Vince McKay

Mr. Speaker, I move, second by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Bill 17, Municipal and Community Affairs Statutes Amendments Act, be read for the first time.

This bill is amending three Acts: The Fire Prevention Act, the NWT 911 Act, and the Western Canadian Lotteries Act. This bill establishes the Municipal and Community Affairs Statutes Amendments Act will adjust the reporting timelines of the reports required under these three Acts to provide sufficient time for MACA to collect valuable data from various sources ensuring accurate and comprehensive reporting. Thank you, Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too would also like to recognize a couple guests here from Hay River. Adelle Russell, a page for Hay River South; Molly Campbell, the page from Hay River North; and Sonya Campbell who is up in the gallery there. She is chaperoning them here. And I'd like to welcome them to the Legislative Assembly and hope they enjoy their week here. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present to the House Bill 17, Municipal and Community Affairs Statutes Amendments Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not aware of any funding that we're sitting on. The money that is approved or that has been sent to us is for estimated disaster costs through what the department has received through the estimates. And that covers off emergency or any expense claims that are eligible through the DFAA. So those claims are being put through and as part of the cycle, we have to account for all that money is being processed. So as far as I'm aware, we're not sitting on any money. This is money that's all accounted for and being transferred to impacted residents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member's probably aware, the program is a federal program and we adopt it or utilize it in order to get funds back from the federal government during an emergency. So some of the changes that have happened in the new update, they have the new strategic investment. This increases funding for disaster mitigation, building back better to minimize impacts and future risks; the risk reduction incentives, encouraging pre-disaster planning; hazard awareness to proactively reduce disaster impacts; also has expanded supports, more help for people experiencing significant...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think there was a lot of hardship through the territories with the disasters in no particular riding. I think there was a lot of impacts to people's livelihoods. And, you know, we've all worked through them. The government's worked through them and trying to get federal funding to these impacted residents. However, this new DFAA is starting off April 1st. It is not retroactive and doesn't cover off any previous emergencies. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will be voting "no" against these two recommendations, so I thought it was important that I say a few words as I am a Member of this committee, and I felt it was only fair for me to explain myself.

As a Member and a new Member to the Legislative Assembly, we go sometimes into these meetings, and there's a lot of information, a lot of dialogue going on with all this stuff, and sometimes you don't realize the outcome of these recommendations until you've talked to experienced Members, past Members, and realizing the outcome of a recommendation like this. I believe that...

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to take the opportunity to welcome back all my colleagues to the Legislative Assembly, welcome back all the staff, and welcome back all the interpreters to the Assembly.

Mr. Speaker, this past weekend, Hay River hosted the territorial trials for the Montana's Brier which, by the way, is being held February 28th and March 9th in Kelowna, BC. I'd like to think of this as Hay River's unofficial warmup before we send our champions to Kelowna to battle the best curlers out there. I'm proud to announce that the Hay River team will be representing the Northwest Territories at...

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Friday, February 7th, 2025, I will present Bill 17, Municipal and Community Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The territorial government is on a working group with the federal government that is talking about insurance and affordability, also insurance coverage that is not available. For an example, some flood insurance is not available depending on the type of flood. So there is a working group out there to work on insurance coverage. And to mention to the point of the gray area, there is a lot of confusion about insurance and what can and cannot be covered. So there is a federal working group, and the government is part of it. Also, I believe the NWTAC is also part of...