Frieda Martselos

Well I guess, Madam Chair, it is a concern to the advisory council in Fort Smith that they don't get financial monthly reports on exactly where the health centre stands. I mean, if I sat on any board or any kind of even if it was advisory or whatever, I would be very concerned if I did not get monthly financial statements when they have their meetings. And I think that should be should be I'd really appreciate if the department would look and make sure that the people that are sitting around the table have access to these kind this kind of information. They're not going to be sharing it...

Well, that is kind of not very clear. For clarity, I would like to know how much money is allocated to the Fort Smith Health Centre, Madam Chair. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I was just looking at the grants and contributions to on page 199, health and social services authorities funding. So the mains for this year is $278,647. So how many authorities does that the funding allocated to, how many authorities? Does that include the Yellowknife authorities?

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain if he believes the updated disaster assistance policy is sufficient in its eligible coverage offered to NWT residents who endure a natural disaster, or if the Minister believes the policy is lacking? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain why a tornado is not listed under the list of emergencies that may be eligible for disaster assistance? And can the Minister clarify if a tornado does occur in an NWT community, would people be eligible for coverage? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to recognize Al Karasiuk, the principal of PWK High School, a constituent and a great friend of mine.

The other thing I want to talk about is, you know, a lot of the services seem to be more centralized now that we have Stanton. I'm just wondering if the specialists' visits to the regional centres will increase. It's much easier for a lot of our especially the large senior population that we have like in the community of Fort Smith. It'll be much easier if a specialist was able to come to the community on a regular basis rather than everybody travelling to Stanton here in Yellowknife. And I just want to see how the Minister feels about that. Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'm very, very proud that we have this, the polytechnic headquarters in Fort Smith but I would you know, there's two positions. We talk about decentralization, and we have two borrowed positions that are here in Yellowknife from the polytechnic headquarters. And as the community of Fort Smith, including the leadership, has spoken to the Minister, we would like those two positions returned to Fort Smith and that senior management. I know that the board will he won't be able to do it but, you know, it's I want to bring it up here for clarity and for to be on the record that they should be...

Thank you, Madam Chair. First of all, I want to thank the Minister for paying a visit to the future headquarters of the polytechnic university in Fort Smith in January. It was a really incredible visit. It was on it was a very cold day that day. And we went to each classroom, and all the trades were in session. And, you know, as I went through the building, I did not realize myself how important it is to hire local. M ostly all the trades are done by local the training is done by local Indigenous personnel who care for these students in a really incredible way. And even the trades head, the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, next weekend from March 9th to 12th, Fort Smith will be hosting the annual winter carnival, Wood Buffalo Frolics. This year will mark the first time since 2019 that Fort Smith's beloved carnival will be taking place. It was cancelled twice because of the pandemic and once more due to organizer and volunteer fatigue. Fortunately, this year has many volunteers who stepped up to help with planning and will help with all of the events over the next weekend.

Mr. Speaker, this year's Wood Buffalo Frolics weekend will coincide with sled dog races from the Thebacha...