R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And we are going through that process right now, and that is the land claim and selfgovernment negotiations. I think that is what we need to conclude to ensure that there is a welldefined relationship between the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Government of Canada, and the governments in Treaty 8 territory. And so in terms of the Akaitcho treaty that we hope to finalize in the not too distant future, that would be the place to identify those relationships, and that is why it is important that we get that AIP concluded, to reference the Member's questions...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And land and resource legislation is the development of that is governed under the devolution agreement, and we work with the Intergovernmental Council to advance that legislation. I've also committed in my previous role as the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment to codevelop the Education Act, which is one of the biggest undertakings legislative undertakings that we can do. And there's a desire to do more as well. And so I'm happy to have those conversations.

As I've said before, we are moving towards a future where Indigenous governments selfgovernments of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Council of Leaders, Members of the Council of Leaders did come together, and that was in response to a visit from two federal Ministers. And so it was a it wasn't a general Council of Leaders meeting. It was focused on health care and we were actually all, as Members of that table, conveying our concerns and issues to the federal government. And so I think that the issues that were raised there are familiar to all of us in this House issues of medical travel, issues of access to services, and things like that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So while I have made clear that I do stay out of international politics, of course we have residents in the Northwest Territories who are from abroad, and they are now Northerners and we want to make Northerners feel welcomed. So the things that we can do are things that the Member is doing herself, acknowledging when people are experiencing hardship, recognizing their concerns, providing support to them, when it's necessary condemning antiPalestinian racism, antiSemitism, listening. Mr. Speaker, the Member noted that I did have a meeting with her and her constituent...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That sounds like an invitation to the Member's constituency meeting, and so I'm happy to accept. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I've spoken extensively about some of these tools. One of the main ones is the Civil Forfeiture Act. So right now if someone is suspected of committing a crime and they have some money on their person that is seized but they are not convicted of a crime, that money goes back to them even though, you know, everyone and his dog knows that it came from selling drugs. The Civil Forfeiture Act would allow the government to make an application to the court to retain those funds, and it would be done on a balance of probabilities as opposed to beyond a reasonable doubt. So...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the Government of the Northwest Territories certainly wasn't caught off guard. It was well known that this funding was time limited, but this is not a Government of the Northwest Territories program. And so what this does is it highlights the need for closer collaboration with the NGOs and, you know, to my earlier point, for information sharing between the government and NGOs so that these types of situations don't sneak up on anybody. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I don't want to preempt any mandate discussions that we need to have as a Cabinet, as a Caucus, but nonprofit organizations, nongovernmental organizations, are going to be essential and they are essential right now, but to the future operation of the territory they will be essential. They have significant expertise, significant ability, and flexibility to do a lot of the work that we need to get done, and so as we develop that mandate they will be at the forefront of my mind. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, again, that's the work that is happening as we negotiate the Akaitcho treaty, and so I look forward to that progressing. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So with the passage of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Implementation Act, we are now obliged through that legislation to develop an action plan for implementation of UNDRIP, and that is going to be and it's legislated to be codeveloped with Indigenous governments, and so that is the avenue to address a lot of these issues. And if there is things such as taxation that the government would like addressed, the time to bring it up is right at the beginning so that work can happen during the development of that action plan. Thank you.