Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think the answer is yes; it's how that is really the question here. Just recently the 2023 version of the Employee Engagement and Satisfaction Survey results have come back. I've had a chance to look at my own department's, Mr. Speaker. I often do look at other departments, including, in particular, Health and Social Services and the health authorities. I know other Ministers are doing the same. That is an important starting point. It gives us a sense on a number of indicators, including morale and training and engagement, to be able to connect some of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll try not to go on for 35 minutes again, Mr. Speaker, with respect to the budget. But on a high level, first of all, if the government has the fiscal capacity to invest in the Northwest Territories and in the people and the residents of the Northwest Territories over the long term in a sustainable way, then we can continue to provide all of the programs and services. We are running up ourselves right now against a situation where we don't have that fiscal capacity year over year and that one bad fire season can wipe us out with nothing left to show for it and nothing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, I had an expectation, given the Member's statement, that this was going to come up today and so I've already been engaging with the department about what the latest is, which is why I've assured that we'll be participating on a national level. But I can also say that in these short time since the Member's statement, I have actually had residents reach out to me and point out that, in their view, having an Escooter might be more safe to be able to be on bike lanes and to be able to use Escooters on the bike lane roadway as compared to relying on large...

Mr. Speaker, with this first budget of the 20th Legislative Assembly, we are changing how we deliver on priorities in a way that is realistic, responsible, and always with an eye on being financially ready for whatever the future might bring.

In February, we released a fiscal strategy for this government to help restore longterm stability in our budgets. This first budget is step one in the drive for fiscal improvement. What’s new in 20242025 are a series of simple but measurable changes to ensure solid fiscal fundamentals today, while we help the Northwest Territories build for the future...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am aware of the air barge offers that are out there. Again, it is a private company that is offering those services. So where and how exactly that might fit into a government communication, I want to be just a bit cautious on. That said, I know the MLA's office and my office worked together this past winter when we were adjusting the winter road season as well as when we were adjusting to fly fuel into some communities when there were some shortages owing to last year's challenges. So both of those occasions, those types of pathways actually worked very...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can say that when we went through challenging times right around Christmas time and New Year's time, and we certainly were involved in terms of how to come at that moment when it was already of concern to do inventory of what was in each community. So I expect that we don't want to be in that position again. We'll be making sure that this time around, having come to the point where we know what our resupply was over the winter road season, that we can then monitor that over the course of time. Norman Wells, of course, does rely on Imperial Oil as being...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when the COLO amounts were reduced, they were reduced by -- and the number did take into consideration the amount of carbon tax that was still being paid for propane and for heating fuel. It's not a perfect measure. I don't have data on exactly how many households use what type of fuel or what combination of types of fuel, because there are certainly some that are using a combination of fuel, so that does make it more challenging. I can't reach into each individual home and say this is the amount of carbon tax you pay.

We also, in the COLO, tried to take...

Well, Mr. Speaker -- Mr. Speaker, there's no exemption for anything other than home heating fuel right now after the fall round or spring -- fall round with the federal government. So I guess their response is that they've chosen not to do that. The ask also went from British Columbia. So we might even say, again, if it's a political matter, we have relatively small presence in terms of our representation in Ottawa. British Columbia has a very large presence in terms of their representation in Ottawa. They, too, did not get an exemption for LNG, which a number of their residents also rely on...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, that clarifies for me the comment, I think, made earlier about being extensive meetings. Because I've had one meeting. But I know when we were meeting with the Minister of health, because there's an alcohol-managed alcohol program here in the Northwest Territories and some interest in whether or not a local brewery could participate to support that, that's a very different question, Mr. Speaker, from asking whether or not the production cap needs to change, the markup needs to change, regulations around holding or transporting need to change. That does sit solely...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, so, again, the general markup rate does apply to everything that's coming across this border, including, you know, the bigger companies or whatnot. I would first note, Mr. Speaker -- there's a lot of folks that listen to us here -- there are rules with respect to interjurisdictional trade, and that does apply to the cross-border sales of alcohol across all of Canada. So certainly anything we do when we make changes in this space do need to be compliant with the trade rules, trade regulations. But to the extent that we are able to create a system that is...