R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to make a recognition as the MLA for Hay River North. In the gallery today, I have a couple residents from Hay River. First of all, of course my mother Bette Lyons, I'm always happy to have her in the gallery. And as well, longtime resident Mr. Edwin Morin is joining us today, too. So I just want to welcome them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, absolutely we can, and we will report that publicly in the "what we heard" report that we develop based on this engagement. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member said, yesterday this government announced the first ever Evacuee Financial Support Program, and so I think that's a big step forward. I get that the Member wants to build on that momentum and ask what's next. So I can say that in the Employment Standards Act, there are emergency leave provisions but that's emergency leave without pay, and so I think the Member is looking for something beyond that. But as of right now, there is no other emergency relief program. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs does have funding. The community government applies to applies for that funding to initiate or support a search of an area that is available. And it's my understanding that has happened and those funds have flowed to the town of Fort Smith to help support those efforts. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, of course, as everyone knows I can't direct the RCMP. But I certainly can relay what is being said in the House, and I will say that I did speak to the commanding officer about this prior to today actually, and I know that, you know, he is concerned, the RCMP are concerned. I feel for the mother. This is unimaginable. This is every parent's nightmare. And so I think that if I was in the same position, I would also feel that people weren't doing enough. I can't imagine, Mr. Speaker; so my heart goes out. And I appreciate the Member's statement as well, her call for...

Mr. Speaker, there's no place like home. And I think that the residents of Hay River know that as well as anyone. For the second year in a row, the entire community of Hay River, as well as KFN, have been evacuated in the middle of the night. And finally today, the majority of residents of Hay River can go back to the community and I am sure many of them are on the road right now. I am sure many of them were on the road yesterday. Unfortunately, our neighbours, our friends, our family, our coworkers, at KFN, they don't have that same luxury and so our hearts go out to them. I want to take this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So corporate registries is publicly available. Anyone is able to search the corporate registries. It's a free search. For a fee of $4, anyone can then get detailed access to reveal who are the directors of that corporation, but the corporate registries does not keep a list of the shareholders of a corporation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I will certainly raise these issues with the RCMP. You know, we, as a government, have been work on implementing our action plan, our response to the final report on the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The Department of Justice has been working on a missing person's legislation. I was hoping to get it done this term, get it introduced, but it's taking longer than we had hoped. There's a bit more work to be done consulting with the RCMP, with other departments as, you know, it's a piece of legislation that impacts a lot of...

Mr. Speaker, I have a Return to Oral Question asked by Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes on February 13th, 2023, regarding the Impacts of COVID19 on Education. The question is:

What is known about high school attendance rates through COVID19, the attendance rates in small communities versus regional centres, and Indigenous students' attendance?

The Department of Education, Culture and Employment, or ECE, has publicly shared attendance data for 20202021 through the JK to 12 Performance Measures Report. In the 20202021 school year, many students returned to school only on a parttime basis and a few...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So corporate registries is responsible for extraterritorial registration, so companies from outside of the territory who want to do work in the territory, as well as corporations in the territory. So that information, like I said, it can be publicly found. The directors, you know, the location of the office, so things like that are publicly available. If a municipality, an Indigenous government, is having difficulties, the Department of Justice is more than happy to help. If the Member has a specific issue that she would like to raise, she can send me an email, with...