Mr. Speaker, one of the priorities of our government is to make strategic infrastructure investments that connect communities, expand the economy, and reduce the cost of living. There are a number of initiatives being undertaken to support this priority, and one of these is to continue to seek ways to advance the construction of all-season roads such as the Mackenzie Valley Highway and the Tlicho Highway.
Mr. Speaker, investments in all-season roads may take time and money. Our government will continue to pursue these projects, but in the meantime, winter roads remain an essential part of the Northwest Territories' transportation system. Communities across the North rely heavily on these roads to ensure the movement of goods and people during colder months.
Today, I am pleased to provide an update on the 2021 winter road season and fuel resupply activities. Every year, highway crews in the Beaufort-Delta, the Sahtu, the Deh Cho, and the North Slave regions build and maintain 1,469 kilometres of winter roads, ice roads, and ice crossings that connect 11 communities that are not served by our all-season roads.
The Northwest Territories' short winter-road season is critical, as our winter roads are the primary way essential goods are delivered to remote communities. This access helps to diversify the Northwest Territories' economy, allows businesses to be more competitive, and lowers costs for northern residents. I would like to personally thank our highway crews across the territory for their hard work and dedication to opening and maintaining winter roads this past year, in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic. These crews overcame fluctuating temperatures and other impacts of climate change to get our winter roads operating and, in some cases, earlier than average opening dates.
To enhance the level of service on some of our winter roads, our government has also formed partnerships with the private sector. Specifically, we have an agreement with Enbridge Pipelines in which the company provides funding to the GNWT to accelerate the construction of the Tulita and Wrigley ice crossings on Highway No. 1 to support the movement of equipment.
Mr. Speaker, our government understands the importance of essential goods, such as fuel, for our residents and businesses in northern communities. Many communities rely heavily on diesel and gasoline for electricity generation, heating, and transportation. The GNWT is responsible for the purchase, transport, and storage of fuel for 16 communities here in the Northwest Territories that are not served by the private sector. Local contractors then sell and distribute these petroleum products to residents and businesses.
Despite the challenge of COVID-19, residents can rest assured that the GNWT will continue to deliver fuel while taking every precaution necessary to protect our communities. Our staff and contractors have put rigorous safety measures in place to minimize risks related to COVID, while following the orders and recommendations of the Chief Public Health Officer. This winter, the GNWT's first fuel delivery took place on February 1. It is expected that the fuel resupply will be completed by mid-March, with a total of 7.5 million litres of fuel delivered to seven communities.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the staff and contractors for keeping communities connected safely, efficiently, and reliably. Our government will continue to work with our public and private sector partners to maintain dependable supply of goods and services to our communities, while identifying opportunities to improve our operations and infrastructure. Quyanainni, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Ministers' statements. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
[Translation] Mr. Speaker, I am proud to celebrate the francophone community of the Northwest Territories during the 23rd Annual Rendez-vous de la Francophonie. This nation-wide initiative, held every March, is an opportunity for Canada's 10 million French-speakers and all Canadians to celebrate and promote French language and culture.
Through this year's Rendez-vous de la Francophonie theme, Acadia, at the heart of my country, celebrations will highlight the fact that Acadia is the birthplace of Canada's Francophonie, while acknowledging the presence and contribution of Indigenous peoples in North America for thousands of years.
Mr. Speaker, as we celebrate the Rendez-vous de la Francophonie, I would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the Francophone Affairs Secretariat. In response to COVID-19, they quickly adapted to provide prompt translations 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Their dedication has allowed our francophone residents to access important health information in French throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, this month the Government of the Northwest Territories and the federal government have finalized a funding agreement to support French language services. This agreement provides a multi-year collaborative framework between Canada and the Northwest Territories in order to support the planning and delivery of quality French language communications and services. The agreement also ensures stability and continuity in the delivery of services to the French residents of the Northwest Territories.
Mr. Speaker, our diverse French population adds a cultural richness to our communities. I am proud of our ongoing efforts to support our Francophone residents and to strengthen the diversity of our territory. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [Translation ends]
Thank you, Minister. Ministers' statements. Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.
