure about the harvester disaster compensation program. I'm assuming that they would if there are assets that would be reimbursed. I know that one of the northern communities, Tuktoyaktuk, was actually looking at prevention. Those are a little bit harder to get. The federal government tends to just give money for the disasters when they happen. It is something that we need to keep bringing awareness of to the federal government. Climate change is affecting...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are actually a couple of disaster relief programs that people in all regions can apply for in the Northwest Territories. One is through Municipal and Community Affairs. It's a Disaster Assistance Policy. It more works with things, infrastructure, roads, et cetera, deals with private properties, but it's about primary properties with that one. The other one that we deal with is the harvester disaster compensation program, and that's through ENR, Environment and Natural Resources, and it provides support to NWT harvesters when they suffer loss or damage to their...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think this is a great piece of legislation. It's 2020, and I'm old. I struggle with technology, but my children and grandchildren pick it up from two years old. It's time that we got into the technical world. I am not worried about future Assemblies. I do believe, Madam Chair, that this is the way of the future. This is proactive, and we are part of that future. I adhere to that. I also know that, with COVID-19, we are looking at possibly a second wave in the fall. If that happens, it would be necessary for us to go right back into confinement. If we are in...