Kieron Testart

Can the Minister responsible for Youth advise on why there have been delays in moving this along? He made a commitment in the last sitting of the House, which was several months ago. What are the factors that have contributed to the delay of developing a policy proposal for establishing a youth council in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I spoke in my statement earlier about the need for a youth advisory council to give young people in the Northwest Territories a voice in the government decision-making and to advise government of policy issues. I have brought this issue before the House before, but today I would like to ask the Premier, as most of these youth councils are creations of First Ministers, if the Premier has made any progress with his government on developing a youth advisory council for the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We begin our legislative sitting on the heels of the Northwest Territories' 16th Youth Parliament.

It was a real honour to serve as a Page for our young leaders, and I am more impressed than ever seeing the next generation of Northerners hard at work in this great Chamber. I was particularly impressed with my counterpart, the youth representative for Kam Lake, Aafreen Khan.

Ms. Khan is a young, bilingual Muslim woman and is the embodiment of what a diverse and progressive NWT will look like in the future. Youth Parliaments are great forums that give the leaders of today...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister asked for suggestions. I mean, I'm not sure I have much more to suggest other than a youth advisory council. You know, Youth Parliament is a model parliament. It's not an advisory body. Youth Corps, all these volunteer activities, they're about engagement and getting people involved. Can the Minister commit to directing his staff to working with the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, which he is, to direct his staff, now that he's got them, in his department to prioritize this work? Because my understanding is there are three full-time people in...

I'll ask this Minister if he recalls when he made a commitment on the floor of the House to look into this issue and work on a proposal or some sort of policy development for establishing a youth council. That is a commitment he made on the floor. Does he recall that and is he working on that?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't want to be one of the only Yellowknife Members who does not recognize His Worship, Mayor Mark Heyck. I would like to thank him for his service, as well. He has made an incredible contribution to our community. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is another area that committee found that the department had agreed with the Auditor General's finding, that there were significant issues with the management of wildlife species identified "at-risk" and that there was a piecemeal approach where certain species were prioritized over others. There are statutory obligations for protection of all species of risk, and, although the department agreed with the Auditor General's finding, their response was largely to maintain the status quo as to how they had been managing these resources. Although committee appreciates...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to table the following document, "2017 Westminster Workshop for Public Accounts and CAPAC Conference." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, over the course of our review of the Auditor General's findings, the Auditor General was quite clear that authorities were not in place to allow ENR to fulfill its leadership role in the previous greenhouse gas strategy, and some of the items that are contained in this motion are the kinds of instruments that were suggested to us as examples by the Auditor General's Office as the kind of authoritative instruments that ENR could employ to strengthen its leadership role.

Over the course of our hearings, this point was somewhat lost. We wanted to ensure that the...

I was trying to frame the issue, but I will be more clear on this. Has the department or the Minister's office spoken with city council or city administration on the proposed changes to the CTV Act, and do they understand that delays in the legislation could result in the City of Yellowknife not being able to meet its budget obligations?