Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Premier's office, obviously the executive. And the Premier's away; I'll ask the Deputy Premier.
I'm not sure, Mr. Speaker, what level we are involved with Op Nanook as a government, but I'd like to ask the Deputy Premier if she can provide some information around the details with our ongoing engagement with Ottawa around the military spending in the High Arctic. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Boot Lake. Madam Deputy Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, while Project Nanook is definitely one that centers on the department of defence and RJTFN, I can say that one of its aims is to help develop the interagency Crown Indigenous multinational partnerships intraoperabilities, so it is an opportunity for us to demonstrate our ability to work collaboratively at different levels and different degrees of government. And in that regard, Mr. Speaker, certainly, I'm confidently able to say the Premier does continue to speak regularly in the media, in the territorial address here, with respect to the work that's happening on engagement around military spending, military involvement in the Northwest Territories, and that this is being done, of course, with partnerships throughout departments and looking to Indigenous governments as well. Thank you.
It's going to be a long day, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Does the Premier's office have dedicated staff that engage and prioritize Arctic security within the Department of the Executive? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, there's not a full-time dedicated position per se but, Mr. Speaker, the interagency engagement between the Premier's office and the federal government, that is a large part of the core work that happens at executive and Indigenous affairs, certainly on the executive side, so if you're in that department, I'm quite confident in saying, and believe I'm well placed to say so with the information I do have, that this is not a concern to the department, that they're confident that they are able to actively engage, and I do happen to know from the role that I'm in, Mr. Speaker, having made my own inquiries of late, that the deputy minister of EIA actually has just quite recently been involved and engaged with the deputy minister of Department of National Defence so those conversations are live and recent. Thank you.
Thank you, madam Deputy Premier. Final supplementary. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Deputy Premier, and thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, given the heightened lens on Arctic security and sovereignty, given that Yukon has an Arctic security council now, and I know I believe we were invited to join that possibly -- and I wouldn't recommend we do. I recommend we start our own. So I guess what I'm looking for of the Premier's office is a commitment to report back to committee on those engagements on Arctic security and committing to researching -- setting up our own security council here in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I understand the Premier has, in fact, offered to meet with committee to discuss in more depth the current -- I mean, obviously, currently in Washington, much is happening in the space related to sovereignty, and it would probably be a good place at that opportunity to discuss what a future opportunity might look like, and I will leave that to the other parties and to the Premier to complete that discussion. Thank you.
Thank you, Deputy Premier. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
