Rylund Johnson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that, on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, I will move the following motion: I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that, notwithstanding rule 4, when this House adjourns on Monday, March 16, 2020, it shall be adjourned until Tuesday, May 26, 2020; and further, that at any time prior to May 26, 2020, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, or at a time later than...

I guess my question is: should a pandemic occur across the Northwest Territories, has the Housing Corporation and the Minister reached out to shelters? If possible, is it possible to secure hotel rooms for the homeless population?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Northwest Territories Housing Corporation, with over 2,800 units, is by far the Northwest Territories' landlords. My concern is: should the COVID virus become a full-on pandemic with outbreaks across the Northwest Territories, I do not want to see people getting eviction orders when they have been told to self-isolate. I think, if this should become a pandemic, we are going to see increasingly people struggling to pay their rent. My question is to the Minister responsible for NWT Housing Corporation: should we have a pandemic with cases across the Northwest...

If the coronavirus gets to a more serious stage and we have confirmed cases, can the Minister of human resources speak to steps that will be taken in regard to remote work, to make sure that continuity of government occurs and those who can work from home, because they're in isolation, are able to?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to rise in support of your decision to end this session early and pass an interim appropriation bill. I had a number of concerns about taking up the department of health's time, and all of the senior management, in questioning them over their budget while they have much better things to do.

I just wanted to speak briefly on this COVID-19 thing. I think the main priorities here are continuity of government and protecting our most vulnerable people, Mr. Speaker. I would like to commend all of the departments on the work they are doing, even without a...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to thank my colleague from Frame Lake for bringing this motion forward, because it's an interesting process we go through where we all set our priorities and then Cabinet sets the mandate. A lot of that done is done in confidence for good reason, because that's consensus government, but there has to be a public debate on this. Ultimately, I am not in support of the motion because I don't believe we are actually having the debate right now on the Slave Geological Province Corridor. This is $2.5 million to begin environmental assessment, Madam Chair...

I am very happy to hear that. I do hope that we do not get to that point where this is a pandemic across the Northwest Territories. I leave that up to the facts. My next question is: I am also concerned there is an issue with homelessness across the Northwest Territories, and our most vulnerable may also be our most immunocompromised who may not be able to find a place to self-isolate. Can the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation speak to the plans to address our homeless population should a full pandemic occur?

I want to just emphasize that I believe the most important thing is that the Chief Public Health Officer is the key lead here, and we should clearly be following the best advice of medical professionals. I was hoping that the Minister of Finance could speak to steps that are taken to ensure that our government is not hosting large events and any of the steps based on the advice of the Chief Public Health Officer to limit the, kind of, contact and transmission throughout the GNWT, because our staff do travel often.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Minister of Finance regarding the coronavirus. My first question is: have all departments completed response plans?

I quite often hear that Lands is working on things, but I rarely hear that Lands has completed things. The issue with going through the commercial lease process is that you cannot live on a commercial lease. If you're going to farm, you should probably live there. My question is: is the Minister willing to review the commercial leasing process to see if agricultural people can live on the land?