Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Okay, Members, time is up. Oral questions. Written questions. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to return to item 5 on the orders. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Member from Range Lake is asking unanimous consent to go back to item number 5. Any nays? Seeing no nays, Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize a constituent Mr. Rami Kassem. And he is my friend, but there are two other my friend's up there as well, Mr. Fadil Memedi and Mr. Nasi Mowa. Thank you very much for being here today.
Member from Kam Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Member bringing us back to this section because I wasn't able to do this earlier. It's hard to see when people are sitting above us. But I wanted to recognize Heather Nakehk'o who is a constituent who was here with us earlier. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Kam Lake. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too wish to recognize both Rami and Fadil of Javaroma. They are great community partners. Their heart and soul is into the city of Yellowknife as well as its people, and I've seen them on so many occasions be so generous both with their time and money. They're wonderful people, and we're a richer community because we have the two of them. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following five documents: Housing Northwest Territories 20222023 Annual Report; Followup Letter for Oral Question 1720(1): Elders Housing and Oral Question 2020(1): Arrears Collection for Elders; Followup Letter for Oral Question 2520(1): Housing Northwest Territories Board Policy; Followup Letter for Oral Question 3420(1): Construction and Retrofitting of Housing Northwest Territories Units, and, Followup Letter for Oral Question 4920(1): Yellowknife Aspen Apartments. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Housing NWT. Tabling of documents. Minister of Finance.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents: Northwest Territories Carbon Tax Report 20222023; and, Followup Letter for Oral Question 4520(1): Expansion of Snare Hydro System to Tlicho Communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Finance. Tabling of documents. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Waste Reduction and Recovery Program 20222023 Annual Report. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that notwithstanding Rule 2.1, when the House adjourns on Thursday, February 29th, 2024, it shall be adjourned until Thursday, May 23rd, 2024;
AND FURTHER, that any time prior to May 23, 2024, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and shall transact its business as it has been duly adjourned to that time.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. To the motion.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? Opposed? Abstaining? Motion has passed.
Carried
Motions. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
WHEREAS the Northwest Territories is made up of many residents with family members and other ties to Palestine, Israel, and the broader Middle East, and attacks on civilians, human rights violations, antisemitic violence, and violent dehumanization towards all Israelis and Palestinians have lasting consequences that reverberate around the world, including in Northwest Territories communities;
AND WHEREAS the Northwest Territories has committed itself to upholding international human rights as declared by the United Nations;
AND WHEREAS the International Court of Justice has ruled that Israel’s actions in Gaza 'could plausibly amount to genocide' and for Israel to 'take all measures in its power' to prevent all acts that could be against the Genocide Convention;
NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the Member for Yellowknife North, that this Legislative Assembly condemn all acts of antisemitism and antiPalestinian racism in our territory;
AND FURTHER, that this Legislative Assembly calls upon the Premier to write a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly, and Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations Bob Rae, that will call upon the Canadian Government to:
call for an immediate and effective ceasefire and halt to violence by both Israel and Hamas;
advocate for the immediate release of all hostages;
advocate for and provide funds for unhindered access for humanitarian aid for all those in need in Gaza; and,
take all actions necessary to fully uphold its obligations under the Genocide Convention;
AND FURTHERMORE, that Northwest Territories Member of Parliament, Michael McLeod, receive a copy of this letter;
AND FURTHERMORE, that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a response to this motion within 120 days.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member. To the motion. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the Member for Mackenzie Delta to amend Motion 2320
Made a mistake. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We're all a little bit tired now. It's been a long session. Gets longer next year.
Mr. Speaker, this motion provides further action to Petition 120(1) that I brought forward this past Tuesday on behalf of the Yellowknife Citizens for Ceasefire. As I've mentioned previously, the petition includes 645 signatures from residents of the Northwest Territories. Residents who signed are from the following communities:
Yellowknife
Whati
Wekweeti
Lutselk'e
Inuvik
Hay River
Ulukhaktok
Behchoko
Tulita
Tsiigehtchic
Fort Smith
Fort Simpson, and
Fort McPherson.
This is a territorial issue, and territorial residents are asking for us to all take action, and some of them are here today. I will reserve further comments for later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. To the motion. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I MOVE, seconded by the Member for Mackenzie Delta to amend Motion 2320(1), Call to Uphold Human Rights in Gaza, by inserting the words, and I quote, "in an accountable method that demonstrates transparency which ensures Canadian aid, given by the Canadian Government, goes directly to support the humanitarian need" to the third bullet point in the second clause, after the word "Gaza", as the bullet reads now: Advocates for and provide funds for unhindered access for humanitarian aid for all those in need in Gaza, in an accountable method that demonstrates transparency which ensures Canadian aid given by the Canadian government goes direct to support humanitarian need.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Members. To the motion as amended.
Question.
Question has been called. All those in favour? To the amendment. The motion as amended. Opposed? Abstentions? Motion has carried.
Carried
To the motion as amended. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I MOVE, second by the honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, to amend Motion 2320(1), Call to Uphold Human Rights in Gaza, by inserting the following clause after the second whereas clause:
AND WHEREAS this Assembly recognizes through the Government of Canada's designation that Canada has listed Hamas as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code since November 2022.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the question. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to say that I appreciate my colleagues having feedback on this motion. Previously, it was nearly direct directly mirroring the language that you can find in the petition. As I've said earlier, I respect the Members for or sorry, as I've said earlier to my colleagues, I respect that Members taking a stand on this motion aligns with what they need to do personally. Several Members have made suggestions on changing the motion to being something that could also stand for and support and so several changes were made.
Mr. Speaker, to my mind this particular amendment veers from the scope of the original motion. I do not want to debate whether or not Hamas is a terrorist organization. They are. I do not want to debate the decades' old conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. I simply want for the people of Gaza to be safe and not starving, Mr. Speaker. I think this amendment muddies those waters, but I also recognize that the Member moving the amendment sees it differently.
I have spoken with the ceasefire group, and they wish to see an opportunity for this motion to pass. So I will support this amendment to support their wishes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member. Member from Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the Member's proposed amendment is a fact, so I won't vote against it. But I do want to mention something about language that I believe is important because it impacts Palestinians everywhere, including members of our own community.
What I want to point out is that I think it's troubling that even when people condemn violence on both sides and call for the release of hostages and condemn all attacks against civilian populations, that if you focus your concern on the civilian population of Gaza, it still could be assumed that you would be supporting terrorism or Hamas unless you state otherwise.
To step back for a second. So particularly since 911, many North Americans have expected people who were Muslim or Arab to begin any political statement by renouncing terrorism because if they don't, we might assume they would naturally support terrorism. So that pattern has been called out in the past as Islamophobic assuming Muslims would support terrorism unless they specifically state otherwise. So I just don't want us to get into a similar pattern where any Palestinian or any person who expresses sympathy with the Palestinian people might be assumed to support Hamas and to support terrorism unless they specifically state otherwise. All I'm saying is that instead of approaching people with suspicion based on who they are or which group of people they are advocating to protect and support, I hope that we would listen to the stories and experiences and concerns of our fellow community members with compassion and open minds and open hearts. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
