Debates of February 6, 2025 (day 39)

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife South. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Monfwi.

I would like to acknowledge Ms. Rita Mueller. She lived in Behchoko for many years and a teacher and a principal, and she is the president of the NWT Teachers' Association. And I have known Rita since 1994 when she first moved to Behchoko, or in Edzo to work at the Chief Jimmy Bruneau School. So I would like to acknowledge and recognize her. Thank you.

Thank you. Recognition of visitors in the gallery. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I too would like to recognize Ms. Mueller who is now the president of the NWT Teachers' Association. She was also my assistant deputy minister and one of the first people I talked to about my aspirations to be in this House, and she was very encouraging. I'd also like to say thank you very much to all Great Slave pages today in the Assembly. That would be Gabrielle, Sokhna, and Olivier. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Recognition of visitors in the gallery.

I'm going to embarrass Ms. Mueller a little bit. I can date her back to 1992 when she was our aquatics person way back when to our regional person, so I've known Rita, and she's given her heart and soul to the Northwest Territories whether it was through the departments or education. So I thank her very much for all that she does and continues to do, and she is a great mentor and supporter of youth in the Northwest Territories.

If we have missed anyone in the gallery today, welcome to your chamber. I hope you enjoy the proceedings. It is always nice to see people in the gallery, and let's have a good day.

We're having a good day, Mr. Speaker. [No translation available].

Mr. Speaker, let me tell you a story about perseverance and determination. It's about a place where the people are as rugged as the land they call home; where, despite the vast distances between each community, everyone knows everyone. It's about a government that has been tested time and time again by flood, fire, and pestilence, and rose to the occasion when its people needed it most. I am, of course, telling the story of the Northwest Territories. I am proud to be a part of this story. The NWT is my home, and it's the most spectacular place on earth. Nowhere can you find such stark natural beauty, pristine nature, and bountiful resources. From the shores of Great Slave Lake to the riverbanks of the Mighty Mackenzie and all the way to the vast Arctic Ocean, Northerners have occupied these lands since time immemorial, and this is no easy task.

For most of the year, our climate is an active danger to those who are unprepared, and you never know when a wolf, bear, or wolverine is right around the corner. But this experience is what breeds resilience in our people and provides us with the spark of creativity and ingenuity to do so much more with so much less. This is the story of the North, Mr. Speaker. It is our story.

Today, a new chapter is being written and it comes with much uncertainty. Yes, inflation continues to challenge our cost of living. Yes, our diamond mines are closing. Yes, we face the likely imposition of US tariffs. And yet even so, I remain optimistic for our future for if we, as a territory so small in population but so big on ambition, can overcome so much with grit and nerve, well, we can overcome these challenges and build a stronger future for our children and grandchildren.

At $2.5 billion, this budget has the second largest revenue gain in the history of the Northwest Territories. We boast a double A credit rating and are on the cusp of unlocking more fiscal flexibility to invest in our future, grow our economy, and create good jobs for all our residents. We have renewed alliances with Indigenous nations and brought new resources in from the federal government to meet our most pressing needs. Canada's National Arctic and Northern Policy Framework promises new investment and security for our communities as they fulfill their destiny as the custodians of Canada's sovereignty in an international contest for dominance in the North.

Mr. Speaker, our economy may be changing but our government's historic strong financial stewardship has prepared us for what we have always known was coming. We’ve managed the boom and bust cycle before but this time we have built a robust public administrative sector in our economy that acts as a stabilizing force for the often unpredictable cycles inherent to natural resources. While some in the past may have questioned why the GNWT has expanded its workforce to such a degree, well, this is why - to serve communities in times of economic turbulence and captain our economy back to prosperity. Northerners have nothing to fear. This government has got your back and we will continue to fight for you no matter the cost.

Mr. Speaker, I have a confession to make - I think this a very lovely story but sadly it's not the one we heard earlier today, and it's not the tone that has been set by this Cabinet. It's easy, as you can see, to draw on the strengths of the GNWT as a foundation for progress, but instead we hear time and time again from this government a tone that is both simultaneously overwhelmed and underwhelming. The government is broke; we're on the edge of the fiscal cliff; there's no money for your priorities, and on and on and on. This gloomy messaging is so pervasive that yesterday a constituent asked me, and honestly I might add, if the GNWT was declaring bankruptcy and shutting down and if so, what would happen to their government-backed loans.

The Member for Deh Cho often tells me that language is key to personal and professional success, that through proper messaging and positivity anyone can make things happen. It is a very wise message but seemingly lost on our speech writers as a government. So let's get into, Mr. Speaker, and tell the story of this budget. It starts and ends in the same place: The status quo.

Despite loudly proclaiming the fiscal sustainability strategy at the start of this Assembly — without the collaboration from Regular Members I might add, the GNWT continues to spend taxpayer money with abandon. Forced growth and new initiatives are supposedly held at $10 million a year and yet again we have in excess of $90 million in new spending, an overall -- an overall increase to the entire budget of 6.5 percent from the last estimates to the tune of $145.5 million.

Mr. Speaker, how are we supposed to tell our public servants they can't buy new pens and copier toner when we can't stick to our own promises on fiscal management? As we speak, nurses in the ER aren't allowed to buy ginger ale for patients, but we can blow past our spending caps without blinking an eye. Oh don't worry, if we hit the debt ceiling we can just ask for another billion dollars from the prime Minister. We already have a borrowing limit that equals our sister territories combined.

The public accounts do not lie, Mr. Speaker, and they paint a troubling picture. All financial health indicators point to a worsening economy burdened with public debt and totally reliant on federal transfer payments. Last year our resource royalties were a whopping zero dollars, which should continue to alarm Northerners, not because companies aren't paying their fair share but because so few of them are paying at all. This cannot continue. This government needs to take fiscal sustainability seriously or stop talking about it altogether because we're trying nothing, and we're all out of ideas.

Not only is this government failing to meet its sustainability goals, but its failing to meet its mandate to deliver on the priorities of the 20th Assembly. Of $2.375 billion, only $147.5 million are being used to fulfil our priorities. That's 6 percent. What political system delivers budgets where 94 percent of spending is directed by unelected public officials rather than elected representatives? If this isn’t the tail wagging the dog, then what is, Mr. Speaker?

Mr. Speaker, there is another story I want to tell. It's about our potential to be so much more. My honourable friends of the Regular Member seats have pleaded with our decision makers to take more measured risks and swing for the fences. We have yet to see that happen. But let me give you an example of what could come -- from what could happen for the Northwest Territories from our commonwealth family.

The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two United Kingdom Crown dependencies: The Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the larger of the islands, and the Bailiwick of Guernsey consisting of Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm, and some smaller islands. When comparing the economies of Jersey and Guernsey, Jersey generally performs significantly better with larger GDP, higher GDP per capita, and stronger growth in recent years, largely driven by a thriving financial services sector, while Guernsey's economy has shown signs of stagnation or even decline compared to their neighbours. By the numbers, Guernsey's GDP is 3,488 million pounds, or $6,249 million Canadian, compared to Jersey's of 6.5 billion pounds, or $11 billion Canadian. This is a staggering difference between the two economies, and while there are many differences between the two states, the financial services sector is a major pillar of Jersey's economy, contributing significantly to its GDP. The growth and stability of this industry is not by accident. The island imposes a corporate tax rate of zero percent for most companies, with financial service firms only paying 10 percent, making it an attractive destination for businesses seeking tax advantages. A maximum income rate of 20 percent applies to people who establish residency in Jersey. Those prospective residents who are high net worth individuals must meet and sustain a minimum income of 1.2 million pounds, or about $1.5 million Canadian. Income that exceeds this minimum is subject to an additional 1 percent tax and while -- and no taxes are levied against capital gains or capital transfers.

