Rylund Johnson

Mr. Speaker, the solution to dominant market share is complicated. It requires competition to emerge in the market, it requires punishment for consistent violations of our legislation, and it requires our Housing Corporation to increase its housing supply. Today, I will have questions for the Minister of Justice to begin the discussion of how to address Northview's dominant market share in the North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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. 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...

I don't wish to get into a debate of semantics, but it is important to note that, in the GNWT, the word "strategy" has a very specific meaning. It is not the response program that the Minister is talking about.

However, I have another question for the Minister. It is important to address this, that we have all the information to do our jobs. My question for the Minister is: do we presently track suicide attempts in addition to suicide deaths?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Do we presently have a suicide prevention strategy?