Caroline Cochrane

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Absolutely. This government is actually working closer than, what I understand, from any other government before. All three Ministers will be working on this project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Right now, winter 2020 is for the national jurisdictional review. Engaging with Indigenous governments, I am not sure. I don't know if we have done that at this point. In fairness, Ministers have been busy developing the mandate, developing all the work we have to do, getting familiar with it, and being in session. If the Minister hasn't started this work, I have full faith that she will begin this work as soon as possible. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. My understanding is that, yes, the meat regulations are still in place, but that is what we are going to be doing: reviewing and amending all regulatory frameworks to look at all barriers. We have to be conscious that safety has to also take a play in that. We are not just going to allow a free-for-all. There has to be a safety element, but some of our regulations might be a little bit too stringent in this modern age, so we will be looking at them all. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Confidentiality is a huge issue. I can't say where they go. The Minister might have an idea, but I know that, when I did the housing survey and I went right across the Northwest Territories and asked people, I was worried about people being penalized and being evicted from their homes. I actually picked out a person within the department who I felt I could trust, and that poor person, I made all those surveys go through that person. The Minister does have that authority to decide that, if she so wishes. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to start by raising the point that points of privilege should be raised at the earliest possible time. This issue has been raised now for a number of weeks. This point could have been raised earlier. If there was an issue related to the timing of the legal opinion, I note it was dated February 12th, more than two weeks ago. Mr. Speaker, nothing in the present circumstances have prevented the Assembly from being able to fulfill its duties. The hiring and firing of associate deputy ministers and their statutory appointments of officials are not matters that relate...

Absolutely. I couldn't say it better than the Member said it herself. The managed alcohol program isn't only about getting people off of addictions. It is about harm reduction. The amount of people I have seen in my career that have done horrible things that I won't speak about in this House to actually be able to get a $5 bottle of beer are horrible stories that I have heard. These people will actually benefit from this program. They may, but they don't have to resort to those methods to feed their addiction. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, we will take into consideration as we develop the programs, as we develop all programs, where they are best situated. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is a long-term goal. I think it would be very inappropriate for anyone to just discontinue what we have. The priority is to increase the number of resident healthcare professionals by at least 20 percent, yet the priority does not say about decrease the number and then increase. If we are providing services to our residents in the North as public servants, which we should be, and we already know we have a shortage, it would just be illogical for us to stop using locums until we have that filled. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The nine comes from just trying to be reasonable about what we feel that we can accomplish in the life of this Assembly. When we first put out distance learning, which wasn't during my term but I did take part in it, they were wise in that they said they would do five a year. That way, they were able to keep that commitment. This year, you will see that there will be 20. If we would have said 99, we wouldn't have made it. Start with nine. Each year, we'll try to improve. If we break this, this is not our bible. This does not mean that we only do nine, and in two years...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I will take that as a comment, and I am looking forward, also, to having measurable outcomes for a lot of areas in the government. Thank you, Madam Chair.