So why are the affairs, Mr. Speaker, of these two tiny islands two oceans away important to this House? Because it shows how different that a change in tax policy has profoundly reshaped the fortunes of Jersey compared to its neighbour. This is a lesson we must learn in the Northwest Territories. There is no reason why Northerners need to be taxed to the level we are today considering the high cost of living and the many challenges to our continued growth. The revenues earned from personal and corporate income tax are dwarfed by federal transfers and the territorial funding -- territorial financing formula grant. Furthermore, decreasing tax revenues would not affect this funding formula, allowing us to keep earning a grant based on average taxation rates while we actually charge far less. This would be a huge incentive for corporations and individuals to relocate to the NWT to take advantage of these lower tax rates. We can also seek to negotiate an exemption to federal taxation here in the NWT to extend this advantage further.

Is this novel approach to tax policy that incentivizes the growth of a financial services industry a new thing? Absolutely. Is it risky? Totally. But when you consider that the generational changes that could be borne from such a move, we can't afford not to do it or something like it. Far too often this entire system of government is paralyzed by its own profound lack of imagination and ambition. We can and must dream bigger if we are to save the NWT from an economic crash that will be far worse than the austerity exercises that have been contemplated in the past. Instead of a cohesive plan that achieves balanced budgets while building a better future, we have a government that continues to fail to curb its own expenditures while actively making program delivery worse through marginal cuts. This has resulted in a loss of confidence from Northerners in our economy, not to mention a morale crisis that is spreading fast through the public service.

Mr. Speaker, it's time to get back on track. We have precious little time in this Assembly to course correct and start making the right investments in our future. It's time to undo the cuts that have hurt our constituents and start making some real change for our economy.

Mr. Speaker, here are some ideas that we can start moving forward on. We can end the income testing for extended health benefits that has added additional costs to constituents where many of them are telling me they are worse off today than they were a year ago when we first took office. We can end the consumer carbon tax and transition to a cap and trade model to ensure that polluters pay and consumers don't, and we take the tax burden off of everyday northern families and working people in the Northwest Territories. We can expand professional development funding for health care professionals who are currently limited to -- I believe it's $2,000 and have to share hotel rooms when they go to conferences instead of being able to learn and network at these important events and encourage more people, more health care workers, to come to the Northwest Territories. We can double the mineral incentive program, maybe even triple it, and expand that economic multiplier across our economy and bring more exploration projects into the Northwest Territories. We can expand community funding to 100 percent of what they're owed by our own formula financing. Let's find the money to do that because money spent on local economics has the greatest impact, far more impactful than money spent by the GNWT. We can cut tax rates for beer and cannabis producers. These are small industries, but they have the potential to create enormous growth. Right now, small brewers in Alberta employ more people than oil and gas. This is something that could support our tourism industry, and all they're looking for is a little help from our government.

Mr. Speaker, we need a rooting decision for the Taltson hydroelectric submarine cable line. We need to complete that expansion and bring power, cheap affordable clean power into the Slave Geological Province. We've waited too long for a decision. Now is the time, and this government needs to move forward on that as quickly as possible.

We need to expand community safety officer programs throughout the Northwest Territories. We have had one pilot on the books that continues to be extended. Communities are hurting. We just heard the honourable Member from Monfwi talk about it today. There are drug dealers in our communities. There is crime in our communities and community members don't feel safe. We can't afford to put a detachment in every community, but we can afford community safety officers.

We need to look at our NIHB commitments, our non-insured health care commitments, which are -- we operate on behalf of the federal government. And for why? We're not getting paid for that, and we're spending an enormous amount of our own treasure for something that we're not getting compensated for. We have a great partnership with the Council of Leaders, with Indigenous governments, all across the territory. Let's rely on them to get Ottawa to pay for this program that is their responsibility. And while we're at it, let's get them to cover Metis health benefits as well. These are decisions that require some political will and capital to achieve, and this is the kind of leadership that Northerners are looking for. We can cut costs by showing real leadership and going back to the negotiating table. It doesn't all have to be lost as to jobs and programs.

Mr. Speaker, Aurora College is not working. It's been very clear to me, and many Members of this House, that this institution is continuing to take -- we continue to throw good money after bad on this. The closure of the CLCs with no notice to this Assembly, or even the Minister, is shocking to say the least. And I think it's time we let them sink or swim on their own. I'm proposing a 30 percent cut to their funding. They should establish a foundation, do some fundraising, and find those resources on their own. It's time for them to learn how to be an independent institution and cut the GNWT leash.

Mr. Speaker, oil and gas needs to be part of our future as well. We are in an increasingly insecure time for Canada and for the West. We cannot rely on trading partners that we could ten years ago. We might not even be able to rely on the US. So we need to develop our own sources of energy. And now is the time to incentivize and encourage people to look for oil and gas resources in the Northwest Territories and develop the proven resource that we already have - Cameron Hills, the work that the Inuvialuit are doing on their natural gas plant and, of course, the offshore which comes up for renewal, the offshore moratorium which expires in 2027. Let's plan for that future because if we get one offshore drilling rig can replace -- or will exceed the royalties of all the diamond mines put together. And that is money we can invest in our future that doesn't come from taxpayers, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we continue to pay too much money on agency nurses, agency nurses that are taking away local jobs, local opportunities, and not providing continuity of care in our communities. These are expensive, unnecessary, and we need to solve the fundamental problems in our health care system with staffing and morale and not keep hiring expensive hired guns from the south that have no connection to our communities. Mr. Speaker, we need to phase them out. We need to phase them out by 2026.

Mr. Speaker, I talked about our friends in Jersey and Guernsey. Mr. Speaker, it's time for a tax cut for personal income tax. It's also time for a tax cut in corporate income tax. As I said, these are -- we'll lose some revenue but the gains of an increased population of taking the edge off the cost of living, these are things we should be looking for and things we can deliver, Mr. Speaker. And I understand that chambers of commerce, that local banks, they've looked at this, they've explored this, let's work with them and bring a proposal forward for the Minister of Finance to execute. Let's lower the taxes now. It's not time to wait on this. It's time to act. Let's get ahead of things and start building a generational change for our future.

Mr. Speaker, if we legalize online gaming, something that I'm proponent of, we could bring in 7 to $8 million, as much as that in additional revenue for no administrative cost. Just imagine what we could do with that extra money. Imagine the jobs it would save, the programs it would save, the debt we could pay off just from writing a piece of legislation or some regulations. This is something we must do. It's something that is long overdue. And I know the Minister has said he is supportive, so I look forward to working with all the Cabinet on that one because I think taxation is something we need. But we can't be afraid of it. We can't be afraid of these industries that have a bad reputation because they're there, they're happening, and as long as they're unregulated, we can't keep people safe from them.

Mr. Speaker, we are putting enormous burdens on our schools and students and teachers with curriculum changes, with decaying infrastructure, things we need to invest in. Some places haven't had school replacements for a long time. It's time to look at our schools and -- especially the decisions that we place on them and fund them properly, especially therapeutic services. These are at-risk services because they are expensive, they're difficult to staff, but without them our kids will be even farther left behind, and Indigenous kids, in particular, will be most hardest hit if we pull back on therapeutic services. Currently, in Yellowknife at least, it's the school boards who are providing the lion's share of that funding. We need to help them succeed.

Mr. Speaker, we can offer -- we need to incentivize frontline workers in our health care system. We can only do that if we start spending more money on shift premiums, on labour market supplements, on retention bonuses for frontline nurses, doctors, and allied health care staff. We need to make the floor a desirable place to be because currently people are fleeing it like it's on fire. And that's not good for morale. It's creating staff shortages. I can show you numbers that would make your head spin, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I have many more ideas, and we'll take time speaking about them, but this is what we should be looking at, ways to do business differently, not status quo budgets that aren't moving the needle. How many more times are we going to have the same thing presented in this House whilst we're being told we're not allowed to spend money? Sustainability is the order of the day. If sustainability is the order of the day, let's see some reductions and they're just not there.

