Frieda Martselos

Some people believe that direct appointments are beneficial for Indigenous P1 individuals. Can the Minister tell us if she agrees with that statement?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister of human resources tell us if her department is ensuring that the Affirmative Action Policy is being evenly applied within all departments of the government? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister commit to bringing my concerns about the direct appointment process to Cabinet to determine ways to improve direct appointments to ensure greater transparency and accountability? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Can the Minister tell us if the affirmative action strategy applies to all departments of the Government of the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I'm going to talk about the Affirmative Action Policy and how it is not being evenly applied across all departments within the Government of the Northwest Territories. What I mean is that I have brought several constituency issues pertaining to the Affirmative Action Policy to the attention of the Minister responsible for human resources. Oftentimes, the Minister will defer any answers on these particular enquiries to the department or Ministers who are doing the hiring. Through my work on these issues, it has come to my attention that there is not an even...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I would like to use my Member's statement to thank and acknowledge the church community in Fort Smith. Mr. Speaker, there are three churches in my community: the Anglican, the Catholic, and the Pentecostal. The church community in Fort Smith has become a core constituency of the town itself. The church community contributes to the entirety of the community of Fort Smith. They want Fort Smith to thrive and do well, along with the rest of the NWT. The church community contributes to local events, and they share their building space with other organizations or...

I understand the airport runway standards are only changed by the federal government, which is the entity who sets the standards by which airports are designed and operated. Can the Minister clarify whether the Government of the Northwest Territories requested that the Fort Smith airport runway standards be changed, or were the change of standards initiated solely by the federal government?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I am going to speak once again about the issues pertaining to the Fort Smith Regional Airport. Today marks the fourth time that I have done a Member's statement about this topic in this Assembly. I spoke at length about the discontent and disappointment that the people of Fort Smith have about the changes done to the Fort Smith Regional Airport. Oftentimes, though, it seems my words fall upon deaf ears when it comes to this topic. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to share with this House that I am no longer the only voice opposing the changes made to the Fort Smith...

I'll turn to page 181, then, and go to Health and Social Services Authority funding. That went up by $22 million, so my question is for clarity. Everybody is equal in the territory, and we all expect the same services everywhere. I know it's very difficult. You can't have a large hospital in a small community, but it seems like we're always making sure that the Health and Social Services Authority funding, it went up by $22 million. It puzzles me how these budgets are presented because I just feel like it could be done more simply, so that we all understand very easily because I'm very good at...

My question is: community clinics and health centres, the budget went down. That's all the small communities, and I guess we're not considered a hospital. We're considered a health centre. The budget went down by almost $2 million. I'm just wondering, especially now that we've been through a pandemic and are still in a pandemic, why would budgets go down in community clinics and health centres? Thank you, Mr. Chair.