Richard Edjericon

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to talk about, again, small communities really do matter. I hear from my constituency on the high cost of living. What is this government going to do to help lower the cost of living in the community of Lutselk'e? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, I brought this up a few times already, and I still haven't got no correspondence back to me in writing on this subject. You know, we got a budget of $2.2 billion, and my constituency of Tu NedheWiilideh we get less than half a percent of that.

And so my question is will this government commit to building an allseason road to Lutselk'e connecting it through Hay River; is that possible? Right now I don't see any plans from this government to address the high cost of living in Lutselk'e. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize the Yellowknives Dene First Nation Chief Ernest Betsina, Chief Fred Sangris, and the CEO for YKDFN Gaurav Kaushish. I just want to welcome you. Mahsi. And everybody else in the gallery. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The committee has been considering Minister's Statement 420(1), Minister's Statement 520(1), Tabled Document 1320(1) and would like to report progress. Mr. Speaker, I move the report of the Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. What is the wish of committee to proceed? Mr. Rodgers.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, things we take for granted in bringing in supplies into Lutselk'e, for example just a bed is about $600. And you know, small communities do matter, and I kept saying that in the last Assembly, and I'll say it again in this Assembly. Will the government commit to more to getting more barges or air flights to the community of Lutselk'e to help reduce the cost of living? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is probably the second time I'm bringing this issue up for the winter road for the community of Lutselk'e. And I'd like to see if we can try to get Cabinet on side to finally realize the high cost of living in Lutselk'e is very important to people in the community. So my question to the Minister is will the government commit to building a winter road from Yellowknife to Lutselk'e? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I recently returned from a constituency meeting in Lutselk'e. And once again, my people there want me to talk about the high cost of living. They are just under 200 kilometres away from the rest of us here in Yellowknife but they pay twice as much as we do on groceries. It's almost like taxing the community just for living on their own land. It's only the community was just accessing by barge or plane. The people there would be under less financial pressure. Lutselk'e could use more barges, more flights to relieve the stress, but what would really take the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you, Minister. And I think it's great that you're going to make that commitment. And the other thing too as well I brought up, Mr. Speaker, is that we had a fire plan that we brought forward in the last Assembly and going forward the fire season's right around the corner. I want to know if the Minister could commit to putting in place a fire plan for the community of Fort Resolution and work with the chief and council of Fort Resolution and also the president of the Fort Resolution Metis Council? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On June 5th, 2023, the hamlet of Fort Resolution had its elected council dissolve and replaced by an administrator appointed by municipal and community affairs. The department's now responsible for the hamlet's governance with senior authorizing official making all their decisions on the daytoday operation.

The people of Fort Resolution see this intervention as an example of modern-day colonial type of attitude. They feel punished. The GNWT is accusing them of mismanagement but how could they have managed their community effectively when they never had adequate support...