Sorry. I'll be doing my statement in English; I won't be doing it in Slavey. Today, Mr. Speaker, I would like to update the Members on the progress that we have made with our commitment to reduce the municipal funding gap and the additional funding support that has been provided for community governments. This government committed to reducing the funding gap by $5 million, and we have made significant progress on this goal. This past fiscal year we added $2.5 million of ongoing funding for community governments.
Earlier this year, Municipal and Community Affairs engaged with the Northwest Territories Association of Communities to identify how best to strategically invest this new funding. Knowing that the largest funding gap is in community public infrastructure, it was decided that this funding would be allocated to this priority. This additional funding, therefore, is ear marked for those 19 community governments who have capital funding gaps. In addition to the infrastructure investment, an additional $740,000 has been approved in the 2021-2022 budget, which MACA is allocating to the environmental services fund to support community governments with the delivery of water, sewer, and solid waste services for residents.
Mr. Speaker, our mandate commitment is more than just a funding initiative. It also includes a commitment to provide communities with new opportunities to raise additional revenue. In 2021, MACA, along with the Department of Lands and the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs, have been developing a process guide for municipal governments to manage lands within their municipal boundaries. As part of this process, we are also considering current Government of the Northwest Territories policies and procedures that may require amendments. The transfer of lands would better position municipal governments to have administration and control of lands within their community, remove barriers for land transfers, allowing communities to advance their own priorities for land development, and present more own-source revenue opportunities. MACA's commitment also includes working with communities to reduce or stabilize the cost of delivering core programs and services.
This summer, we will be working with communities in the Beaufort-Delta and Sahtu regions to coordinate removal of hazardous waste stockpiles within their landfills. This project, as part of the implementation of the Northwest Territories Waste Resource Management Strategy, will reduce contamination of Northwest Territories lands and extend the lifespans of community landfills. Work will continue in other regions as federal funding has been applied for to continue this work.
We are also working towards implementing the Northwest Territories asset management strategy for communities. The asset management strategy will provide communities with more information to implement best practices, improve maintenance, and lower costs due to equipment failures and emergency repairs. MACA has already trained six communities to use a computerized asset management program and have plans for up to seven more in 2021.
Mr. Speaker, with the additional investment for community governments, I am proud to say that we are well on our way to meet our mandate commitment. The department will continue to advance this mandate commitment in future years to include the remaining $1.7 million to reach the total mandate investment of $5 million. We know the challenges that our community governments are facing, and we will continue to advocate and support them to address their priorities wherever possible. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today, I would like to talk about the welcomed news from the NWT Housing Corporation regarding new houses set to be built within the riding of Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh and across the territories. Last week, Minister Chinna, along with MP Michael McLeod and the federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, all made a joint announcement about the allocation of funds to construct 60 new homes for several NWT communities. That's awesome.
Mr. Speaker, of those 60 housing units, 10 will be constructed within my constituency, which includes four for Lutselk'e, four for Deninu Kue, and two for Ndilo and Dettah. I am very happy to hear that these new houses will begin construction this year. I know that there are long waiting lists in all of my communities for people looking for housing, so I know that this project will help alleviate our strong housing demand.
Mr. Speaker, when I was writing this last night, I watched a show and maybe changed my Member's statement a little. I watched a show called New Amsterdam. It's a medical drama. There was this doctor, a real humanitarian, dealt with a homeless person. It is fictional, of course, but it made me really think about this. When dealing with this patient, they discovered this patient was homeless and racked up a huge amount of money to this hospital, $1 million testing, psychiatric evaluations, blood tests, you name it. It turns out, after a good visit with the doctor, this homeless person just needed a place to stay. You can't help but wonder what the unforeseen costs are for our systems, like Justice and Health and Social Services. All we need to do is just give somebody a key to go into an apartment or a home. Shelter is so important and feeling safe. It is so important for our mental health.