So, Mr. Speaker, I will be reviewing this budget. I will be presenting further ideas, but I am unsatisfied, my constituents are dissatisfied, and they're alarmed. We need to do better as a government, and we need to build a better future for the Northwest Territories. And I look forward to the debates in this chamber because we are far from doing that with Budget 2025. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm going to be trying something a little bit different this year. Last year I spent a couple of weeks honing and writing a statement that ended up running out of about 20 minutes and had every possible idea that I could put into it, not unlike the Member for Range Lake that just laid out quite a -- I don't know what to call that -- a mandate, I suppose. But what I'm going to give this year is an initial reaction to the budget. You know, we just heard the Minister's speech, and I want to some of my initial thoughts, and just to hedge that with saying, you know, obviously, the budget is now out. I want an opportunity to engage with my constituents, hear from people, hear if people have concerns with anything, and develop kind of a final position on it after doing that.

Mr. Speaker, something that stood out to me, I had a constituency meeting on Monday, and I reached out to a colleague and said, you know, in some ways I'm a bit unsure how to react to this budget. There's not a whole lot in there to get very angry or particularly excited about. And, again, maybe I need to be changing the coffee that I'm drinking in the morning because certainly the Member for Range Lake found a lot to get excited about in there. But anyways, the point being, Mr. Speaker, is, you know, we -- what I've seen, and similar to the Member for Range Lake, is a pretty status quo budget. You know, it's not a budget -- I had some constituents express concern that they were going to see some heavy cuts coming forward. Considering all the communication about fiscal responsibility that we've heard over the past year, people thought this was going to be a really difficult budget. I'm not seeing big, big changes, and I'm not seeing big initiatives either.

And so we just heard from the Finance Minister. We heard the messaging of the government. So what story do I see?

Mr. Speaker, the story that emerged for me over the past two weeks while committee was reviewing the budget is I see us struggling to action some of our priorities effectively because we are struggling to manage our finances effectively. As pointed out previously, we have not been able to follow the government's own Restoring Balance fiscal policy. The Minister speak to this, spoke to the reasons for it. But the bottom line is we haven't done it. And I think that we are also not substantively actioning some of our priorities. In a few cases, I do think that we are heading in the right direction and starting to get on the right track. I want to acknowledge good work where I see it. Over the past year, the government has established a health care sustainability unit, hired a public administrator, actions that tell us that they're taking the difficulties that we're having with the health care system keeping it sustainable, keeping it fiscally sustainable primarily also, and they're taking that seriously and actioning that. We are yet to see what that looks like. I've got a bit more to say about that later.

When I was listening to the Premier's speech the other day, I noted that, you know, there's a fair bit in there about the safe communities priority. They have taken a fair bit of action, and I'm looking forward to seeing results from that. The one critique I might make is what I don't see attached to the actions is are we trying to measure anything, have we set targets, what is the target that we're trying to achieve, and what does success look like. I think in some cases that is our biggest struggle, is communicating what is success going to look like for this government.

Mr. Speaker, departments have made millions of dollars in operational cuts, significant cuts over the past year. They have been trying. I would note that this year it was largely offset by a new collective agreement that added $74 million per year that we have to find the money for. I believe the government speak for this is forced growth, as we like to call it. One Member did point out that some of the growth is forced. We also have a lot of excluded employees, and we make a choice to increase their salaries at the same level that we increase unionized staff; so it's not all forced, there are choices involved in some of the growth that we're seeing.

Mr. Speaker, I was reflecting last night -- we were looking at the supplementary estimates. And I was reflecting last night on, you know, my experience in the previous government that I sat in the leadership seat for at the City of Yellowknife and the fact that at the municipal level, the government really struggles to make ends meet. The government really pinches pennies and squeezes the most out of every possible dollar. And I spoke to, you know, sometimes I would walk the halls of city hall and honestly feel a bit guilty. These weren't fancy offices. This wasn't a, you know, a government that was rife with cash. In some cases, I think -- you know, this is just a little shout out to our city, but, you know, city hall could really use some renovations. But this was a government that has to balance its budget every single year. This is a government that has to make tough decisions. You'd see city staff driving around in a pickup truck from 1995 because tough decisions have to be made, and we have to stretch every dollar.

I'm not sure I see the same level of penny pinching at the GNWT yet. The Member for Range Lake pointed out that there's been a spending freeze but over the years, you know, the government has very nice buildings, they have very nice offices, they have nice vehicles. There's many things that tell me that this is not a government that is trying to squeeze the most out of every possible dollar that we can. That's just what I've seen. It's just a comparison that I make between the way the municipality operates and the way our government operates.

Mr. Speaker, I want to talk to one of the issues that I think keeps coming up for me and continues to be a problem that vexes our ability to move forward.

Mr. Speaker, the government did articulate a mandate, and MLAs worked hard to set very focused priorities. I don't think that we did enough to establish specific targets or identify exactly what we meant and, as I mentioned earlier, define what success would like look for those priorities. What do we mean? What do we mean success is going to look like for our housing priority, for example.

And one of the frustrations that I find myself repeating and becoming a bit of a broken record on is priority implementation. We have to focus on the priorities we've set. This has got -- our mandate has got to be where we focus our energy. And, Mr. Speaker, I don't think priority implementation is as difficult as we're making it out to be.

I think of one of my constituents. Of course I'm going to change their name for their privacy. We're going to call her Emily today. Emily is seeking a unit in public housing. She has a disabled son, facing significant challenges. Emily really, really needs a home. I have been e-mailing back and forth with the housing Minister's staff and the housing Minister herself for a year now trying to get Emily off of the waiting list into a home, a home that's accessible, something that's appropriate for her and her son to live in, to hopefully thrive, to better the conditions that they're currently living in. It's really easy for me to see that one of my priorities has to be getting Emily into a home. And so when I think about our priorities, when I think about actioning priorities, it's very easy for me to take Emily on one hand and say, yes, that I've absolutely no doubt that putting her in a public housing unit is something that needs to happen, an accessible public housing unit. And I can take any number of activities that the government is doing -- I'm not going to name them, I'm not going to name a specific thing here -- but I'm going to say that I can say many of them and say is this as high a priority for me as putting Emily in a home. It is not. This is the priority. It is clear as day to me. And I think that we need to go through that kind of exercise. We have got to look within. We've got to determine what is important, what is most important -- that's what priorities mean -- and we have to determine what can we let go of in order to make substantive and real change and real action toward the priorities that we've set. That's what priority setting looks like. And I think everybody in this room must have an Emily. It's really easy for me when that's the exercise that I go through.

And I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that if we have to make difficult decisions, that is a very easy story for me to bring back to my constituents. It's very easy for me to say this is the reason a difficult decision had to be made because we're doing this, we are doing a good thing, we're doing a moral thing, we're doing what government should be doing. What's difficult is if we're just saying we're doing fiscal responsibility because we need to save money. That's not the most compelling story you can tell a constituent. We had to make this difficult decision you don't like. Well, the government's running out of money. We're doing a lot of things with it, big mixture of things, but we can't put Emily in a home because we're out of money. And this leads me to a point that I've also been speaking to and I think also is one of the high level problems that is preventing us from moving forward in a positive way.

