Rylund Johnson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The North loves its monopolies, whether it be Northmart, Northwestel, Northland Utilities, or today's topic of my statement, Northview Apartment Real Estate Investment Trust.

Mr. Speaker, our residential tenancy system, by design, is a neutral arbitrator of individual disputes and, as such, is not empowered to address larger systemic issues and abuses by landlords. We have seen this recently in Northview's illegal collecting of pet deposits, yet this is not a one-off issue, Mr. Speaker. There is no shortage of human rights or residential tenancies' complaints that point...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that the Speaker be authorized to set such sitting days and hours as the Speaker, after consultation, deems fit to assist with the business before the House.

I appreciate that answer, and it is the job of a department to make sure that the work is done right. It is easier on this side of the House to take a position. My position is that this project should not go ahead, and if it ruffles some feathers with Alberta or the Liberal government in Ottawa, I am fine with that, because if we are going to take meaningful action on climate change, we must take positions. We must draw a line in the sand. In this case, the tar sand. What benefit does the Minister of ENR see that this project provides Northerners?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, and ultimately, the Minister responsible for Climate Change. Previously in this House, he refused to take a position on the Teck Frontier Resources Project in Alberta, a project that will make sure that Canada does not meet its emissions targets and will end up with the Northwest Territories dealing with 40 years of effluent from Alberta. Why is the Minister refusing to take a position on this project?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Gary Vaillancourt came north from Sudbury, Ontario, in 1977 to fly helicopters, but where he hailed from, I think he would deem irrelevant, as the North was his home and captivated him for over 40 years. Gary was a hardworking, enigmatic individual, one of the first houseboaters on the Yellowknife Bay. It is with a heavy heart, and as a member of his community, that I mourn his passing.

I think Gary would scoff at the idea of me giving him an address in the Legislative Assembly. Unfortunately, our last interaction was him yelling at me about where to park my canoe, but...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following documents: a letter dated January 16, 2020, to the Honourable Premier from Chief Wilbert Kochon of Behdzi Ahda First Nation of Colville Lake, regarding problems in current self-government negotiations; and, in addition, a letter dated January 17, 2020, to the Honourable Premier from the president of Nihtat Gwich'in Council, Jozef Carnogursky, regarding implementation of UNDRIP.

I recognize the importance of transboundary agreements and the work that the Department of ENR is doing into monitoring, but our public service must remain impartial and, at times, an issue become one of partiality. This is one of those such issues.

In the past week in Ottawa, members of the Liberal Party's own caucus were criticizing their Cabinet for approving this project. Once again, I am questioning why we elect politicians who refuse to take political stances. I would ask the Minister: what is his position on this project?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Molly MacKinnon and her mother. Thank you for visiting us here today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is clear that I am asking my questions out of the order in which I provided them to the Minister. It is important that we start tracking suicides in other jurisdictions, as many of our residents get lost once they head down south. But my question for the Minister was: do we presently track suicide attempts? Thank you.

I appreciate the Minister starting that question with a clear no, and I also appreciate that all of those programs are doing great work. I know that everyone in that department takes this issue seriously. Yet, our jobs as MLAs is to look at the larger pictures, to look at systemic issues, to make sure departments are not taking a siloed approach to an issue such as suicide. This is why the importance of government strategies are what we need to do our jobs. Will the Minister commit to developing a suicide prevention strategy in the life of this government?