Steve Norn

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. This question is directed to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I spoke a little bit about budget surpluses in my Member's statement, and my question is: in the spirit of getting our district education authorities more budget autonomy, will the Minister commit to let any DEA surpluses in our riding to roll over this year? Mahsi cho.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Further to my comments from my Member's statement on February 6, 2020, I wish to table the Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation's caribou stewardship plan. It is titled "Yunethe Xa Etthen Hadi." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. Today, I am going to talk about medical travel in the NWT. I feel like a broken record, but I feel like I need to drive this point home.

Since taking office, I have already dealt with several medical travel-related issues with constituents, and with each passing case, I am seeing the same issue come up again and again. I am seeing cases where people are dealing with some fairly serious medical issues and are in need of further assistance, so they are sent to Yellowknife or Edmonton for treatment. Doctors will recommend a medical escort; however, our medical travel...

I know that there are two ENR-monitored stations, but there are still a lot of hunters who are not checking in or reporting their harvest. What is the Minister going to do to ensure that proper reporting is met?

Marci cho, Mr. Speaker. I am proud to let the House know that the Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation is implementing a two-year self-imposed moratorium on hunting the Bathurst caribou herd. This was just announced yesterday, and it will be a stewardship plan led by the community members. The plan is called Yunethe Xa Etthen Hadi. Directly translated, this means "the future of our caribou" in Denesuline.

As everyone is well aware, there has been a severe decline in the Bathurst caribou herd population over the years. The GNWT even went as far as to ban harvesting caribou in its mobile hunting areas...

With those four monitors that LKDFN had, I am just wondering if the Minister can make any commitment to the LKDFN to help fund those positions?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As mentioned in my Member's statement, there has been a severe decline of the Bathurst herd in Lutselk'e, and over-hunting is a concern that they had. They hired four staff to help address this. This area in question is quite a large area, and I have a question for the Minister of ENR. What is the Minister's plan to assist the Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation with the issue of over-hunting in their region? Mahsi.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk about the saddening treatment that a few of my constituents experience when it comes to mobility access. Recently, I had a constituent in particular who had been lobbying the government for quite some time in an effort to build a wheelchair ramp for their home. This constituent is an elder, and I find it very upsetting that she and others like her struggle to find assistance from our government departments. What was further disturbing was the lack of a department to take the reins and help. There's a lot of back and forth and denial...

I have another question for the Minister: is there a job shadowing program in place for recent post-secondary graduates for nurses and social workers in the NWT?

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Roles such as nursing and social work are demanding, physically and mentally, especially in small communities. I believe everyone in this House who is in here should give them all the support and tools they need to help them do a good job and be successful. That being said, my worry is that we are putting inexperienced staff, nursing staff specifically, to the detriment of those who need the care the most, i.e. special needs. My question is for the Minister of Health and Social Services: are there certain aptitudes or a minimum amount of experience that nursing staff...