In a lot of cases, we are either struggling to or not measuring the results of what we're doing. So when I hear talk about new revenue sources, also known as taxes, things that residents don't want to be hearing about, can I reasonably say that we are getting good value for money out of all of the programs that the government offers and we absolutely need to put this revenue source in place in order to make it happen? It's a very difficult thing to say yes to. It's difficult because we're not measuring some of the things that we're doing. We don't have good measures to help us determine is this program working? Is it achieving what we need it to achieve? You know, the finance Minister implemented -- started to implement GRI last term. I think it was a great initiative. It hasn't quite taken on the urgency that I think it needed to in order for it to help us with these kind of decisions. What is working, what isn't, how can we move resources in such a way to help us succeed.

I want to speak a bit to some of the priorities that are important to me in this budget. Housing is top of mind, again.

I want to recognize that political decision-making often gets ahead of a government's ability to implement. Where we're at right now is the Department of Housing NWT is currently doing a lot of work to implement the priorities that were set and the direction that was given in the previous Assembly. This is a problem that I encountered at the city also, that council's decision-making got way ahead of administration's ability to actually carry out the various plans and things that we're approving to the point where plans were getting left behind and forgotten and council was approving new plans. It can happen here too. So I recognize that in a lot of ways, the decisions that we make here about housing and the path that we set forward is going to be something that is going to have to carry into the future of the next Assembly. But, Mr. Speaker, if we don't clearly lay that path out now, if we don't establish targets, if we don't tell residents what success is going to look like and what we're trying to achieve, we are failing to tell our story and we are failing to effectively action the priority that we set.

On housing, we just received a presentation from a researcher and the Standing Committee on Social Development has been working very hard on the housing as a human right. And something that the presenter highlighted to me is the idea of self-sufficiency. And this was a big theme in our priority setting session which I think has been lost along the way. But it's right there at the beginning of our priorities. The 20th Assembly wants a territory where people are supported, where they want to live, work, and grow. What that meant to me, and for people who weren't in the room when we were having those conversations, MLAs were advocating for building up people's self-sufficiency, self-reliance, reducing the amount of dependence on government. So I do take a small pause when I talk about the housing priority that I don't think that the status quo, that the system, as it is, is going to be that success that I'm speaking about. I think that we need to change significantly what we're doing. And so that's going to take planning. It's going to take time. This is not a problem that we can just throw money at. But I can tell you that we are not funding it adequately to succeed right now.

The presenter emphasized the need for us to foster self-sufficiency and self-reliance, agency over decisions, increased attention to education and skill development, and the potential for the housing sector to create local economic development. Those are things that I want us to be focusing on in our plan for housing in the story that we're telling and the targets that we're setting for this department and this priority.

Mr. Speaker, I want to turn to health a little bit. As I noted, a lot of action has been taken regarding health care sustainability. I think this is good. I think it's necessary. I do want to put a small caveat on it that I am a little bit worried that health is going to end up, by virtue of the fact that we've created these systems, that we brought in the administrator, that we brought in the health care sustainability unit, that we could be at risk of throwing the baby out with the bath water. And we need to remember that one of the priorities we set was increasing people's access to primary care. So in fostering health care sustainability, I just want us to be careful to note that we are still looking to increase the service the residents are getting on the ground.

Economic development, I could say a lot. I'm starting to run out of time. I just want to very quickly say, and I said this in my reply to the Budget Address last year, education is a big piece of this. I spoke to it with housing. I will be speaking in the House this session about workforce development again, and I certainly have a lot to say about Aurora College. I'm very concerned about how the college is operating, Mr. Speaker.

In the past weeks, my community colleagues have joined me in being concerned as they watched the community learning centres close. At least we can say the college is dealing out something to be concerned about for everyone, but I'm not really sure this is what we had in mind. It's a very big concern for me, Mr. Speaker. I've spoken extensively about my belief in the dream of what Aurora College could be. I'm going to continue fighting for it.

And I want to highlight again self-sufficiency and its importance in our priorities. If we want to develop our economy, we have to focus on our workforce, on the students who aren't being prepared to enter it, and how we're going to get them the credentials they need to participate meaningfully in the economy. It is such a big piece.

To close, Mr. Speaker, I want to speak about something I saw in the news the other day. One of my favorite pundits, Chantal Hebert, was reflecting on the coming situation with Mr. Trump being elected and she was saying, you know, what I want to see and what I'm not seeing yet, is who is going to rise up and be the adult in the room. Who is going to set, you know, this political bickering aside -- she was talking about the political leaders -- and actually stand up, be the adult in the room, do the things that need to be done. I really appreciated that characterization. And I think that we need to stand up and be the adults in the room. Difficult decisions need to be made. I want to emphasize that we need to be measured and careful. We have to acknowledge that this territory's economy relies largely on government. Cuts are going to hurt. We have to do it in a careful way. We have to do it in a way that promotes our priorities. We have to do it in a way that minimizes the pain, that ensures that what we're doing is effective, that we are actioning our priorities effectively. We need to approach our challenges with reason, with evidence, with strength of conviction, with decisiveness, and resolve. Do we have the courage to be the -- and the strength to be the leaders this territory needs right now, to be the adults in the room?

Over the past year, Mr. Speaker, I have had my moments of doubt. When I see us looking at cuts, I hear well, we don't want to do this, don't want to do that; yes, we absolutely need to make tough decisions but not that one. Around and around we go on the wheel of consensus government. Do we have the humility, Mr. Speaker, to look at ourselves in how we contribute to this problem and stand up, be the adults in the room, and make the tough decisions? I want to be optimistic, Mr. Speaker. I believe that a majority of Members in this chamber are up to the task. This room is full of people who I respect, who have shown me they are prepared to do what's needed to get this territory on a positive track. Let's come together and build consensus around the work that needs to be done. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Colleagues, we're going to have a brief break because we have two more replies to the budget today. So we're going to take a brief break.

---SHORT RECESS

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to reflect back as the MLA for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, going back to the 19th Assembly. I came in halfway through a by-election, and I put forward a wish list on what we wanted to see for my riding. And I brought that forward to the Premier of the day Caroline Cochrane, and I even brought it up in the House here. And when I did, what I was told was that the train had left. By that time, we were halfway through the four-year mandate and she said she'll try her best to throw my priorities on the train as it moves. And needless to say that in the last two years of that term, my luggage didn't make it on that train.

So anyway, going back to the 20th Assembly now, learning from what happened in the 19th Assembly, I put forward, on March 15th, 2024, a wish list. It was addressed to the Premier and the Ministers and outlining what we wanted to see in our riding.

I'll just briefly talk about maybe Lutselk'e, I'm talking about a winter road, dust control, housing, homeownership repairs, and that's just a couple to name off what I can remember. But also going into Dettah, our school there is over 50 years old, and it's in dire need of a new school in that community. It was on a -- it was on the capital plan back in the 19th Assembly but somehow it was taken off and never put back on. And right now that school is -- we definitely need a new school there in Dettah. N'dilo, what we need there too as well is that we have an outdated gym that's undersized for the size of the community we have. And that gym needs to be replaced and replaced with a new community hall, similar to the one that they have on the Hay River Reserve ideally will work. The school in N'dilo as well is that even though it's a newer school, they didn't put a gymnasium on there. So between Dettah and N'dilo, the kids got to walk, if it's 45 below, maybe a couple hundred yards to the gymnasium so they could use it.

So when I put my list forward in this letter to the Minister outlining what we want to see in our four communities, and I never seen a reply back to my letter. So when I look at this budget now, I am deeply concerned because that budget does not reflect on what I put forward. And I want to say that small communities do matter. Even though my riding gets less than half a percent of the overall budget, at the same time when I try and figure out where does the money go, we're rolled into South Slave region into the North Slave region, but yet I represent the Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh riding. And trying to get that name change and so that we could better understand where all that money is going. So I am disappointed that my concerns that was brought to me from my riding is not reflected in the budget.

