Caroline Wawzonek

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, Mr. Speaker, that is certainly was exactly the recommendation in the procurement review, was indeed to remove Schedule 3. And the work that's going on about what that will look like to be replaced and how businesses might find themselves, that work is underway right now. And I'm afraid the Member's going to have to wait and see how that unfolds and then any business that's in Schedule 3 can determine whether or how they find themselves reflected in the new policy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the story starts way back in 2010. There was some policy revisions made at that time. And essentially any business that was already here at that time, and that was already operating in the Northwest Territories, was grandfathered in under that policy. And that has not changed, and so those companies continue to be on Schedule 3. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, while I do hope to have a positive relationship with the union and hope to continue that, I'm certainly not in a position to speak on their behalf. I can say that there were this was an opportunity where, while not always a smooth path along the way, I do believe this was a reflection of a good collaborative effort between the GNWT and the UNW in terms of trying to identify ways to bring more healthcare staff in. With more staff there, it helps lessen the burden on each individual staff and it helps retain the staff that we have. And, again, without losing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I certainly do consider this to be one tool in the toolbox of recruitment and retention efforts that are underway within the health authorities and supported by the Department of Finance. The intention again is to ensure that we are finding those positions that have been hard to recruit here in the Northwest Territories and, again, to then pay according to the positions that were discussed between ourselves and the union and looking at the data available about what those positions are. It doesn't mean that every single person employed within the Department...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Walmart's the easy one. Walmart and Loblaws and, in fact, many of the other businesses on Schedule 3 have not bid on any GNWT contracts in over ten years. And in that sense, they're sitting there but they're not really gaining much benefit from being on Schedule 3. Those aren't the difficult circumstances. The more complicated ones are those who are longtime northernbased businesses who have had the benefit of growing and becoming large larger businesses, which is really a good news story for the Northwest Territories and for having those businesses based...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, there's a number of different things happening with respect to the procurement review. Some already have seen some changes. There's been, for example, vendor performance management is now underway. Contracts are being updated accordingly. There's significant work happening led by EIA on Indigenous procurement, being codeveloped or codetermined with Indigenous parties that would benefit from that. There's also work happening in ITI, Mr. Speaker, around the business incentive policy and around the manufacturing policy to look at ways to improve that. And...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, they haven't asked us to take the airstrip. We haven't asked them to leave the airstrip. The land and water board, very clearly here, says that they had a requirement that they wanted Diavik to be open to it and Diavik has said that they're open to receiving something. But we're not asking for it. We're not looking for it. And nor have they asked us to take it. So for the third time, I think they are complying with what they've been asked to do by the water board, which is exactly what we expect of the mines that operate in the Northwest Territories, that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the comment around the airstrip, I understand, arose with respect to materials that are now in the registry of the land and water board. Mr. Speaker, it's the land and water board that notes in its revision that it requires Diavik to include a statement of willingness to participate in discussions with government and other interested parties to assess the fate of the airstrip. So, Mr. Speaker, I gather that their statement of willingness to accept an expression of interest really is them complying with what is required of them by the land and water board...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, I do have a letter that I understood had gone to Members in October. Obviously, things don't always go perfectly, and I don't know where those letters sometimes go on the other side. But it was sent in October, alerting them to the fact this was coming. More correspondence was sent in January and February to update as to the progress. I don't have a final policy yet. That's exactly where we're at. We've got a sense of the two policies and what we expect to see in them and how they might work. But as for the final drafts, I don't have them yet. Before...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, a letter was sent, firstly, to all Indigenous governments back in October. Around that time, there was also a letter sent to colleagues from all of the Assembly, letting them know that this work was underway. This was, of course, in response to a commitment made in this House, I believe by the Premier, with respect to the Affirmative Action Policy and saying that it was high time to get this work moving. And so that consultative process, as I said, began in October and is continuing now. Thank you.