Katrina Nokleby

Madam Speaker, the Northwest Territories has a resourcebased economy. Mining has driven our development for decades. It has built roads and power lines, provided high paying wages, apprenticeships, and other opportunities for Northerners. Mining has also driven significant secondary business development throughout the territory, including within the service industry and through contracting. NWT communities benefit from socioeconomic agreements, and Indigenous governments who have signed onto devolution share in the resource royalties our primary industry creates.

Madam Speaker, without resource...

Actually, this might be a little bit of leeway as well but since my colleague brought up the security at these apartments and it is my understanding the security that has been jointly hired does look after several of the apartments, not just one building in particular. But it is my understanding that the more specialized firm that had been hired earlier on coming from Alberta was is no longer being contracted and it's back to northern security firms. Could the Minister or department confirm if that is truly the case? Thank you.

Yeah, just quickly something my colleague said made we wonder. If we want to get out of leases, because we're trying to get them into smaller or sort of get more landlords involved in our portfolio, for lack of a better word, but yet we have a housing deficit, I don't understand then why we wouldn't just turn around and lease more spaces to have more housing units. Why do we need to remove leases to add new leases and not just have more spaces as needed. Thank you.

I'm glad to hear that. And honestly, I think it would be good to maybe get some messaging out. And I don't know that I mean, it's a busy session, but it might be out there already, but I do think there is still perception that program has been shut down for now.

My next question is around the homeownership repair and mobility modifications program. And so it's my understanding that this has to do with helping people with disabilities and such live within a noninstitutional setting or at their home. You know, again very low amounts of money. We have an aging population. I get that there's sort...

Yeah, and I appreciate that. I think you have to sometimes and I keep saying let's move it 80 percent instead of always waiting for 99, which is unattainable. So I do like that idea of what I'm hearing and then it being an iterative process that, you know, the findings will be looked at. I guess under that, my question or comment would be, you know, if we are finding that people and I'm assuming this is people if they're coming in to get this money, that it's potentially going to be oversubscribed I'm assuming. And so if that is the case, and there's more want than we have money for, would...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So if I am understanding that right, a portion of the money that was meant to go directly to these retrofits or repairs was then used for administrative purposes by the department? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. And it doesn't sound like much has changed in the conversation at Roundup since I went in 2020, which was the same things that I heard from the mineral resource sector. They liked our robust regulatory system. They wanted to invest in the North. And a key piece I think that we need to also remember is that when we go to seek investment, we can tell people that their money spent in northern Canada will actually benefit people. You will literally create lifechanging projects as we've seen in Imperial Oil up in Norman Wells. So I do think that that is a key piece that we...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. And I appreciate the Minister's comments. I guess I'm a bit concerned that we weren't engaged earlier on in this given, you know, the topics that we've been discussing here around the carbon tax, and a lot of this critical mineral strategy is about transitioning Canada off of fossil fuels and into a greener energy economy. So I guess I'm a bit frustrated by that. But I do know that this Minister is well positioned to be that voice at the table.

Can the Minister speak a bit then about how do we become innovative when we're working with the federal government? We have...

Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would also like to rise and recognize Daryl Dolynny who is my constituent of Great Slave. Thank you, Madam Speaker.