R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No one would like to see this fund increased more than myself. I could take a win right now but I don't have a million dollars in my back pocket. The budget is, you know, it's before committee right now. And so the Member is aware what the budget for this upcoming year is, and it will be $1 million. In the future, I'm sure the budget will increase but it is not in the immediate future. Thank you.

Thank you. So utility payments are paid to utility providers upon receipt of an invoice. So I don't think there would be advanced payments made without that invoice. But if someone needs income assistance, they can go apply for income assistance and then they receive it pretty quickly. There's not generally a big period where people are waiting. So I'm not sure what the Member is referring to in advance of what; receiving support in advance of what? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish I could say that I would ensure that DEAs have all the appropriate policies in place but my authority doesn't allow me to dictate to DEAs which policies they should have in place. We're happy to work with DEAs and encourage them to develop policies. If a DEA doesn't have a bussing policy, we can look at other bussing policies and provide those as templates, we can outline which policies DEAs should have, but ultimately it is up to the DEA. I know that in Hay River the DEA is working on improving their bus policy so at least in the Member's constituency that work...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A bussing policy can touch on many of those things. It doesn't necessarily have to have all of those things. There are different ways that education bodies go about providing bussing. So sometimes there is a contractor, sometimes the bus is owned by the education body, so it really depends on the situation. But I'm sure there's best practices that we would like all the DEAs to follow. And, again, the department's always happy to provide any sort of assistance when DEAs want to develop these policies. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. We have a couple of pages from Hay River North here today with us, and so I want to welcome them Madeline Fabien and Francis Cook. And I have a feeling we'll be seeing them back in this Assembly in our seats one day. Thank you.

Madam Speaker, every year we honour the efforts of individuals, groups and organizations who strengthen the arts, cultures, heritage, and Indigenous languages of the Northwest Territories. Today, I am proud to announce the 2022 Minister’s Culture and Heritage Circle Award recipients.

The Individual Award recipient is Karen Wasicuna of Yellowknife. As the cofounder of Crazy Legs Contemporary Dance, her passion and support for dance and performing arts has had a lasting impact on many of her students who are now sharing their culture through dance in various professional capacities.

The Elders...

Thank you. With me, I have Christina Duffy, director of legislation division with the Department of Justice. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am here today to present Bill 57, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2022.

The purpose of Bill 57 is to amend various statutes of the Northwest Territories for which minor changes are proposed or errors or inconsistencies have been identified.

Each amendment included in the bill had to meet the following criteria:

it must not be controversial;

it must not involve the spending of public funds;

it must not prejudicially affect rights; and

it must not create a new offence or subject a new class of persons to an existing offence.

Departments responsible for the various...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Well, since the last time the Member asked this, I did add another holiday. It's not the holiday he was looking for though. So there will not be a statutory holiday on February 21st. The Member is well aware that that takes legislative change and that is not in the works. So it won't be happening this year. However, as I stated last year, this is the year that we are going to look at the Employment Standards Act and see what changes need to be made. So there will be engagement on the act including the potential establishment of a holiday in February. So the department...

Madam Speaker, the reason you see so much pink around the House today is because today we are acknowledging Pink Shirt Day, a day to reflect on how we treat one another.

Two brave teenagers in Nova Scotia sparked Pink Shirt Day 15 years ago after a male student in their school was harassed for wearing a pink shirt. The next morning, David Shepherd and Travis Price handed out pink shirts to all the male students. Now, Pink Shirt Day is a calltoaction for schools, communities, and workplaces to wear pink in solidarity against bullying.

Pink Shirt Day will be held nationally next week on February...