Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Madame la Presidente. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that Motion 24-19(2), Changes to Committee Membership be amended by adding the following: AND FURTHERMORE, whereas Mr. Steve Norn was appointed to the Special Committee on Reconciliation and Indigenous Affairs by Motion 21-19(2) on October 29, 2020;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that Mrs. Frieda Martselos replace Mr. Steve Norn as a member of the Special Committee on Reconciliation and Indigenous Affairs. Mahsi, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that, if a Minister attending remotely loses their connection when a question has been asked to that Minister, then the question shall be redirected to the Premier or designate to respond. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Madame la Presidente. I want to thank the Minister for that. I really look forward to counting carrots in the future. We are going to get some hard statistics. I spoke about how ITI's efforts on agriculture seem to be largely focused on business and commercial food production. I think that there is some real urgency in building a food security strategy here for the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister commit to developing a real food security strategy for the Northwest Territories that incorporates food self-sufficiency, including agriculture, country foods, inter-settlement trade...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that, when conducting a roll call, the Clerk call on the mover of the motion, followed by each Member attending remotely by order of their normal seat in the House, then each Member seated in the Chamber; and further, that, for Members attending remotely, they will be called no more than three times for their vote before the Clerk moves on to the next Member. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank the Minister for that. Could say something about fish there, but we had a great fish lunch today, too. I mentioned that the pandemic did disrupt some of our supply chains, put our food security at some risk. There was a lot of renewed interest in local food production. I mentioned some of the wonderful projects that took place this summer. It's not clear, though, whether we took full advantage of that convergence of events and interest. Can the Minister tell us what lessons we've learned about building food security during this pandemic?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that, whenever a Member is attending session remotely, all votes on readings of bills, or on any motion that requires notice, be conducted as a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Madame la Presidente. Food security can generally be defined as having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable and nutritious food. The 2019-2023 mandate of this government identifies actions to support food security with food industry development, increasing country food harvesting, and improving Nutrition North. We have an agriculture strategy called "The Business of Food," a name that implies the largely commercial focus of its initiatives. These are helpful, but the almost exclusive focus on agriculture as a business will not necessarily lead to food security. We have...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that training and orientation for online sittings should be provided; and further, that the board of management should look at providing a headset to each Member to ensure consistency; and furthermore, that any Member attending remotely be required to wear a headset. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, just very briefly, committee did turn its mind to this, and we only wanted to allow Members to participate remotely for a very narrow set of reasons but also give the Speaker some discretion if people are taking discretionary travel, even business travel related to the Assembly. Sitting here is really a privilege and a duty, and we want to make sure that MLAs make every effort to come here in person. We prescribed a very narrow set of circumstances under which a Member could participate remotely. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, committee did turn its mind to this matter. Of course, we have recommended remote sittings only in limited circumstances. I think I mentioned the public health emergency and a state of emergency under the Emergency Measures Act or if the Speaker is satisfied that the health, safety, or well-being of a Member might be compromised, so already, remote sittings are only contemplated in a limited set of circumstances, recognizing that one of those might be if we do not have a building to meet in any further.

We did not go as far as to say that staff had to be here, in this...