Rylund Johnson

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I look forward to having further conversations of this. I appreciate getting that number of $2 million. I see that Income Assistance, we all know, is increasingly going up. It went up $2 million from the last part. I think one of my beliefs here, perhaps we can have this conversation later, is that if you actually give a person a phone and the internet, they are more likely to get a job. They are more likely to be able to get in contact with the numerous services they are interacting with. We have seen through Integrated Case Management that often our most vulnerable...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. The Yellowknife Women's Society has reached out to the Housing Corporation throughout this process. They have reached out to almost everyone in this House. There has been nothing but attempts to reach out to the Housing Corporation and work with them. My concern is: on one hand, the Housing Corporation Minister is talking about not wanting to set people up for failure, wanting to make sure we have a strong investment, which I support. Yet, on the other hand, they are saying they are not even part of the application process. There is a deadline on here. I do not want...

Thank you. I am happy to hear that is on track, and I look forward to further expansion. My next question is: the Education Act will be coming forward in the life of this Assembly. I am glad we are going to have the conversation about the funding formula. Can I just confirm that the scope of the Education Act amendments will include allowing us to devolve education to Indigenous governments should it be desired?

It appears, despite multiple meetings and no shortage of questions here, there still appears to be some breakdown in communication. Will the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation ask CMHC and the women's society to get a hold of that application and the response and make sure that they are aware of all of the shortfalls that were in the application so that we are all on the same page?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess I kind of want to save myself time asking every department that has Jordan's Principle funding applying to it and flowing through it. Once again, I know this is a federal government initiative, but perhaps, I am looking at the Minister of Finance, we could have a breakdown of the total Jordan's Principle funding that is existing within the GNWT right now?

Thank you, Madam Speaker. We spend a lot of time in this House criticizing GNWT practices, trying to right the wrongs of the past, and hold the government to account. Today, I would like to focus on an initiative that has been performing exceptionally well in our government, based on my experience. One of the most helpful tools the Department of Health and Social Services has is its system navigator.

The system assists residents with enquiries in the various sectors of the department. It directs residents down the right path depending on their individual needs, both frees up resources within...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I recognize that the RCMP control their hiring practices, and I do appreciate the Minister's commitment to continue working with "G" Division. However, I think there is a bit of a political aspect missing from this conversation. I am looking at the federal financial committee's recommendations on budget 2020, recommendation 29, thanks to our MP, Mr. McLeod. It says, "Recognize Indigenous police services as central services under the law; ensure they can obtain long, stable term funding like other police services and expand these services in the northern territories." I...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just building on my colleague's comments regarding corrections, I think there is large recognition both professionally and best practices, that, if we can avoid putting people in corrections, we save money. We are spending millions of dollars constructing this new facility in Fort Smith. I question whether we should have just provided housing and addiction treatment to those people, but that is a different question. Can the Minister just explain, I often hear the new Fort Smith Correctional Complex referred to as a therapeutic model, how that is different from North Slave...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Our job here is to be legislators and to debate policy, and I am consistently frustrated that I find myself getting into the implementation and the operations of our departments. Earlier today, I heard the Minister of Lands commit that the land within municipal boundaries, there is a working group in place; hopefully, within a year, we have a process document; and then after that, we may see the land transferred. Unfortunately, I have to ask questions of every Minister to ensure that this is happening, so my question is for the Minister of Municipal and Community...

I appreciate the Minister of Justice's response that we will see those RFPs out this month, and I will encourage my constituents who are interested to apply to that process. I had a constituent attend the uptown liquor store the other day, the only place to buy cannabis legally in town, and there was, in fact, no cannabis there. My question for the Minister of Finance: why, 18 months after legalization, do we still not have our procurement process in order?