Kevin O'Reilly

Yeah, thanks, Madam Chair. I too will support this. I just don't think we do a very good job explaining what we do here and anything we can do to improve our way and means of telling people what we do here, I am in support of. And I think there's some reasonable ideas and suggestions here, and I know that some of this work is already underway by our public affairs folks. So I have no difficulty supporting this motion and the work that our staff are already doing. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. It's a very interesting position. It's okay to plan and build roads into the range of the Bathurst caribou herd while the herd is in a precarious state but it's not okay to pause this work while we look at the future of the entire region. You know, I'm worried, Mr. Speaker, that this government is going to go ahead and file this project for regulatory approvals, land use permit, water licence, no matter what. We're heading straight for another Mackenzie Valley Highway Environmental Assessment that is now over nine years long...

Merci, Madme la Presidente. I move that Committee Motion 28319(2) be amended to read as follows: That this Assembly recommends that the Yellowknife Members of the Legislative Assembly be permitted to apply to the Board of Management to establish an office in Yellowknife outside the Legislative Assembly building as is the case with all nonYellowknife Members. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. But surely to goodness we have some sort of sense of whether this is a good thing or not before we have to go and consult with everybody. But I know that the time decision's up to the Minister of Northern Affairs. You know, geographic scope and name for this initiative are probably still up for grabs but hopefully we can avoid the colonial and racist term "slave."

Can the Minister tell us whether GNWT's taken a position on the name and geographic scope of a regional study? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Madam Chair. This is something I already do as a Member, and I'm just trying to weigh whether this is something we want to put into the rules or not, in one way or another. But that's what I do already. Well, I guess given that I generally try to come down on the side of workers, I am going to support this. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. In June 2021, the Tlicho government wrote to the federal Minister of Northern Affairs requesting a regional study for the area known as the Slave Geological Province pursuant to part 5.2 of the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act. It took some prodding in May, June, but the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources supported the idea of a proposed regional study including participant funding. The review board held a workshop on a regional study in June 2022, and there is further correspondence on its website on this matter, including an interesting letter...

Yeah, thanks, Madam Chair. Towards the end of last Assembly, I did participate in a oneday seminar with a financial planner along with at least one other MLA and our partners. I found it to be very useful. And I understand with COVID, it's not as easy to access these services as it was before but I expect that that will improve. So this already happens, and it actually happens across the GNWT, I know, for other employees as well, that they are offered similar opportunities for training and advice. So I agree and support this recommendation and knowing that it already happens. Thanks, Madam...

Thanks, Madam Chair. I actually support this recommendation. I think it you know, that's without a lot of knowledge or understanding exactly what the reciprocal arrangement could or should look like, but I think this is another way of trying to encourage people to run for office. And if they knew that their pensions could be brought forward to include the service that they do in this House, then I think it could encourage more people to run for public office. And that's why I would support this. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I'm not going to provide any comments on turmoil; I think those are probably best left to folks outside of the House and their own views. But just to be very clear, this is not about increasing or decreasing the wages of any of us sitting in this Chamber. This is about setting the rules for the next Assembly. And that's what the implications of all of these motions are. It's about changing the rules for the next people that come in after us so none of this is about us, quite frankly. So I do have some sympathy with deputy chairs and the work that they've done, and I've...

Thanks, Madam Chair. So the purpose of this motion is to ensure that there's some equitable sharing of the duties and responsibilities within the Assembly amongst the Regular MLAs. We have a number of committees. There's no requirement currently in the rules for Members to actually sit on committees. So this will create not just an expectation but, I believe, a requirement that, you know, Members will serve on committees in the future. And that just ensures that we have a better distribution of the work amongst us all and that the work gets done as well. So that's the purpose of this, is to...