Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I stated in the earlier question regarding the same issue, we continue to have regular engagement with Minister's office at ECCC in Ottawa. We have been working closely with the partners' table to ensure that all of the work that is required to advance, to be prepared to receive the money when it gets to the parliamentary appropriation that is required continues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the federal appropriation doesn't flow, what will be the fate of the private equity money, the $75 million? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the private equity money is a matching sum dependent solely on the commitment from the federal government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, is there -- can we start thinking about a contingency plan with the GNWT's resources should there be a very likely situation of this appropriation being defeated in the upcoming session of the House of Commons? Can we have our own money put into this, start talking to the equity partners and see what we can salvage if this does go down? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, we do not have $300 million to contribute to this great initiative which is going to benefit the Indigenous governments and communities all across the North, as much as I would love to be able to stand up here and make such a commitment. We will continue to do the work, the advocacy work that we've been doing with the federal government. If there's -- as the election process unfolds, we will continue still to do our advocacy work to ensure, to the best of our ability, that those funds flow to the Indigenous governments within the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Oral questions. Member from Great Slave.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to my colleagues for raising NGO issues. I'll be asking the Premier some questions about that as well.
So I believe it was last week or the previous week a public service announcement went out about what steps EIA is taking to support the NGO sector, and in that effort they outline some of the steps they'll be taking, and they referenced the strengthening non-profit and charitable sector external advisory committee report. So that report is something that many constituents have reached out to me about in the past. In that report, though, there are specific recommendations, and I'm wondering if the Premier can speak to whether or not any of those recommendations will be followed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's been a while since I looked at that report, so I was just pulling it up. But from what I recall, there are good recommendations in there, they're solid recommendations. Some of the recommendations relate to a policy that we already have in place but just haven't been following, and if we followed that policy, I think there would be a lot of improvement in our relationships with the NGOs. So from what I can recall, yes, I look forward to following some of those recommendations. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, those recommendations, in broad strokes, are implementing the full suite of tools in the GNWT's program manager's guide for funding NGOs which was from 2014, update that guide with specific items -- I won't list them here -- and provide additional supports. So I would say the EIA is providing those additional supports. But will EIA be committing to and will the Premier be committing to looking at the suite of tools in that guide and updating that guide? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to return back to the Premier with the earlier question. I did ask how much this establishment of the special envoy office would cost the territorial government in Ottawa. If he could explain that in detail? Because we also know given the reference on the finance website, on the GNWT that is, that principal secretary's position is -- as a deputy head is one of the most expensive paid GNWT employees as noted in the public service. So I'm curious on how much this office is going to pay, how big is it going to get, etcetera. Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll have to take that question on notice. Thanks.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Members have been eagerly awaiting the Premier's promised plan -- promised suite of anticrime legislation - the Trespass Act, SCAN Act, Civil Forfeiture Act. It's still on the books. My constituents are eagerly awaiting it. My colleagues are eagerly awaiting it. Can the Premier give us a firm time when these bills are going to be introduced? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Mr. Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Trespass Act, the legislative proposal is targeted for the second quarter of 2025-2026, so that would mean within the first six months of the upcoming fiscal year. And after a legislative proposal is created, it, of course, is shared confidentially with our colleagues in the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight. They have up to six weeks to provide feedback on that legislative proposal at which point it comes to Cabinet for a decision, and after that decision, if Cabinet decides to proceed, then the bill is drafted and that can take some time as well. And along that process, there are a number of instances where things could get held up. So in terms of a hard timeline, I don't think anyone should be giving hard timelines on legislation in this Assembly because I've been here nine years, and I don't know how many times I've really seen those timelines strictly adhered to. There's always something happening. There's always new emergencies that are taking resources. And so things move around quite a bit.
SCAN legislation, legislative proposal is targeted for this upcoming year as well. There will be consultation that will be starting in the spring. So the public can expect to hear about that and be able to provide their feedback on that bill which is very important given the history of this bill and its defeat in a previous Assembly.
And Civil Forfeiture Act, the legislative proposal is again on the same timeline. Hopefully sometime this fall, we should have that in place. But the idea is to -- the goal is to have all of these pieces of legislation passed by the end of this Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Premier for pulling out the book. This is a question I get asked all the time. Our streets are increasingly a dangerous place for our residents.
We passed a piece of legislation in, like, two days using extraordinary force of will from this Assembly. We can move very quickly if we want to. Can the Premier commit to bringing forward all these LPs within this sitting of the legislature. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, no, no, I can't do that. We only have so much capacity in this government. You know, there was the bill the Member was referencing that moved through very quickly. Unfortunately, at the Department of Justice we have a limited number of policy staff who work on all of our initiatives, and then we have a limited number of drafters as well. And so to bring forward all of these items in such a short timeframe, it wouldn't be logistically possible if we want to it well. And we also have a public engagement piece we want to do with things, especially like the SCAN legislation. We don't want to bring forward this legislation if it's just going to be defeated in the House because there's opposition across the territory. So we want to make sure we go out, have conversations, and bring forward legislation that will be supported. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Final supplementary. Member from Range Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we've had a year of this government to get a move on on these signature -- I think the Premier's been on record saying these are the signature pieces of this legislation. Again, I'll ask can we get these LPs in place by let's say the May/June sitting so we could actually see all of them passed this year. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Unfortunately, because of the resources that we have, our ability to go out and consult and ensure that there's adequate time to do those types of things, I can't make that commitment. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to ask a question, not about the money but about the establishment of the envoy, where he got his mandate from, Indigenous governance.
(audio).
Fair enough.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents: Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 10-20(1), Report on the Review of the 2023-2024 Annual Report of the Northwest Territories Information and Privacy Commissioner; and, Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 12-20(1), Report on the Review of the 2023-2024 Annual Report of the Northwest Territories Human Rights Commission. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Justice. Tabling of documents. Minister of Finance.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 11-20(1), Report on the Review of the 2023-2024 Annual Report of the Northwest Territories Equal Pay Commissioner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Finance. Tabling of documents. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document: Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 13-20(1), Report on the Review of the 2023-2024 Annual Report of the Northwest Territories Official Languages Commissioner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will give notice that on Thursday, February 27, 2025, I will move the following motion:
Now therefore I move, seconded by the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh, that this Legislative Assembly resolve that the current situation in the town of Norman Wells is a state of emergency for humanitarian reasons;
And further, that this Legislative Assembly calls upon the Government of the Northwest Territories to communicate this state of emergency with the Government of Canada seeking humanitarian aid for the community;
And furthermore, that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a response to this motion within 120 days. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, February 27th, 2025, I will present Bill 21, An Act to Amend the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I now call the Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wish of the committee? Member for Inuvik Boot Lake.
