Kieron Testart

Thank you. The community government retrofit program is being discontinued. Can the Minister explain why? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when a person learns they have cancer, their world turns upside down. In just one moment, they find themselves in the fight of their lives. Thankfully in Canada, we have a universal public health care system that is always there to connect cancer patients with the medical professionals they need. Unfortunately, in the North, that connection of doctor to patient is a bit more complicated. We can't offer every specialized treatment that southern Canadians take for granted and when that's not ideal, the added travel for medical care is a fact of life for...

Thank you, Madam Chair. It still sounds like a yes to me. But that's all right, we'll have that discussion later.

This also contains the energy programs for sorry, yeah, the energy programs that are funded. Can the Minister speak to the overall energy strategy and where the how the GNWT is moving ahead with its energy plans, especially in the advent of mine closure? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The community access programs, there's nothing in this budget for this program. It's really effective way of getting money into small communities and creating local economic activity. The Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight has called for this money to be restored. Will the Minister restore this program? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've spoken about it in this House, the Premier has spoken about it, other Members have as well, including the seconder of the motion, the Member for Mackenzie Delta. There is a drug epidemic in the Northwest Territories that has gone from being a public health crisis to a public safety crisis. Organized crime has been infiltrating the Northwest Territories and preying upon those suffering from addictions and trauma, since the year since COVID particularly, and it's reached an alltime high. We're seeing rates of violence that we haven't seen before, of...

Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the Minister for joining me in this impromptu debate. Mr. Speaker, if not if we can't do a UBI, can we do a universal can we pilot a guaranteed income program, which the Minister spoke of the differences between the two, so can we do that instead of UBI? She seems to be lukewarm on UBI. Can we get guaranteed income in the pipeline as a pilot? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that the chair rise and report progress. What, no?

I believe I'm being asked a question, Mr. Speaker, so I'll clarify. A resource dividend would be paid out to everyone in the Northwest Territories just like they have in Alaska. That's done through interest. Is the Minister willing to make changes to the heritage fund so we can extract interest from our investments and pay it out to Northerners? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. It's the evacuation travel support program, it's being sunset. Hopefully for good reason. But is the Minister confident that everyone who needs help from this fund has been helped and there are no there's nothing in the queue or things that are going to be harmed or going to not receive support by the sunsetting of these funds? Thank you.

Thank you. That sounds like what we need and what we're looking for. What is the timeline for this plan, Mr. Speaker?