Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. So I'll move down, then, to the address home repair barriers to assist low income seniors and disabled individuals with aging in place. And then I'm happy to see that there were policy changes, then, that took affect that were implemented by the NWT Housing Corporation.

One of the big barriers to housing repair programs in the Northwest Territories is really the cost of the programs. And without an increase, then, to the budget of the NWT Housing Corporation, a policy change is only a portion of that barrier. And so will, then, the Premier commit to ensuring that...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I'll accept fulfilled and ongoing on that one. So thank you to the Premier for that.

One of my points of that one is, for example, the $60 million carveout that is identified under progress to date was a commitment that was made during 2018. So we weren't even within the 19th Assembly at that point. And so this is something that we are thankfully reaping the benefits of, of work that was achieved in the 18th Assembly for that $60 million carveout. And so I'm wondering if there is a commitment from Cabinet to pursue additional carveoffs like that from the National...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. My first question for the Minister or sorry, for the Premier is in regards to the very first status on the first piece, which is working with including federal and Indigenous governments to increase funding for housing programs that currently that reads as fulfilled, and given that accessing or working with people or different partners to access funding is an ongoing and kind of a constant within the housing portfolio, I'm wondering if the Premier is willing to change that to ongoing and maintain that as ongoing for the life of this Assembly. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Sorry, I've got feedback from my earphones.

So I just wanted to start off by saying thank you to my colleagues for the opportunity to speak to this, and I know that some of what I have to say will be somewhat repetitive a little bit. But I think it's important for residents for the Northwest Territories to hear, and I think one of the most important pieces of that is that piece on the number of priorities. And this was something that we talked about a bit in the very beginning of our time together, was the number of priorities that were appropriate for an...

In favour.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Your committee would like to report on its consideration of Bill 40: An Act to Amend the Medical Profession Act.

Bill 40 received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on November 26th, 2021, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Social Development for review. Near the end of the Committee's review period, the Government of the Northwest Territories' Department of Health and Social Services identified issues with the bill that could require substantial amendments. The committee is willing to work collaboratively with the Minister of Health and...

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, my concern is that the intent of travel reductions were to I guess remove dollars from a budget item for southern travel, not for northern travel. And so my concern is a greater impact in the North here. And we always understood that there was still going to be some travel needs, especially travel needs that were required for access to programs and services for youth. And so my question is does this have an impact on the ability of children or youth in the territory to travel for sport? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know the Minister wants to minimize rates as much as possible across the Northwest Territories, and a big help for that would be increasing third party funding. So I'm wondering if the Minister can confirm whether NTPC has its own dedicated team to source federal funding or if a dedicated position to source innovation and partnership dollars can be implemented within NTPC staff? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if the Minister can indicate what ratepayers can expect to pay for power as a result of the general rate application and how they can get involved in the process? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if I had to make a list of sentences I heard my dad say the most during my childhood "turn off the lights" would make top three. Now as a parent myself, I get it.

Northerners pay the highest electricity rates in Canada. According to Energy Hub, a social enterprise, the 2021 average cost of NWT electricity was 38.2 cents per kilowatt hour. That's more than twice the national average and even 2 percent higher than Nunavut.

High electricity rates put pressure on residents' cost of living and constituents tell me they can't keep up. Sky high power rates will...