With this announcement, I think that we should scream this from the top of the hills here. I think this is huge, this announcement. It will take a huge bite out of our mandate items and move in that direction. It's something tangible. We sit back, and we have a healthy tension back and forth in this Chamber, but I think this is something we could really announce as a group and give people hope. I think that's so important moving forward: hope. Show the people in the Territories that we can work as a team and do some good. Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Members' statements. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I just want to wish everybody back home and in the House: happy Easter. Have a good weekend with our families. My son's back home in the Delta, so we are looking forward to a spring hunt and fishing. Looking forward to that, getting excited to get home. To all our constituents in the Delta and Nunakput, please have a safe spring. Enjoy your time here with your families.
I took part myself. We went down and watched the dog races last weekend. I would like to congratulate Grant Beck and Richard Beck and Brent for first, second, and third. Brent is the 150-mile champion for the NWT, so congratulations to him. I know him really well, and I know how hard he worked to get there. All the mushers who took part in that Canadian championship with even the one- and two-dog, the little kids racing, it's always good to see up-and-coming dog mushers.
It has been a long session, Mr. Speaker. This last eight weeks, we did a lot of good work. We worked together to get the session and the budget passed, and there are a lot of good things coming. I want to thank our government and our leadership. Keep moving forward and keep it up, working with our colleagues on this side of the House. I am looking forward to keeping on keeping on.
Mr. Speaker, still, we are in COVID-19 times. Please, everybody back home, get your vaccine and follow the rules of the public health officer and just be safe. Have a good spring, Mr. Speaker, and I look forward to seeing you back in the Delta. Thank you.
Hear, hear. Thank you, Member for Nunakput. Members' statements. Member for Deh Cho.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. It has been another long, arduous year, ending with capital acquisition plans, business plans, and the cream of the crop, the main estimates. These exercises are a necessary evil as they set the departmental budgets for the upcoming new fiscal year. What I mean by "necessary evil" is the many long hours reviewing departmental budgets and then doing it all over again in its final stages during the Committee of the Whole. This entailed all 19 Members to be present and work together to come up with the final budget that is somewhat satisfactory to Regular MLAs on this side of the House and satisfies the needs of the departments and Cabinet.
Mr. Speaker, one of the great benefits of this exercise is that we can all talk the same language, working for the benefit of all of the residents of the Northwest Territories. When we can work together on budget issues and agree to provide more financial resources for programs and services, it is the residents who win. Similarly, it falls upon us all to dig deep to find the financial resources to cover those extra costs as noted by the Finance Minister.
The residents of the Northwest Territories need to know this Legislative Assembly has their best interests at heart, that this Legislative Assembly continues to investigate economic opportunities that will benefit northern businesses, which in turn benefit the residents of the Northwest Territories. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Hear, hear. Thank you, Member for Deh Cho. Members' statements. Member for Thebacha.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today is our last sitting day of this session until we return at the end of May. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all of the essential workers throughout all regions of the NWT. I want to thank all the medical personnel in all NWT medical facilities, which includes everyone from the janitors, the nurses, and the doctors, to the specialists, patient advocates, and social workers, among others.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to thank all of my colleagues, both the Regular Members' side and on the Cabinet side, for understanding what I am about and for putting up with me and my sometimes-harsh line of questioning. We may not always agree on issues, but we never let personal animosity get in the way of getting things done. Furthermore, Mr. Speaker, I would also like to once again thank all of the staff here at the Legislative Assembly as well as my own staff, my constituency assistants, Priscilla Lepine and Pascal Erasmus. Staff play a key role in functions of good governance, so I thank them for their work and their dedication. I want to thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also want to wish everyone a very happy Easter, and as always, I thank the amazing constituents of Fort Smith for the honour of being your MLA for Thebacha. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Members' statements. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. While attempting to drill down into the Husky Oil significant discovery licence, pun intended, I was astounded at how difficult it is to find any useful and accessible information about how our government actually administers oil and gas rights.