But I want to point out one thing separate from that is that when we take an oath in this House, we sign that oath to say that we'll respect the treaties. The mace that's here today is also from the Crown. So, Mr. Speaker, I just want to point out that I got a treaty book here. That's Treaty 8. This treaty book that was signed here in this area here, for the Dogribs in this area from Dettah, we have Chief Drygeese. Also we have one of my great great grandfathers also signed that same treaty. I just want to remind this House that when we took that oath, the treaty is alive and well. So when we get money from Ottawa from grants and contribution under this budget now is about $1.7 billion.

A few weeks ago in committee, I raised the issue about the needs of our communities, and I brought that same issue up about treaties. Where's the Crown consultation and accommodation? Because my treaty is still alive and well until I give it up, and it's still in my back pocket. So my concern here is that when I brought this up in committee to the finance Minister of the day was that the GNWT policies that are in place now are superseding my treaties, and that's concerning, Mr. Speaker.

I want to talk about -- a little bit about housing and health care. It's also in the treaties. But right across Canada right now at the AFN level, which I -- when I was a chief, I attended a lot of AFN housing meetings, and back in the day, 1999, there were about 45,000 homes short. Today we're pushing 120,000 homes. Here in the Northwest Territories, we need at least 10,000 homes to catch up. But right now, if all the HAP houses that were built back in the late '80 -- early '80s to 2000 -- give or say 2000, they're reaching their 50-year life. Right now we're pushing 40 some odd years already in those homes. If those homes are not repaired today, then the fire marshal could come in and just say that's not liveable, and they could shut it down. Then we're going to have huge problems here in the Northwest Territories. So I am deeply concerned about that.

But, Mr. Speaker, I am -- just want to talk a little bit about the budget that's presented here today is that in the 20th Assembly we put forward four priorities of this government, and right now the budget that's approved today takes up 6 percent of that budget of the four priorities we put forward. I looked at the budgets for housing, for example. No different than last year. Finance, shared corporate services this time around is $81.28 million. The housing corporation budget is $118 million. Total of $199,000. But I said -- like I said, 76 cents on the dollar that comes from grants and contribution from Canada works out to be 76 cents. But yet I cannot help my own people in Lutselk'e for repairs in their home. I was just there a few days ago, and they're really frustrated. So we wanted to put forward at least 500 homes into this budget. It didn't work out. That meant if I would have got 15 homes for my riding per year, that would have been perfect. But that didn't happen. So I'm a little disappointed about that.

So at the end of the day, again, is that the policies are superseding my treaties that are section 35 rights. But yet we get 1.8 -- $1.7 billion from Ottawa that we're managing. And then the deputy ministers as I sit here in that table here, they come in and they ask for more monies to do their jobs, but yet they can't go into Fort Resolution, Dettah, N'dilo, or Lutselk'e, or any small communities and say what's best for you; what do you guys need? Well, they don't even meet with the chief and council and the Metis council or the local governments. They just assume that they know what's best for you. They're managing that money on our behalf. So I am a little disappointed that what I see in this budget now doesn't take in consideration what I put forward in my letter. Again, small communities do matter.

I don't know what to tell the people in Fort Resolution, Dettah, N'dilo, and Lutselk'e, and all small communities for that matter that we're not fixing the problems on housing. We got a spending freeze right now in the government. Housing's on that list. So how are we going to address these problems when we don't have a plan? I brought this up when we got together with the leaders in the fall after we got elected. Maybe it's time that we have to take a look at the whole government. Why are we in this situation?

Last year I asked the question to the Finance Minister in the 19th Assembly is there going to be austerity, and the response I got back was no, not right now. We're just going to leave that to the next government. So that can was kicked over to this government. But the next four years, Mr. Speaker, we got $150 million per year and for this year, we got to do the same thing. Third year and fourth year, that's $600 million. Now we see cuts in the colleges, changes to the affirmative action policy, now to the aboriginal policy, and changes were even made to accommodate P2s.

I guess what I'm trying to say, Mr. Speaker, is that I am disappointed in the way that -- you know, I thought this government is a consensus government. We pride ourselves on that. We say we work together and we move forward. But, Mr. Speaker, I haven't seen it. As much as I want to say that, you know, yes, I could work with all -- everybody in the House, my colleagues, but it's tough. And now we're going to ask that we increase this budget, increase the debt limit. To what end?

So I am disappointed that the treaties that I just spoke about, even though parts of it is negotiated, but we got the Inuvialuit claim, we got the Gwich'in claim, Sahtu claim, Tlicho claim, the Metis that are signed the AIP. The Akaitcho's close to AIP. Deh Cho is still on the drawing board. But sooner or later, we're going to get them done. And if we get them done, then what's our relationship going to be or what's it going to look like? Because those claims and treaties have section 35 rights. It ain't going away. So we have to take that in consideration.

UNDRIP, we passed that last -- I think in the 19th Assembly. Now we're talking about implementation of that. I have not seen nothing in this book that talks about that. UNDRIP also talks about the recognition of the treaties. To catch up with the housing need in the Northwest Territories needs to be addressed. Health is also a treaty right. We call that the medicine chest.

So we really need to take a look at our own back yard. We got to take a look at how we govern ourselves. If we say that it's consensus government, let's work together. But I don't know what is happening in Cabinet until I read it in Cabin Radio. So it's really frustrating for me as an ordinary MLA looking back, watching everything unfold. I got -- we all have on this side aboriginal people in the Northwest Territories are half the majority of people here. A lot of stuff that's going to impact us, the tariffs. And I'm going to be asking the Premier about this in the next couple of days as well.

I'll use that as an example where Northern Store or Hudson Bay Company. Right now there is a Hudson Bay Company or Northern Store up and down the valley. So if the tariffs are put in, the groceries going to go up. Do we buy from that store? What impacts are we going to have in small communities? Northern Store sells gas. We rely on gas for our trapping, hunting, and fishing.

So, Mr. Speaker, what I'm saying here today is not only I'm disappointed in this budget. It didn't take into the small communities issues and concerns. The policies of this government are superseding my treaties, especially when that money comes from Ottawa and 76 cents on the dollar on grants and contribution. If I believe right, committee were also -- were told that for housing negotiable was a word used where we were trying to fight for more housing for small communities, and there were some commitments made about $50 million a year, or $50 million for the duration, but there's no guarantee we're going to get that money. So I'm really to the point where I'm going to go back and talk to my leadership, get feedback, and let them know what to do when it comes to budget again on the borrowing limit, raising the debt limit. It's going to be very tough because our communities don't get their share of money that they need to build the infrastructure they need. Again, small communities do matter, but nobody's listening.

You know, the other day I hear the Premier talking about giving how good of a job and the situation this government's doing in the last year but on this side of the House, I'm in the dark. So, Mr. Speaker, it's really concerning to me now that we're in this situation as this government goes forward trying to figure out how we're going to cut back $600 million in four years, and it will be on the backs of small communities, and I don't want to see that.

I know Cabinet is working with Council of Leaders, and I'm sure they're going to voice their concerns as well about their frustration. But right now as it is, we got to do better and do Crown consultation and accommodation. And we're not doing that. Our treaties are alive and well.

Mr. Speaker, we need to do better, but at this point I'm to the point now where I want to write a letter to King Charles saying that we have a Treaty 11, Treaty 8. The Government of Canada recognizes it in section 35. The Governor General passes that on to the provinces and the territories. But right now in small communities, it's not working. So I am going to write a letter and let the people know, King Charles, that the treaties of Canada and the Northwest Territories are not honoured and respected, and it's still alive and well.

