Steve Norn

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I am not going to say too much today, but I just want to say really quickly, about this COVID-19 issue we are dealing with, if anything, history has taught us that we should always make sure that we control how our people traffic is being regulated and make sure that we contain this sort of thing because, again, history has taught us that, if we ignore it, it could be very costly in terms of lives. I don't want to see that. I would rather see our government be proactive on this, so I had a quick question for the Minister of Health and Social Services. I am kind of...

Marsi cho, Madam Chair. I move that this committee defer further consideration of the estimates for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs at this time. Thank you.

Probably, the biggest question I think I have on here is: in terms of our public institutions, are there any plans in place to close schools, community halls, and other work places?

Marsi cho, Madam Chair. Just to follow up a little bit more with my colleague from Yellowknife Centre. I have questions on a surplus. Since the games were cancelled, would any surpluses go back into the Consolidated Revenue Fund, or would they go back into the youth programs? Marsi cho.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I have some questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Just to do some follow-up questions from my colleague from Nunakput. Can the Minister comment if she has worked with our federal Minister of health on a plan to battle the virus, and if so, what resources are being committed to the territories? Marsi cho.

Marsi, Madam Chair. Thank you to Ms. Young and the Minister for the response. I'm just looking through this, as well. It's always good, when you are doing a new program, you don't want to set it up to fail; you make sure it doesn't go by the wayside. I'm just wondering if the Minister could let me know if they feel like the staffing right now is adequate to keep this program running and if this will be adequate, this number here, this line item, to fund it; if $1.2 million will be enough moving forward. Marsi cho.

Thank you for the response. I'm aware that it's 24 hours, but where are the calls being taken?

Marsi cho, Madam Chair. I'm just listening to the languages and stuff, how the breakdown went there. I would like to know, too, a breakdown of where the calls are coming from, the communities. I think that would be important, as well. Marsi cho.

Marsi cho, Madam Chair. I have some questions about the 911 program. I know that it's a new program, on page 333. It's been long needed, and I am really happy to see this line item. I am looking forward to seeing how this program grows. Like any new program, I think we expect that there's going to be some fine tuning; we're going to take some bruises, I think, as a department. I am hoping that it's going along well. I know that, when we were first briefed on this in November, we were told that we should expect to see some little issues, glitches, here and there. I just want to hear from the...

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you for the response. Just listening to that, I think there's a big, broader issue of insurance in the North. I think that's probably something I'll ask in the House here later on because I think this is something we need to talk about and figure out some common sense approaches to this. Again, this goes to the cost of living in the North. It's so huge, and we're going to need to find appropriate ways to help people in the North to protect their assets, especially in small communities. Marsi cho. I have nothing further.