Katrina Nokleby

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just wanted to make a comment that we are hearing in several of the committees that people are feeling a bit of engagement and consultation burnout and fatigue. So I just wanted to say that this, I think, is very important because while it does say that, yes, we are reaching out to all these people, if they're not feeling like they have the adequate time to respond and such, then are we really meeting the goals of engagement. So I just wanted to say that I strongly support this motion. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I agree with my colleague. I think this is one of the low hanging fruit that we often hear the government talk about. As we, again, had gone through the pandemic, we've realized how much of our stuff needs to be accessible virtually, and a lot of the low income people IN my constituents have told me that they are not able to download forms or get online and do the housing or the, you know, health requests and things that they need to do, and that's a lot of work that we as MLAs end up picking up to help them navigate the system. So I think this is a win-win, that in the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm glad to hear the Minister speak about working with other departments. I think that the way that youth are being dealt with definitely crosses multiple departments so we do need to keep breaking down those silos.

My last question is will the Minister commit to touring other buildings in my district, such as Norseman Manor and Simpson House, to see where we are placing the vulnerable youth and committing to developing an action plan to end youth homelessness? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Minister for that commitment to come and take a look at their operations. I think it's always good when you can see things firsthand. Let's keep it on vein of saying yes.

Can the Minister commit to providing Home Base with emergency funding to expand support hours to 24/7 and to keep their shelters open? The reason that this is so crucial right now is the temperatures are dropping, and they do provide a very important service for youth. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As a Regular Member, I'm active on our social development committee which has identified children and family services as an area of focus. From this work, I have been learning so much about the issues facing families and youth in the NWT. One area that I am becoming more familiar with is the foster care system, and I want thank everyone who has taken the time to speak with me about this topic as it's a sensitive one.

Mr. Speaker, when I look at our social problems, I can see the gap that youth and young adults are falling into. Agingout or kicked out of foster care, they often find themselves...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Yeah, I never thought that the Minister didn't support the resource sector; I guess it just needed to be said to the public sometimes about how important it is.

Can the Minister commit to providing relief funding that does not require operators to financially contribute first? As two years without any business anymore means that they don't have any ability any further to provide money upfront to get their relief funding. So I would ask that the Minister considers 100 percent funding for relief for tourism operators. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I'm pleased to hear that from the Minister as well. I do encourage her to have that direct conversation with the operators themselves. As we all know, within one organization, certain voices can become much larger than others. So to get that feedback from the grassroots, I think is really key here.

Moving on, great seque to my next question, what is the criteria for reopening tourism for outofterritory residents? How is the department working with the office of the CPHO to set that criteria? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I am doing my part to help out with what the Hay River South MLA is saying.

Currently, Madam Speaker, our outofterritory tourists are not permitted to enter the NWT for leisure travel unless they are travelling directly to an approved remote tourism location. According to operators, to gain this designation they must submit a rigorous COVID plan that includes additional insurance for medevacs, plans for isolating guests, and provisions to bring doctors to site should a COVID diagnosis be required. After almost two years of literally no business...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, me and the Minister can debate whether sciencebased decisionmaking is happening at another time. My question here is how much did the tourism sector add to the GDP prior to COVID versus its current contribution; and, given this information, how realistic is it that we are moving away from a resourcebased economy any time soon? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of ITI. Can the Minister commit to forming a direct focus group with NWT tourism operators to find out what supports are needed to sustain them during the time it will take for us to rebuild and reopen the territory?

Just a piece of information, Madam Speaker. According to the Northwest Territories tourism association, it may take two to five years to build our international reputation again. Thank you.