Frieda Martselos

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The other thing I wanted to address is the homeownership program.

The homeownership program and also the we they're always there's always these thresholds that seem to be a barrier to ownership. So if you're at the very lower end of the scale, you can get ownership of because I know a couple, a young couple in Fort Smith who just started jobs and just started a new family, and they were told that they were over the threshold. And, you know, they're just starting out. They don't they bought a car and they wanted to buy the house they were in. And everything's with a...

I have no other comment at this moment, Mr. Chair.

Against.

In favour.

Mr. Speaker, I have heard from many of my constituents about the rising cost of living, the reduced purchasing power for people, and the historic levels of inflation, and it affects all consumer goods. Does the Minister of Finance have a plan to address this issue and help alleviate some of these extra costs for the people of the NWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

For.

Mr. Speaker, according to our recent budget address, the NWT's real GDP level was minus 10 percent for 2020. In fact, for three out of the previous five years, the NWT has experienced a decline in the GDP growth.

Can the Minister tell us what the government's plan is to reverse course and increase GDP growth for the NWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

For.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during this session, and all throughout this term for that matter, I've talked about the economy and about the need for our government to put greater emphasis on the economic recovery for the people of the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, when I talk about the economy and economic recovery from the effects of the pandemic I you refer to the economy as a whole, to all sectors, to large and small businesses alike within the NWT. We cannot focus on any single industry alone. We must consider the big picture and envision the longterm goals of what we want to achieve overall...

Well I beg to differ, Mr. Chair. Once you have an outside group owning land here in the territories, they have a right to section 35 and that means in any jurisdiction. That section 35 comes into play even if you want to open a mine and if they decide that they don't want to do that or they want to have IBAs for that or if they want to have ownership, they have that right just like any other Indigenous group in the territory, and I don't know if that has been conveyed to all the leadership in the Northwest Territories.

And when I stand here, that means it doesn't only affect Indigenous people...