Frieda Martselos

I'm going to make a short comment. In my previous role, I saw a lot of abuse that occurred to men also. And I think that this is a really important motion. It's there's also the reverse, okay. It's not only women that are abused within society in a home life. I saw both sides of the abuse that could happen, and sometimes it could be pretty, pretty awful. And so I really support this particular motion. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Speaker, could the Premier tell us if she considers the centralization of government services and jobs as a problem, and does she consider it as a threat to small communities or regional centres? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, can the Premier provide some concrete examples on what efforts the executive has done throughout the 19th Assembly to support the decentralization of public service jobs away from the capital? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about government decentralization. This is something that I have spoken about several times throughout this term and something that nearly all members have spoken about at one point or another.

Mr. Speaker, decentralization of government jobs and services is a priority of this Assembly. It is a concept and practice that is vital to strengthening small communities and regional centres. For far too long, the Government of the Northwest Territories has normalized and made it standard policy across all departments to centralize all or most...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to speak once again about the Taltson Hydro Expansion. As Thebacha MLA, I have particular interest in this project because Fort Smith is the closest community to the Taltson Dam.

Mr. Speaker, currently I do have some concerns about this project. I know that throughout this Assembly our government has been in consultations with various First Nations and Metis governments that are nearest to the Taltson Dam, as they should be. In fact, the Government of the Northwest Territories signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2021 with a number of nearby...

Madam Chair, I will have the clerk explain.

On my left is Tim Mercer, clerk of the Legislative Assembly. On my right is Christina Duffy, legislative division, Department of Justice.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I am pleased to speak to Bill 73, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, No. 4. This bill would adjust the indemnities and allowances listed in parts 1, 2 and 3 of Schedule C, annually using the average change in the consumer price index over the past five years.

Currently, indemnities and allowances for Members of the Legislative Assembly are adjusted each year on April 1st based on the CPI for the previous calendar year. If the status quo is maintained, MLA indemnities and allowances will increase by 6.8 percent on April 1 of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, P3s have a purpose, and I've always said that in this House. They're you know, you're not using capital dollars to advance something in small communities or regional centres, and hopefully not always in the capital. I am I don't like what happened. That was inherited by another they inherited this with another government. And, you know, governments have to inherit bad files sometimes. I've inherited a lot of bad files when I was at Salt River. And I will be voting for the supplementary for that reason because I'm very much about making sure that we move...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, March the 30th, 2023, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, second by the Honourable Member for Hay River North, that the Legislative Assembly express its sincere gratitude to Mr. Mercer for his dedicated and exemplary service to this House;.

And further, that the Legislative Assembly designate Mr. Tim Mercer as an honorary officer of the Legislative Assembly with an entree to the Chamber and a seat at the table. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.