Steve Norn

Marsi cho, Madam Chair. I am looking at page 374, as well. I just want to make a quick comment on this. This is one of those items that I get a lot of complaints about from people in my constituency, especially when accessing things like the SAFE program and CARE. It's just frustrating, because a lot of the time, there are barriers for things like land tenure and whatnot, but I'll start with my questioning now. I know that, for programs such as SAFE and seniors aging in place retrofits and repairs, they're $10,000 each. To me, sometimes, that's just not enough for a lot of repairs that happen...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the chair rise and report progress.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I heard the Minister, as well, mentioning that there are some committees. There are some plans in place. My main concern, too, is as for some of the smaller communities. Will there be any sort of a compensation, if in the event it ever goes down as a lockdown, to help out with food and rationing and that sort of thing? Compensation, I guess, is where I'm going with that, emergency planning. Marsi cho.

Marsi cho, Madam Chair. Nothing further.

Thank you to the Minister for her response. That's encouraging. It may fall to the Minister of Finance's purview, but hopefully, the Minister of health can answer this. Will the Minister be extending any additional sick-day benefits for residents who may need to take some time off work to self-isolate?

Thank you. Mahsi cho, Madam Chair. One last question: are those staff, the ones you've just mentioned, are they reflected on page 335 at all? Mahsi cho.

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today, I would like to share some remarks regarding the ongoing situation on COVID-19, and I just want to add a little bit to what my colleague from Nunakput has already said regarding that. It is a pandemic, yes, and we need to be proactive as a government. I want to remind everybody, the general public, that there have been zero confirmed cases of this virus in the NWT to date, and officials within the Department of Health and Social Services have remained adamant that the risk of contracting this illness in the NWT remains low because of time. As well, our territory...

Marsi cho, Madam Chair. You mentioned something quickly about official languages. I'm always wanting to be proactive and stuff. I remember we had a very serious incident way up in Sahtu where an elder witnessed something, and there was a big disconnect with the dispatcher for the RCMP. Unfortunately, somebody ended up deceased from that. If we have somebody with one of the official languages call in to 911, how is that call dealt with and how does that process work? When the person calls in, where is the call routed to and how is it dealt with? Marsi cho.

Marsi cho, Madam Chair. Thank you for the response. I would like to know, too, after hours, where are those calls routed to? That's to the Minister. Marsi cho.

Marsi, Madam Chair, and thank you for those stats. I think I would ask the Minister, too, to give this in writing to standing committee, please.