So, Mr. Speaker, I just want to take this opportunity to do my response to the Budget Address and I am going to say mahsi. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Colleagues, I'd like to remind you this is a very heated and passionate place where we are. We're representing our constituents, and we're doing a good job. And it's our responsibility to hold Cabinet individually or collectively, to task. Unfortunately, we're not talking about deputy ministers, okay? Let's just focus on our Cabinet, our Ministers. Deputy ministers are bureaucracy. They're doing their job. They don't have that way to deal with things. So, please, be very respectful in how we do it. I appreciate the passion. I appreciate people having the ability to bring forth their concerns but we also need to be respectful of our bureaucracy and people that are not here. So just a little bit of a reminder, please and thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate your word of wisdom. I, too, agree I want to begin by saying you're right, the individuals in the public service aren't on trial here in the sense of it's the Cabinet and their budget certainly is in the face of that and hence I wish to couch my marks around that particular thing.

So, Mr. Speaker, I did hear the budget. I'm going to say it wasn't all terrible, but -- so I want to stress that to the Finance Minister. I do know that bureaucracy works behind the scenes, you know, not days, not weeks, months and years to come up with what they do. And how do they get to where they are, and I will have some maybe -- offer perspective on that in a second, but I'll say with this: How does the government -- a lot of times the system is working behind the scenes long before, as I define it, the elected bureaucracy gets here. In other words, the train -- let's do what the bureaucracy says when it comes to this room, and we try to figure out what we want to do. The machinery behind the scenes has already been pushing a lot of these ideas. And as my good colleague from Range Lake points out, political idealism and objectives, it really represents 6 percent of our budget. It really is frustrating from an MLA point of view who is advocating for particular issues, where my other colleague on the side highlights his concerns aren't treaty issues not being fulfilled or maybe youth issues are not being filled in a small community, it's hard to get these messages out in a way that the Cabinet doesn't take them personal or think we're being critical just because we get up in the morning, say, I can't wait to be mean; who do I get to pick today. It's the fact is a lot of times it's quite frustrating, and hopefully I'll get to that further detail given the fact that really ticks along here.

Mr. Speaker, a mandate as we all know was contrived and developed and created through the discussions as MLAs including yourself was there at the discussion, I believe. That said, then that mandate gets taken behind closed doors and, of course, then the Premier issues a status on how the mandate's going to be fulfilled and then, as we all know, we get mandate letters sent to each particular must.

Mr. Speaker, what's important, though, is I want to highlight as I get to the budget and explain it is that the mandate on a high level says we care about housing -- sorry, I should clarify. We care about a lot of things. But we're highlighting housing, health, safety, and economy as the forerunners of our biggest issues we wish to carry this time around. Well, that's when MLAs are getting frustrated. When I hear my good colleague, you know, in McPherson they don't have housing for people there, when I hear my good colleague from Tu Nedhe about the fact that they can't get people in their health centres, etcetera, like, we wonder sometimes where is the war-like effort of getting those 500 houses on the ground in our territory. When we get a briefing chaired by I think my good colleague from Monfwi, you know, we hear housing says it takes us four years to deliver 100 doors to help Northerners. When we have 325, 350 people on the waiting list here in Yellowknife, we ask ourselves are we meeting the objectives in this budget to address the housing, health, safety, economy.

We have a Premier, respectfully, who talks about being the, you know, law and order Premier bringing great -- you know, great things and helping people be safe, etcetera. And that's great. I support those things. But where is the safety initiatives? I'll say in my riding specifically we constantly have people on the street. Whether they're homeless, whether they're there for various reasons, I'm not here to diagnose that, but we have public safety issues that are real, and their alive. I got a call a few days ago from a constituent saying they're trying to get out of the mall and they're being mobbed by certain people in certain situations. Now I'm not here, again, to diagnose every reason why these folks are here but these are real issues. We have tourists being cornered. You know, we need safety -- public safety issues.

Our economy, Mr. Speaker, I can't go on long enough, and certainly I only have 16 minutes left, but the fact is the finance Minister mentions about the GDP or the market's down in the sense of our revenues, but the truth is we know how to make money, and we also know how to save money, and we also know how to not spend money. Let's start with making money.

Let's harness the collective potential and the excitement of our mining industry. There is no shame in saying we are a mining territory. We are a resource territory. We all know, as pointed out by the Range Lake colleague here, that the fact that if we did offshore oil and gas, that would be a new diamond mine. Not maybe one. Maybe five. I don't know what the right answer is. But it's that type of excitement. We have a diamond mine saying we want to continue business for another 20 years in the North. Here's our opportunity to say yes, we can. So we have people like stories like my colleague of Frame Lake, you know, telling passionate stories about trying to -- people get ahead. It's these issues hitting the hallmarks of our mandate should be clear and simple. Every department, whether it's housing, we're going to do more housing. Health, we're going to find a way to be supportive of housing. MACA, we're going to find a way to produce land for housing. Justice, we're going to give justice for housing. Like, every Minister should be screaming housing matters. And the same so in this budget through the Finance Minister should be hitting every one of those bells. I'm doing this because we're improving the economy. I'm doing this because we're bringing more tourists and art and people are buying more arts in our community. Those are great things. But to the mining industry, Mr. Speaker, you know, when we get investment here through the mineral investment policy, what other policy do we get an 8 to 1 return? It spurs our economy.

Take my colleague as well from Range Lake. He says let's tax online gaming. It doesn't tax people locally like, say, cigarettes or property taxes or etcetera, etcetera. It taxes money that's leaving the Northwest Territories. We're bringing it back. So whether the analysis says there's $200,000 left on the table or $2 million left on the table -- sorry, falling off the table, I should really say, we should be innovative. If we want to be innovative, why don't we hold an economic forum through the finance Minister? We have incredible staff and talent in that shop that know these things. We could simulate an innovation discussion through them in saying how can we help the local economics catch on fire, how can we get the capital moving, how can we get the regions moving, how can we support the communities to spur their economy. We have those types of things. These are way more smart than just a calculated risk. We have the know-how. We have people who do this. Tap into them, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as mentioned, I think earlier, NHIB, great one. It's in a mandate letter to the Minister of health. If we want to talk about more revenues for the Department of Finance, I'm supportive of that. We have two health czars. We have one we imported from Saskatchewan. We have one we have from Hay River. Two people reworking and examining the health system. NHIB is a listed issue in the mandate letter to the Minister of health. It says finalize negotiations to recoup full costs.

Mr. Speaker, we're watching money go out the door with no effort of fighting back that it belongs to us. There's opportunities everywhere, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the public service, as great as they are, including the Indigenous governments hiring up to 200 people, I think as mentioned by our finance Minister, is great. I like -- you know, government jobs are well paying jobs. That's great. I don't care where they are. Anywhere. They're excellent jobs. But we can't rely on the public service, whether in Yellowknife, whether in Behchoko, whether they're in Wrigley, to save the economy. And we know this, but we're so afraid or bashful to say to save the economy, we need an economy. And that's what's important.

Mr. Speaker, when I see things such as practically 50 percent vacancy for doctors but then I read in the budget we're putting $5.4 million -- on page 10 by the way if anyone's looking -- for locum accommodations, is this not a signal we're doing something wrong? Is this not a flag in the air saying wait a minute, we need to ask ourselves what's going on here and how do we turn this around? This budget should be saying how do we reenforce the attitudes, perspectives, and needs, and give the much energy we can to our medical support system as possible.