ITI does not seem to have implemented its new responsibilities with the changes to the Petroleum Resources Act. While much of the secrecy surrounding rights management was supposed to be fixed, it is virtually impossible to get any coherent information on specific oil and gas rights holdings. There are three separate listings or web pages for information on oil and gas rights rather than a user-friendly integrated database or public registry. There is a series of web pages on monthly oil and gas rights activities, which is little more than a listing of licence numbers and their disposition, no maps, no company names, no actual dates, just a lumping together of licence numbers. A second and unlinked set of pages has listings of the licences and the actual documents. The listings are searchable by disposition type and the name of the company, but there are no data associated with the listings, such as dates, areas covered, work performed, or whatever. Lastly, there is a series of dated maps that have tables of licence data that are not linked or user friendly. These come from the previous calls for expressions of interest in petroleum development. Those have all failed to raise any interest since devolution. Elsewhere, you can find the annual oil and gas reports, that have very busy maps in them, but none of this is linked in any way to the licence or activity listings.
Mr. Speaker, there is no searchable, user-friendly, integrated public registry for petroleum rights. Surely to goodness, seven years after devolution and 19 months after the transparency provisions were passed in the House to provide stronger accountability in petroleum rights reporting, we can and should be able to do a lot better. There are lots of good examples out there that show how transparent and well-organized public registries can be set up, for example the ones managed by the Land and Water Boards or the Mackenzie Valley Review Board. I will have questions for the Minister of ITI on how we can improve public access to information on petroleum rights. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member for Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Employment within the public sector is one of the main topics I hear about from my constituents after housing. Recently, I heard from a student who after receiving an offer of employment was being told that she now had to prove that she is "the right type of Indigenous" as she was born in Nunavut. An indigenous engineering student on the path we encourage our youth to take and still she is asked to "prove herself" for a summer job. This is not okay. Speaking with other northern students and recent graduates, I'm bombarded with stories that detail the barriers to gaining employment by one of the largest northern employers, our government.
One such story is that of Kerri, born and raised in Yellowknife, who graduated from Sir John Franklin High School and studied graphic design. Kerri was a product of the Student Financial Assistance program and studied design for four years, when she maxed out her SFA benefits. During her post-graduate design studies, she was recruited by CBC National News, working with them for a time before coming home. Shortly after returning to the North, a position was available in the GNWT for a graphic designer. Kerri applied for this position but was not successful. Upon appealing the decision process, she learned that this position was awarded to a Southerner by direct appointment. This is a perfect example of a qualified Priority 2 Northerner being passed over for a position within the GNWT and failing to be protected by the system that had been developed to ensure qualified Northerners have meaningful employment.
SFA needs to work hand in hand with human resources, proactively advising them of graduates and their professions. The GNWT is paying for this education, and our talented northern students must be viewed as an investment in our future. We often hear from Cabinet that the North does not produce educated people in fields that can be utilized by the GNWT, leading to southern hiring. We only have to look at several current and past deputy ministers to see that we don't make northern candidates a priority when developing our human resources.
While hiring from the South may not hurt the GNWT fiscally as every new resident means more in federal transfer payments; however, what are the indirect losses: the historic knowledge that's lost each time someone leaves a role; the impact on staff with each new manager or employee; or the impact on project work as southern science and methods are applied out of ignorance or lack of experience. Additionally, many southern hires only stay between two and five years. How much do we lose paying fees for recruitment, relocation costs, administration costs, et cetera? Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT needs to take a hard look at our employment strategy, to incorporate not only our northern graduates upon their return, but to ensure that Northerners and people committed to the North are able to advance in the public sector. An integrated strategy is needed that involves not only HR, but incorporates the input of and data collected by ECE and SSA so that we are proactive about our work force. This strategy should identify future employment trends and identify pathways to help Northerners work towards their employment goals and include cross-training, mentorship, and networking and job shadowing opportunities, as well as succession planning. Only when we invest in our people will we have a successful North. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Great Slave. Members' statements. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In October 2020, the City of Yellowknife voted to end fire services on the Ingraham Trail. The most frustrating part of that decision was that residents were only given six months to find an alternate solution. I implored the Minister during the multiple city council votes to send someone from MACA to ask for more time, knowing full well that the GNWT could not find a solution within six months, but GNWT bureaucracy doesn't move quickly and the idea of someone approaching city council to pitch a case without going up and down eight levels of bureaucracy first was an impossibility. Additionally, it seemed that finding a solution before April 1st was an impossibility, despite the best intentions of the Minister.
