Denny Rodgers

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm proud to stand here today and support this motion, support the seconder, my colleague from the Sahtu, and to support the people from -- the residents of the town of Norman Wells. This is, indeed, a crisis. We look at $40 a gigajoule of gas in Inuvik and I think that's a crisis. I can only imagine, to pay $6,000 to fill the fuel tank. It's going to be a crisis. It's a crisis now as temperatures get lower.

Mr. Speaker, the -- I mean, the precedent of -- if you want to call it bailing out a community or bailing someone out, we've done this in the past. We've spent an...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you, Minister Kuptana. I understand that some of the work's being done on M and I. I also understand, I think, there's likely about seven units that still require repairs. And I say this because we do have some folks living in our apartment building up that housing leases that we know is a known area for drug consumption and drug selling in there. So our list is quite long.

Is there any other money, I guess, outside of the maintenance and improvement funding that the local housing authority gets, any other money committed outside of that to repair those units...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, given that Monday was Thanksgiving, I thought I'd open my Member's statement this session with some gratuities of my own. As I know you know, and most Members know, on June 28th, 2024 we lost our home in Inuvik to a tragic fire and our contents and one of our beloved pets, as well as my neighbour lost her home as well in that fire. And I'd just like to offer a thank you. The support has been overwhelming, certainly from my colleagues here in this House who sent messages and emails and phone calls, from the staff at the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Speaker...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I know the Minister understands, living in the Beaufort Delta herself, the importance of this work. I guess can I get a commitment from the Minister on -- I know there's at least five units right now that have no funding allocated for them from what I understand in speaking with the local housing authority. Can we get a commitment of a plan going forward to get all these units repaired within the next 12 months? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of housing. When we were here last session, we talked about the units in Inuvik, the long waiting lists, and the units that needed to be repaired. I think it was something around between 12 and 17 that still were being repaired. I was just wondering if I could get an update of the status of the repairs in Inuvik. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm going to use my Member's statement time today for gratitude, Mr. Speaker. First and foremost, to our staff and their families. We've put some serious hours in here these past few weeks, and I know it's -- you know, the time that requires staff to be in here, it's a stress on their families. I know we all appreciate it but often it goes unsaid.

I'd also like to thank our tireless interpreters who, again, you know, we put some serious hours in. They always have a smile. And I know that, again, thank them and their families for the work they do.

And I would...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, to say it's been a bit of a grind these last couple of weeks I think is a bit of an understatement. Certainly, I know we've -- for those of us who it's our first time going through the budget process, certainly a learning experience and, yeah, and a long experience. Again, a big thanks to the staff that beared with us through this process.

I was going to say something cheeky about the Minister of Finance, but she works way too hard for me to do that. And I'm not going to lie, I'm a little bit scared of her as well so -- after the past three weeks.

Mr. Speaker...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know the Minister's identified that the medical travel policy will be reviewed. Can the Minister identify a timeline for reviewing the policy? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about challenges facing our students trying to access health care while away at school. There are constituents in my riding who have children attending university down south and while the students are away at school, medical appointments are arranged in Edmonton. Mr. Speaker, sometimes you wait four, six, eight months for these appointments. These students, who are away from home studying, are required by the GNWT to attend these specialized appointments unaccompanied without any support.

Mr. Speaker, I recognize we are in a time of...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I move that consideration of Tabled Document 93-20(1), 2024-2025 Main Estimates, be now concluded and that the Tabled Document 93-20(1) be reported and recommended as ready for further consideration in formal session through the form of an appropriation bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair.