Katrina Nokleby

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of ECE. When I was lucky enough to be able to still travel through Europe, I used Google Translate a lot to order food and not get myself lost. My question for the Minister: is there an online translation tool such as Google Translate to assist students in oral proficiency of Northwest Territories Indigenous languages? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. No. I think that I am good, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to give the department a kudos in that, when I had surgery in Edmonton, I was actually told that we get in very high on the list over Albertans because the Northwest Territories pays their bills very well and on time, so I always thought that was kind of an interesting comment. I just want to know if maybe you could explain, if the department could explain to me or the Minister -- and this is just my own knowledge. We just have a line item here for the Health and Social Services Authority funding on page 190, and I am just curious to know: what function do...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And then, of course, just go back into the general revenue? I see nods. Okay. Thank you. I just want to reiterate maybe some concerns I have heard with repatriating people to the North, and I just would like to throw my support around. That seems to be a really hot topic and one area that I would like us to be working more towards. Maybe the Minister could speak to the fluctuations of the fees and payments line item. There is a $50 million line item in 2019 for the actuals, but then we have an estimated of almost $36 million, and for our year coming up, it's at $40...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am just curious to know, when I look at the addictions treatment facilities costs, in the actuals for 2019-2020, it was $2.4 million. We have estimated we will probably be just under $2.1 million this year. Can the department or the Minister speak to how realistic that is? Do we anticipate changes to these numbers because some of the facilities have shut down, and perhaps there's maybe a reluctance for people to go south? Do we think we are going to spend that $2 million? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am glad to hear that, too. I get that there is a certain degree of technical expertise that is required for certain types of facilities. However, even if it's a matter of a senior who has a dilapidated home and, therefore, now they are getting moved out of it into a long-term care facility, if they don't need a large degree of care, I don't see why we can't have a lesser, sort of, care worker or lesser-educated care worker there to help them. That's great, and I look forward to learning more about the paid caregiver pilot program. It never made sense to me that we make...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm really glad to hear it's not disappeared for the upcoming year. When I look at the disabilities fund and then the respite fund, as well, just being a little less and such, I'm just wondering, as we see a change in how long-term care facilities are looked at as a result of COVID and then, as well, our mandate and priority to age in place, I'm just wondering if the department is tracking potential trends in keeping seniors at home or people with disabilities at home as opposed to group home situations and whether or not we're going to have to increase funding in these...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Can the Minister tell me how many of these employees for the enforcement team are ex-RCMP officers? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do agree with the Minister that the department has some really great staff to help out with the exploration industry. What I didn't hear the Minister say was that she is going to be a real loud squeaky wheel with the federal government to get more money for our mineral exploration sector, so I will just take that as a given, and I will continue to work with her on that. My last question is that it is my understanding that a critical minerals and metals action plan is being developed for the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister comment on the timeline for the...

I'm not going to say it's good news, but I am glad to hear some people are still working. We have been hearing from companies that there is still a gap in the relief for some of the exploration companies that are required to do work on their claims to prove their claims, including drilling. Will the Minister commit to waiving all of the mineral claim work requirements for the upcoming years until COVID restrictions are lifted?