I have repeatedly been told that a solution would be found before April 1st. In this House on February 23rd in this session, the Minister said, "I made a commitment that we will find a solution by April 1st." Well, Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is April 1st, and if your house is on fire on the Ingraham Trail and you call 911, no one is going to show up.
Mr. Speaker, the solution that has been presented was an options paper last week, where it has $1.7 million up front and $1.2 million annually to be paid completely by residents of the Ingraham Trail. If this is the solution the Minister had in mind the whole time, I could have saved the department a lot of time by saying that no one was going to go for that. If this was a multi-million-dollar problem, I could have said to the department and my residents that this wasn't going to happen back in October.
The department is now asking residents of the trail to pay $4,000 a year for fire services. This would be one of the highest taxes in the Northwest Territories. The department is of the position that all of this money must be recovered directly from residents. I can't think of a single tax in this territory that is completely recovered by residents; 85 percent of our budget comes from the federal government.
The majority of our communities' government funding comes from ours, yet this one issue is to be completely recovered at a cost of $1.2 million for one fire a year, Mr. Speaker.
I don't know that solution the department had in mind. Mr. Speaker, rather than prepare for the incoming loss of services, residents trusted the Minister at their word and waited on the government when they said they would solve this problem. I am disappointed in the options paper and in this outcome. I was confused about what MACA was thinking was going on the entire time, and, Mr. Speaker, I'm disappointed we broke the trust of our residents. I will have questions for the Minister of MACA about what can be done going forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My statement will be in English. I have received numerous concerns from residents in Hay River with respect to the illicit drug trade and drug use in the community. Throughout the pandemic, we have heard stories of persons travelling back and forth across the border who are known drug dealers or persons known to be running drugs. How do we know? It is because our community is small, people talk, and most everyone knows everyone. With enough information, one is able to cut out the fiction and put together some semblance of truth of what is really happening on the ground.
We have heard how, throughout the pandemic, this government has been providing these dealers and runners with repetitive 14 days of free accommodation and meals while they worked their trade. To add insult to injury, with support from the NWT Housing Corporation, these dealers are provided with public housing. Why? Because they are on the housing list and we have to be fair with allocation of units. Input from housing board members with local knowledge is not taken into account because policy trumps general knowledge.
These dealers are targeting our Indigenous youth. Why? Because Indigenous youth are more exposed to recruitment and organized crime. All we have to do is look at the court docket and see who is filling our correctional centres. If this is to change then we have to provide Indigenous youth with positive role models; with a positive home life; with a positive learning environment; with safe places to participate in extracurricular activities; with protection from dealers beyond no contact orders; with timely access to mental health and addictions support; and with meaningful jobs.
Mr. Speaker, the local drug trade today is much different than that of the past. It is organized; it has financial resources; it has weapons; it has an effective recruitment process; it is not troubled by authority; and it does not care who it hurts. Why do our youth want to belong in such an organization? It provides a false sense of acceptance, an acceptance not received at home, among peers, or by society. It is a need of belonging which we, as family and society, have failed to provide.
The community of Hay River has lost a number of its youth to drugs and the drug trade, and we continue to let this happen. As families mourn, they ask: what are the police doing? What are the courts doing? What are our local and territorial politicians doing? Where are the supports? If there was ever a time to get serious about this issue, it is now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Members' statements. Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, my statement will be regarding we're losing a lot of young people in the Northwest Territories and also in the Tlicho Nation. There is a lot of young people that we lost. Some of them, I may mention, but I might not mention all. Just recently, this person is our brother, our uncle. His name is Freddy Bishop from Whati. Not only him, Justin Tutcho, as well. He was living with someone from Behchoko. Lastly, they have passed on, but just recently a young person, David Sangris. His funeral is today. When we look at this situation, we also lost Kelly Washie, a young man, and just recently I lost my brother, as well.
Why I am mentioning all of this is because alcohol and drug use is related to that. We lose a lot of young people because of alcohol and drug addiction. We need a treatment centre. If we had a treatment centre, do you think these people would still be alive? We need an addiction centre where people can work on themselves and start healing themselves. There are a lot of people who work for Health and Social Services. They need to go out to the community to reach out to these people. Would we have all these people alive today if we had more people reaching out to the people?
