R.J. Simpson

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to provide a personal explanation to clarify why I, as Attorney General, made the decision to intervene in the Supreme Court case relating to Bill C92, an Act respecting First Nations, Inuit, Metis children, youth and families.

Yesterday, it was stated in this House that the intervention was an indication that the GNWT reversed its support for the law passed by the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation pursuant to this federal Act. This is not accurate. The very first sentence of the oral submission to the Supreme Court of Canada was, quote, "Let me begin by saying that the...

Thank you, and I will amend what I said. Those officers are dedicated to those communities, but they are not stationed in those communities. As the Member points out, they don't have detachments. Like I said, we've added a number of positions. We're always working with the RCMP to enhance their ability to do their job, and we will continue to do that. We are exploring options through the First Nation and Inuit Policing Program with the federal government. So we recognize these concerns, and we are looking at ways to address them. There's also, you know, other ways to address some of these...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I've heard these concerns directly from the teachers. I met with the NWT Teachers Association a few weeks ago, maybe a month ago now, and, you know, they were expressed directly to me, so I have been asking conversations with the department who was very alive to this. You know, most of them are teachers themselves so they understand this. We have been working on the online courses, which teachers will be able to access at their leisure.

There are professional development days. ECE is providing facetoface seminars. So there's a number of ways that we are working with...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I think there might have been some miscommunication. There is no expectation that we need to fully transition to British Columbia's curriculum before the contract with Alberta Education ends. The contract ends in 20252026, marking the last year of diploma exams and the last year that students in grade 12 will use the Alberta curriculum. Implementation of the BC curriculum in all grades is anticipated for the 20272028 school year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, if the money is issued, that's one thing, but I can't control when it's processed through the banks. So if I could will it to happen, I would, but the Minister of Finance has also informed me that she has her staff looking into this to make sure it's not an issue on their end. So we're taking an allofgovernment approach to deal with this issue. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I'm not aware of any changes that were made at that operational level, and the staff are getting ready to make changes to the system as a whole as we introduce the new income assistance stream for seniors and persons with disabilities so that change should be happening in the next couple of months, few months. But as for a change that happened in the last couple weeks, I'm not aware of that but, as I said, I will look into this. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So as I stated, the department has gone out and has been working directly with child care providers. There's always ongoing discussions with the Early Childhood Association. On the website there is a lot of information for parents. We are trying to determine what the wait lists are. You know, a number of parents will put their names on a number of different wait lists. We don't really have a sense of, you know, how many duplicates there are so it's very unclear at this point. So we're trying to get to the bottom of that as well because we want to make sure that we know...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that Bill 72, Opioid Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act, be read for the third time. And, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I believe just last week is when the department really went out and started working with child care providers to get a better understanding of the financial situation. Based on the feedback, the wage grid will be based on geographic location, current wages, roles, responsibilities, experience, postsecondary education, other education, and Indigenous knowledge. And as we develop it, there may be more factors to be taken into account. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Letter to Chair of Standing Committee on Social Development Regarding Government of the Northwest Territories Intervening in Supreme Court of Canada Case on the Report of Child and Family Services. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.