Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't have as long of a history with Mr. Mercer. I was only elected this Assembly and I haven't been a Regular Member but that's kind of a point that I want to make. As Ministers, we don't interact with the Clerk's office as much; I wouldn't have necessarily had a long history, knowing all of the many achievements I've already heard about today. I'm sure there's others. I know others may speak to those others. I actually want to speak to some of the daytoday things, though, that I think are forgotten. They are forgotten by what happens with the public...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We'll certainly be carrying the message of the North forward as we do, as all my colleagues as Ministers do. We want to see the North prosper. We want to see businesses prosper. We want to have residents to have  be able to put food on their tables. In the context of the carbon tax, Mr. Speaker, I realize it creates a burden and it's creating a burden at a time where times are already tight, inflation is high, interests rates are high. We're all seeing it in the North. And we want ministers to come from Ottawa and actually see it themselves.

Mr. Speaker, I'm going...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There continues to be, Mr. Speaker, a number of different initiatives  well, before I go any further, I want to give a shout out to the Arctic Energy Alliance. They do a lot of work in this space, and they receive a lot of funding from our government to continue the work that they do in this space in terms of energy audits and ensuring that there's alternatives and paths forward and to help chart those paths forward. So I'd certainly encourage everyone to reach out to them. There are also funds within our government, again, to help support businesses in their...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have answered that question this session already. It's part of the work that's underway right now. I can already say to the Member that we do already now have unified policies and objectives for procurement. That's a huge step forward. That is certainly a good starting place. There's a lot of information on the websites right now. New manufacturing guidelines, new manufacturing policy, new guidelines under BIP. And the definition right now, part of the delay there, is we are also working on an Indigenous procurement process with Indigenous partners...

Absolutely, Mr. Speaker. And in fact, Mr. Speaker, in my view the value we add can only grow. If the Northwest Territories, a remote region, rural High Arctic, if this is a place that the Canadian can come and make us a shining example of how to get off of fossil fuel use, then they can stand up internationally and truly be a star. So they should come here, and we should be the shining example of how to get off of fossil fuels. I think we add a tremendous value to the Government of Canada. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. In fact, Mr. Speaker, I've already conveyed that message today to one minister, Minister Vandal. I intend to convey that message to Minister Guilbeault. I will hopefully convey that message to Minister Wilkinson. And it's my hope that it's not only about the opposition; it's time for them to help us find solutions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Nahendeh, that Bill 83, Liquor Act, be read for the second time.

This bill repeals and replaces the Liquor Act, SNWT 2007, c.15 to make significant changes and updates, including to

Provide for the appointment of a registrar with responsibility for liquor licensing matters including the issuance, renewal, transfer, suspension and cancellation of licenses;

Allow for the creation of new classes of liquor licenses in regulations;

Allow for the creation of classes of retail vendors in regulations;

Allow for the imposition of monetary...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present to the House Bill 89, Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), 20232024, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's a lot of moments we've been waiting for. I wish to present to the House Bill 83, the Liquor Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't know that that's a specific action item right now under the Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework, but it is certainly in keeping with the spirit of that framework. So certainly, as I've said, we do right now track, through ECE's official languages guideline, a list of communities that have different needs for languages but our understanding of the role of language and the place of language as part of delivering public service, I think is only ever improving. We can certainly continue to do a better job of that and to expand. So I'll...