As the Government of the Northwest Territories, we can make a powerful statement. All the time, we make these powerful statements, but when we look out the window here, we see a lot of people that we're losing that are passing on. I really disagree with that. When we talk, we need to walk our talk. As a government, I want to send them a message. We want to prevent these things for our young people. Let's reach out to these people. Let's make available any kind of addictions programs that they can use. There are many resources out there that they can use. We can't keep on talking. I don't want to stand here again and talk about who has just passed on because it's very difficult to do that. All these young people, we want to pray for them and pray for their families that are grieving. We want them to have a healing process. That is my Member's statement. Thank you. [Translation ends]
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a return to oral question asked by the Member for Nunakput on March 4, 2021, regarding medevac services. In the 2020 calendar year, there were approximately 180 air ambulance transports for the communities of Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour, Tuktoyaktuk, and Ulukhaktok.
Mr. Speaker, the med-response program has bases in Yellowknife and Inuvik. There are three crews and planes in Yellowknife and one crew and plane in Inuvik. When med-response receives a request, it is triaged to determine need and severity. The team looks at available resources and dispatches planes and crews as required. If there are two situations at the same time and only one resource available, there are a number of possible solutions. The team may redirect a current plane that has been dispatched to a lower priority patient; dispatch a plane from Yellowknife base if the Inuvik plane is not available; or, in extreme cases, contact a partner air ambulance service in another jurisdiction, such as Edmonton, to dispatch a plane.
Med-response does have a contingency plan when there is a need to access additional pilots or crew. The med-response team can work with the air ambulance provider to pull in staff who are not part of the regular rotation. This is very rare, but it has been done in the past. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Returns to oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I seek unanimous consent to go back to item 3 on the agenda, Members' statements, to allow our colleague from Kam Lake to make her statement. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, colleagues. Today, American President Joe Biden announced a transportation-focused, long-term economy recovery plan. During the Great Depression here in Canada, the federal government funded highway construction to stimulate the economy. In anticipation of our federal government's plan to unveil its budget on April 19th, I would like to talk about roads, specifically the Mackenzie Valley Highway, or what I like to call "the forgotten leg of the Trans Canada Highway."
The Trans Canada Highway runs through all 10 Canadian provinces from Victoria to St. John's. At 7,821 kilometres, it is the fourth longest highway and the second longest national highway in the world. Construction began in 1949 under St. Laurent's Liberal government. According to history books, the Trans Canada Highway was complete in 1962 under Prime Minister Diefenbaker, but here in the NWT, I disagree. Like it or not, Canada's shores touch three oceans, not two, and the northern territories are, in fact, located in Canada.
In 1958, the federal government actually acknowledged this and committed to completing the Mackenzie Valley Highway as part of the Roads to Resources strategy. This construction began in 1972, but in 1977, was stopped, as the Berger Inquiry began a subsequent 10-year moratorium on oil and gas. Over the past 15 years, we have picked away at this highway through cost-sharing agreements with the federal government.
Completing the Mackenzie Valley Highway is an important economic and social development driver for the Northwest Territories. It stands to decrease cost of living, increase food security, increase housing opportunity, create safe passage for survivors of domestic violence, connect families, stimulate economic development, and connect southern Canada to the Arctic.
The federal government needs to understand that 25-cent dollars don't work in the NWT. Our infrastructure deficit and social needs are too far behind to compete against one another. Asking us to choose between economic stimulus and the social supports needed to heal our territory is a cruel continuation of a history already marked by tragedy.
While the Canadian government looks to revive the national economy, we in the North are asking, "Pass the AED and give us a chance to join the fight." Mr. Speaker, today, I challenge Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to finish what past Liberal governments did not, which is a true Trans Canada Highway. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The drug trade is real. Drug use is real. People are dying. Families are being torn apart. I would like to ask the Minister of Justice: what is the Department of Justice doing to respond to increased illicit drug and substance abuse in our communities? Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Hay River South. Minister of Justice.