We've heard from doctors. I've heard from them. My colleagues have heard from them. I mean, everybody's heard from them. I'm not sure who's not listening to them. That's the problem. When they say we need help and support in our administration, at first I didn't know what that meant. To me, it's just this nebulous word of, oh, administration. What? You don't like to sharpen your pencils? No. It's the fact that they write these reports, and they get shut down, and then they become -- they become the administrators, clerks on their own stuff when they want to be on the frontline saying, you know, hello, ma'am, how can I help you? You brought your child in here; I'm listening. That's the issue. It becomes a -- red tape -- thank you, a red tape issue for them. They want to do more. When I see $5.4 million added to the system but I hear doctors wanting to quit or who have quit who refuse to even think about coming back, they go, you know what, I want to manage my own schedule, don't put the $5.4 million into accommodations for locums, that is, put it into making doctors happy who want to work. And many of them -- I'm starting to get a central theme here -- would like to go back to fee for service because they say it's way more financially in their interest. And I'm telling you as a person, as a family person, as a friend of many of my colleagues here, look, whatever it takes to get doctors. Whatever it takes.

The same could be said about nurses, Mr. Speaker, so I'm not going to repeat about that.

Mr. Speaker, we've got mines on record saying they want to be a partner in our economy. Again, another flag I wish would be highlighted in our budgets. I know the finance Minister is live to these things. I'm just worried that, you know, frankly, these things are right here. Mr. Speaker, the failed policy of $150 million reduction times three, $150 million, those cuts, I want to assure the public most Members -- I can't speak for all -- weren't in favour of it. Most Regular Members, that is. And Regular Members were just as surprised when it was announced by the Premier and the finance Minister a year ago. And it's no surprise we're not meeting it. The problem is is that, you know, if they don't do that, where are they going to go? You know, what's on the chopping block this time around? The question is will it be inclusive schooling next? Will it be things like midwifery that actually save us money when we can't get a doctor in a small community or other types of things? Will it be other things like that? I don't know. Mr. Speaker, we can't keep, you know, asking ourselves these questions why are people frustrated when they give us the answers and we ignore them. So I'm not sure why we do that.

Mr. Speaker, everybody tells a story. And I've mentioned earlier that our budget should be telling the story about our mineral resource innovation, our doctor innovation, our nursing innovation. Mr. Speaker, it's frustrating as a Member sitting on this side. I mean, it isn't all doom and gloom, but every time we look at these situations, it creates tension. It creates tension with Members. It creates tension with the public. It creates tension with colleagues here in the Assembly, those who are listening, those who aren't listening. I mean, I can see it, and I can appreciate that too. But, you know, when I go outside of this building and I ask real people how do they feel, I'm curious on how they're going to feel about this budget. Do they feel inspired there's more better days ahead than behind us? I don't know yet. So do I think there's good times?

I remember good times, Mr. Speaker. And I'll preface it by saying I'm not talking about I'm so old I remember things old, old days, but I am old in my own way. I'm so old I remember looking forward to eating Pilot Biscuits and liking them. Mr. Speaker, I remember when -- I'm so old I remember when we talked about Spam and Click as the northern steak, you know, the good old days. I still have that optimism, Mr. Speaker. You know, someone will say, how are you doing, and I say I'm optimistic even when I'm not, because I want to say we need to put that energy into the conversation. We need to put that energy in the relationship of what we're doing. That's what we need in this budget. We should be talking about our optimism, the things we can do. Now I'm reworking a saying, we've all heard it before, but I don't think there's anything wrong with the NWT that cannot be fixed with what's right about the NWT. We have a lot of dedicated people in our public service. We have a lot of northern industry that wants to be the solution. We have community governments that want to be the lead partner in any of these initiatives. So when it comes down to the lack of statement in our budget saying we want to build 5 more -- 500 million -- let me try it again -- 500 more houses, the GNWT should be saying, how can we draft your proposal so you could be the lead and have better access to these initiatives? Because strong communities actually, in my view and in my experience, is strong for the territory. And if we have housing, stable housing, we have healthy people. When we have healthy people, we'll have productive people. It's not a simple formula but it's -- you know, it's not that complicated either. People need housing, and they need support.

I mean, I hear my good colleague, Mr. Nerysoo, talk often about trying to empower people and finding ways. This is exactly it. If we stabilize their living, we can encourage them to work. We can encourage them to give back. We can even encourage them to volunteer. But even the way we have our income support system right now is you don't have to do any of that once you're on it. We need people to look forward to getting up in the morning, contributing in the way that they can. And I want to stress that, in the way they can. Not the way I'm telling them, not the way somebody from down south thinks they should by whatever standard they create, but the way they can.

As a reminder to the Cabinet, again back to sometimes we're probably frustrated or tensioned, and as I said at the beginning sometimes there's frustration about how this comes about. I won't go through how the steps of the process of the mandate. But all that develops the budget, and the budget, again, is developed by a bureaucracy over, you know, weeks, months, years, etcetera. But believe it or not, Mr. Speaker, it's hard to imagine most public -- the public doesn't really realize that MLAs get the first crack at the budget just before it's presented to the people, and then we're asked when the ink is dry, what do you think?

So on -- if I have my dates correct, on January 13th was the first sit down MLAs had to discuss the budget in its context in draft form. On January 24th, that was 24 days ago. And then just a few days after that, it had its wrap up. So less than two weeks, basically Members are given the opportunity to coalesce. It's unfortunate because I'll say without intending to insult party politics light, Cabinet presents budgets as a package. In other words, this is what we agree as Cabinet, and this is how it's going to be. But unfortunately, when it comes just two weeks ago to Members, two weeks and 24 days, that is, Members represent independent Members. We're not a party. We're a loose fit confederation that can unite on certain issues and whatnot. So when Members say there isn't enough in this budget, when it says that 6 percent isn't connecting with the communities, that's where you get the frustration because the budget practically -- the ink is well dried, decisions have been made in isolation without us. And, again, Cabinet may have been working on these initiatives for years, but it's hard to see them in the budget when Members say we want to be part of that success.

I hear frustration from constituents that the government hasn't reworked and rewritten the northern bonus, Mr. Speaker. I'm squeezing this in near the end just to make sure. And I think we're losing people, and we're getting frustration on that. What we see is when it comes to us, we're wondering is the bureaucracy telling the political machinery well, you get 6 percent to play with or 6 percent matters enough that we'll let you decide where we're going. It's the analogy that we all know of the old tail wagging the dog. And it's frustrating as an MLA when we hear the budget on these types of things. Yes, I acknowledge there are good things, and I will acknowledge them in a way when I have more time. It just feels like it's disconnected from this side of the House. It feels disconnected in a way of saying when a community wants a community hall because that changes the community, whether they have gatherings, children play in daycare, whether it's somewhere war to go. You know, as a kid like myself growing up in a small community, we had a small community centre. It was called the friendship centre. It changed the world of young people. It kept them busy. So when we have colleagues who are asking for these things, that's why we're asking for them. It's not because we think, well, the government has too much money. As a matter of fact, we want happy people and we want to see this reflected in this budget.

Mr. Speaker, as time ticks away or in many ways, I would like to see our government reconsider a couple things. One, for instance, for example, trade subsidies. Right now, if you're a male, it's $9 an hour. If you're a female, it's $16 an hour. Frankly, I don't care how you get there or who does it, I'm happy we're putting this in. I want to see us fully fund trades people for their first year. Someone experienced with the industry, guys like my good colleague Mr. Edjericon, will understand that it's very expensive. It's a financial loss for anybody to stimulate -- or sorry, hire a tradesperson in their first year. We all know it's a loss. So they spend so much time and energy. This would bolster people by saying, well, wait a minute, I'm not losing as much money. They want the trades to hire. Things like that. They want to bring -- I would suggest we need to start taking a full look at our NGOs and asking them what can they do to be our partners. Whether it's in long-term care, whether it's in daycare, it doesn't matter to me. I think we need to find other ways to find this. We can put a full force on trying to attract the military. I wish that was saying in this budget because military money is good money, Mr. Speaker. Very good money. And, Mr. Speaker, I've already started to scratch together a proposal to the Premier of saying how we could create a joint committee so we can do a full, full offence on this idea. And it's not my idea. It's not a new -- it's an old one. But at the end of the day, Mr. Speaker, there's more things right with the territory than wrong, and I think we can continue to harness that energy. Whether it's starting an economic committee, whether it's getting the military to invest us, we have the opportunities. We have diamond mines who want to employ people. I want to see happy, healthy people. And I hope our budget can find ways through this before we reach the end of this session.

