Caroline Wawzonek

Madam Chair, on my right is Charlene Doolittle, deputy minister of Justice, and on my left is Mandi Bolstad, director of Finance.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess the answer really is whether or not there is an organization in the territories that might bring that idea forward, because the fund isn't one to which the Department of Justice can direct. The Department of Justice, myself, we don't get to say to the committee what they should spend this money on. They are responsible for making those decisions. We have a lot of department support that we use to support the committee so that they can engage with communities, so that they can help the communities to develop programs. Indeed, Community Justice helps directly with...

The short answer is "yes," Mr. Speaker. I would be naive to think that that is going to satisfy the nature of what is really being asked here. Surety bonds are a little bit different. A lot of times, securities are held with what is called an irrevocable letter of credit, but in this particular case, these surety bonds are more like an irrevocable letter of credit than what they might be in some other circumstances. Most importantly, Mr. Speaker, the GNWT has the ability to call in the bond if we had concerns about it. In addition, if, in fact, the bond were to be cancelled, again different...

We are all struggling right now in the North. Even Yellowknife speeds are slower than what would be ideal. It makes it difficult in the time of COVID to be doing our work, to be in school, to be self-isolating when necessary. I am certainly alive to the challenges. As far as what is happening now, Mr. Speaker, I know that Northwestel, as a private industry partner, has been active and does have applications in to the CRTC. It's perhaps not really my role to speak to what they have on the go, but I would certainly offer to work with them to perhaps provide a briefing to committee of what...

That particular project, I acknowledge, simply was not looking to divert itself toward Lutselk'e. It was a project that ran up the Mackenzie Valley, and that was the design and intent of the project, to run up the Mackenzie Valley. To my knowledge, to be very honest, there is no understanding that I have right now that Lutselk'e is easily added to that. That remains a challenge. It is one of our satellite communities, and I anticipate that the next likely scenario that will see significant improvement is with low-Earth-orbit satellite systems that are hopefully coming online in the next couple...

All of the eight satellite communities, eight communities that are on satellite services, they are sadly stuck at 5 megabytes per second, as I understand, which is a slow speed. It is far below the standard that the federal government is seeking to bring all of Canada up to. There is going to be some significant work there to do. Again, though, we aren't a service-providing business; we are a government. That does change our ability and limit our ability to act as a service provider. That said, the Government of the Northwest Territories is very keenly focused on the national target and very...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Internet speeds in small communities right now are subject to a target that was set by the federal government of improving to a national rate of 50 and 10 or 50 megabytes per second. We certainly aren't there yet, but that is a federal commitment, and it is the role of the GNWT in this regard to act as an advocate and a supporter; an advocate with our federal partners and a supporter of our local service providers to ensure that they are taking steps to achieve that goal.

With respect to the federal government, Mr. Speaker, there are some important funding...

Mr. Speaker, this seems to be a whole-of-government response. I think, perhaps, it is appropriate that I turn it over to the Premier.

For reference, I am looking at the summary of operations expenditures page, which is in the main estimates binders, and that does have a breakdown by department and also by expenditure category, showing a grand total of expenditures of $1,895,865.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the indirect impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic has been on people's mental health. Today, I want to speak to the fact that it can take strength, courage, and sometimes both to seek help for illnesses that may not have obvious physical symptoms.

Eight years ago, when my daughter was born, I experienced postpartum depression. It has taken me years to even be able to say those words, postpartum depression, and it still makes me uncomfortable. At first, I insisted that my behaviour and feelings were from a lack of sleep, but as weeks turned into months, I slept less...