Daniel McNeely

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Carrying on to my questions for the Minister of MACA on sports, my first question, Mr. Speaker: the Traditional Games Championship is led by the Aboriginal Sports Circle NWT. How does MACA support this organization? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. We will move that to the appropriate page there, as you mentioned. The overall Justice Department, when you look at the pie, expenditures are good. I am in support of the department moving further once the budget is passed, if it is passed, and implementing the expenditures to improve some of the areas that we are going to be suggesting here today.

One of the areas that I think we really need improvement in is rehabilitation and reconciliation program delivery in our North Slave Correctional Centre. At any given time, if we went there with a taxi later on, I think you...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Looking at the expenditures that are going to kick in here in a few months, or a few weeks, it still allows time for scheduling and planning. My first question related to that is on the funding provided by the federal government for cannabis education. Is the department going to be developing, or has it developed, a community-by-community education plan and schedule? If the Minister recalls, take the Sahtu, for example, only one of five communities was visited by our committee to discuss the legalization of cannabis. Now that we have some money to provide some education...

Thanks to the Minister for that reply. It was really encouraging when I witnessed the opening ceremony this past Thursday in one of the schools here, the William McDonald School I believe it was. It was really inspiring to see children from all of the communities, the remote communities, coming into the capital. Just the excitement of coming into the capital and being able to go to McDonald's is a privilege. That bonding is taken back home through the games, and I really could commend the Minister in supporting the continuation of the social foundation.

My next question is: what else does MACA...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. 2019 Traditional Games Championship. Mr. Speaker, as you know, the Government of the Northwest Territories offers many diverse programs and services. Together, the departments, boards, and agencies take care of our infrastructure, deliver healthcare, maintain public housing, power our homes, and much more.

These are big, important things, but the GNWT also helps Northerners take care of the little things, and sometimes even these little things are valuable. I want to talk about one today.

This past weekend, the 2019 Traditional Game Championship, sponsored and led by the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My last question to the Minister is: with the experiences to date on reviews of engagement or monitoring, is the Minister of Finance of the opinion that this is a good investment, with the experiences to date and the cash flow to date and the signed customers on the system?

Thanks for the reply here. My next question to the Minister is: what is the GNWT doing to work with the federal government to ensure this process is improved?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, recently, it was announced that two satellite operators received an interim licence to operate receivers at the Inuvik satellite station facility.

Mr. Speaker, this is good news and will hopefully pave the way for continued expansion of the satellite station and additional global customers for the Mackenzie Valley fibre link.

Mr. Speaker, the government's investment in the fibre line was significant. This communication backbone should help the economic diversification of our territory and improve service delivery in the communities along the Mackenzie Valley...

Thanks for that reply there. I am glad to hear there are efficiencies from the process, that we are learning and benefiting. My question is: what is our government doing to take full advantage of the Inuvik Satellite Station Facility?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up to my statement earlier, my first question to the Minister of Finance is that the recent approval for the licensing for the operators for the Inuvik Satellite Station was good news. This has taken some time. Can the Minister explain why the approval has taken so long? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.