Mr. Speaker, I thank you for your time. I thank my colleagues across the way for their time. I definitely thank my colleagues on my side of the House for their time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Replies to Budget Address, Day 1 of 7. Acknowledgements. Oral questions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can wait, but thank you, I guess.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to continue the conversation around seeking more clarity on what I'm considering the big three, not infrastructure, but the big three health pieces. That would be primary care reform, health system sustainability, and the new public administrator.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please explain how the health system sustainability unit, which I realize is not hers, but how that unit and the public administrator are working together; and, if they are, what parts of their mandate overlap, if any. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the public administrator has met with the health sustainability unit leadership. Part of his role is to ensure that NTHSSA collaborates with this unit to support the government's goal of improving health services while maintaining fiscal sustainability. So I think they've met a couple of times now. The sustainability, as we all know, works with the entire health and social services system, including all three health authorities, whereas the PA's focus is solely on NTHSSA's operations. This unit, established last year, has a project charter and is progressing quickly. The PA, Mr. Florizone, appointed just before the mandatory leave in December, is currently working to analyze NTHSSA and develop a plan to meet his mandate.

While their work does overlap, their mandates differ. The sustainability unit focuses on long-term sustainability, and I won't get into that. If there's more questions on that, I would say direct them to the Premier. The PA is responsible for NTHSSA's operation. His mandate includes ensuring the efficiency, delivery of quality of health and social services, balancing the NTHSSA budget, supporting health care reform, improving recruitment and retention of health care professionals, improving staff morale, reviewing medical travel while we're working within that medical travel modernization, strengthening the governance, so looking at our governance model, and ensuring compliance and promoting cultural safety and anti-racism service delivery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's a lot for one person. Can the Minister explain what the expected outcomes of the public administrator's work will be, or put more simply, how will we know if we've been successful in tackling the significant challenges, many of which she listed just now, that he was brought in to address? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the success of the public administrator will be measured on the progress of his mandate deliverables and then also by his work plans. So once the work plan is finalized and he will be following up with me and with -- like, with the deputy minister, with the CEO. We will continue to follow that up. Once the work plan is approved, though, I will be sharing that with committee. And the success will be measured by clear improvements in the financial sustainability, operational effectiveness, and meeting some legal obligations while addressing our residents' needs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When can we expect to see that on this side of the House? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, the PA was hired late December and so now he's doing the -- he's analyzing. So I would not expect him to come in with a work plan. I want him -- his direction was to come in, work with our administration, work with, you know, a lot of our other groups that we have work. He's met with the medical association. He will be meeting with CAN. He will be going out to the regions to meet with the CEOs and how they run their operations. And then he'll be complying what his mandate is into his work plan. And so I'm hoping that I'll be able to share that, you know, before -- maybe a draft of where we're going with that before the end of March with committee. But I don't have a timeline exactly but as soon as we have that plan drafted, I will share that with committee. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It feels like ages ago now, but my questions are for the h ealth and social services Minister in follow up to my Member's statement about harm reduction.

So, first, in 2022, the GNWT released a standards manual for managed alcohol programs in the territory. Can the Minister confirm whether these standards are actually in use anywhere in the territory now? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Minister of Health and Social Services.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, these standards are in use by any GNWT-funded managed alcohol program and at this time, the only one that's being funded is through the Spruce Bough in Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So what has the GNWT done to reach out to partners, such as Indigenous governments or non-profit shelter providers, to discuss whether or how managed alcohol programs could be newly established in other NWT communities or strengthened here in Yellowknife? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this time, there is no sustainable funding for the existing managed alcohol program at Spruce Bough. The priority would be to secure a sustainable funding for that program before looking at expansion. It should be noted that expansion will require new resources. One of the things that, you know, even as a Regular Member before during COVID, many of the Indigenous governments and Indigenous population, you know, I think this is -- you know, we have to understand and we have to be able to work with individual NGOs, different communities, and what their comfort level is on providing these types of programs outside to other NGOs. I know that there was concern by groups that, you know, providing alcohol to our residents when we -- you know, so the understanding and the process and the how-to work within that program, there's still work to do, but like I said it is -- there is no funding, any new resources for it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Final supplementary. Member from Yellowknife North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Finally, has the GNWT examined the feasibility of ensuring there's a day shelter space where people could more safely use drugs or prescribed drug alternatives such as methadone or gabapentin? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, currently, the health and social system is not planning on establishing any type of supervised consumption sites for drugs. We are focused on public health messaging, treatment options. There has been funding provided to use towards distributing and training of community members, naloxone kits. Fentanyl testing strips are also distributed. We also have an existing territorial opioid recovery provided that provides oversight for residents receiving opioid maintenance therapy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Health and Social Services. Oral questions. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, following up on my Member's statement, advancing land devolution to our communities, my questions are for the Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

Minister, would you commit to working with communities to begin the process of transferring authority over all territorial and Commissioner's lands within community boundaries ensuring they have full control and decision-making powers over those lands? Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department is committed to working with all communities interested in bulk land transfers. To this regard, currently we've received one request from the city of Yellowknife regarding a bulk land transfer and currently the department is working with the city on their request. As part of our daily operations, ECC land management and administration works directly with the communities on individual transfer requests. And currently the division is working on over 152 applications that are in the system. And of those, 98 have passed through the consultation phase and are in the final stages of approval. So to be clear, you know, the communities require development plans, bylaws, and surveys. This is part of the requirement to fulfill those land transfers to a community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Minister. And I understand that, you know, some of -- I know at least one community has put forward a request to have a transfer of lands. And I guess what we're talking about is transferring -- and I understand there's survey work will be required to be done there, but transferring as one block. And I guess what I'm looking for is can the Minister kind of commit to kind of a clear timeline to developing kind of an action plan to transfer these controls, and is that being worked on right now? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, the discussions around bulk land transfer and the transfer of land in general has been a topic that's been top of mind of my own personally for quite a while, and we've had many discussions with our partners across the territory through ICGS protocol. And as we look at those, we have to take into consideration that this process has multiple pieces of legislation that come into play here, and we have to always take into consideration the requirement for proper consultation in this process as well. So the work is ongoing, and certainly happy to have that conversation with any communities that are interested in pursuing that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister for Environment and Climate Change. Final supplementary. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister. And, you know, and I appreciate that and, as the Minister's aware, there is a cost oftentimes, particularly for smaller communities when they're looking to transfer this land, if there's any survey work that is required to be done. But will the Minister commit, as part of their engagement plan with communities through outreach, to look at covering some of that cost or assisting with that cost to get this land surveyed so it can be transferred? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd certainly be happy to engage with any of the communities that are interested in advancing this process on, you know, a bulk land transfer and certainly more than open to having the officials from the specific communities or multiple communities come and have that discussion with the department on the options that are available to us within the current guidelines and legislation that we have to follow and always, you know, interested in having the bigger conversation about what we could potentially look at doing going forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Oral questions. Member from the Deh Cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. These questions are for the Minister of health.

Mr. Speaker, in the past we have heard about paramedics assisting at NWT health centres to help with staff shortages. Can the Minister advise if similar initiatives are being looked at to address the lack of first responders and after hour care in the communities in my riding of Kakisa, Fort Providence, Enterprise, and Hay River Reserve. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Deh Cho. Minister of Health and Social Services.