Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. Earlier today, the Minister of Finance made a statement about how GNWT is one of Canada's top employers for young people. I am wondering if the Minister can tell us whether our government has set specific targets for summer students for this year, or internships. Are there specific numbers that he can tell us about as targets for employment for internships and summer students? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, maybe they are still busy. I don't know. It seems to me that there would be less activity that they have to regulate because there's no active exploration. There's no production that's happened in the last year. Can the Minister confirm or tell us about the level of activity that these folks actually have to regulate? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to sincerely thank the Premier for that. It sounds like a good approach to me. I am very pleased to hear that response. Last question on this topic for now: would the Minister consider inviting MLAs from this side of the House to this conference? It sounds like an interesting event. I am sure we would be happy to provide some input. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I don't want to seek another commitment from the Minister on this, but I just want to give him a heads up that this is something I am going to ask again in the business planning for next year, so I am hoping that we've moved beyond just talking about some of this stuff and that the Minister can discuss it in a little bit more detail about what we're actually doing to address this issue, but I will leave it at that for now. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

I would like to thank the Premier for that. Now I understand a little bit more about what this summit is going to be about. Can the Premier tell us anything about the date and location of this Northern Summit on Economic Development?

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that from the Minister. Is there a specific study being done on overtime relating to nursing, or is this just kind of broader effort to look at efficiencies as part of transformation? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Thanks to the Minister for that. Hope springs eternal. Finally, I mentioned the waiting list for alliance programs where some residents already made investments and were then denied rebates. Will the Minister allow these applications for alliance rebates to be carried over and funded using 2018-2019 funds? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that from the Minister. Look, I agree that this national definition is a good starting point. I'd probably be happy even with this.

She's talked about how she's going to work with these sports and recreation organizations to talk to them about this definition of "recreation." Is the Minister prepared to include others in that process, more specifically, the arts community? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Thanks to the Minister for confirming that. What are we doing about overtime? Because that continues to be a problem in terms of burnout of our nursing staff and additional costs and so on. What is the department doing to try to deal with that situation? Thank, Mr. Chair.

That is a good response. I thank the Minister for that, and, if he could let this side of the House know if he is able to come up with any money, that would be great. The draft NWT energy strategy paints a hopeful picture of future access to federal funds. I am concerned that, when federal funds are on offer for this essential need, we do not leave them on the table for lack of matching funding from our government. Sometimes federal dollars provide a convenient excuse for our government to cut its appropriation, as we have seen with boreal caribou monitoring and other programs. Can the...