Jane Weyallon Armstrong

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Tlicho highway is designed and intended to provide yearround road access to the Tlicho region. It is the Tlicho's wish to eventually have allseason road extended to Gameti and Wekweeti. In this Assembly, we saw the completion of most of the portion to Whati; however, the last 10 kilometres are not completed. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister what happened to the final section of the Tlicho AllSeason Road to Whati? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, on August 28th, 2023, the day of our emergency sitting among the wildfire crisis, I introduced a Private Member's public bill, An Act to Amend the Emergency Management Act. The bill passed second reading that day and was referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations. The purpose of the bill is to require the GNWT coordinate its emergency response activities with Indigenous governments affected by the emergency.

Mr. Speaker, requiring the GNWT to coordinate its emergency response with Indigenous governments should not require a law. It should be a given. Unfortunately...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we need more programs and services in small communities. Indeed, the health care systems needs to be improved, especially in small communities. If it was okay, then all these things would not be necessary.

Can the Minister explain if any review of the medical travel policy is underway to allow for more flexibility in these circumstances for the residents of the NWT? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the health care system is failing our Indigenous population from access to quality and timely care. Our residents face systemic barriers, and more work is needed to break through the red tape to improve accessibility to programs and services. Many community members in my region travel to Yellowknife to get health care services. I am disappointed to hear from constituents who travelled to Yellowknife who feel their concerns are not taken seriously. I have also heard concerns that some people have been told they cannot book appointments in Yellowknife.

Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to make a comment. I know that the Minister is going to be retiring and not returning in the fall. But the question that I asked, it needed to be asked. The Assembly may be ending but the work is not ending, so I just wanted to make that comment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are losing services in our communities and when we go to regional centres to access treatment, our residents are being turned away and denied access to care. What is being done to ensure there are no systemic barriers to accessing programs and services? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell this House why residents who choose to travel on their own to seek medical attention are unable to seek immediate reimbursement for medical travel? Especially when they are diagnosed with an illness that would require medical travel out of the territory. Thank you.

I don't want to get into it, but I will do it later, okay.

Will the Minister of health commit to a medical policy review to ensure that residents who access care outside of the NWT, especially in urgent situations that require hospitalizations or treatments that are unavailable in the NWT, can qualify for medical travel? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I know, indeed, we do need expert, but what just happened in Northwest Territories, how can an expert let 4 million hectares of land burn? In the past, a lot of people have said, even the veteran firefighters have said the same thing, and elders have said, in the past government used to pick up all kinds of people on the street to fight fires, and it was those people, because of them, our community is still here. A lot of them, it happened all over. And that was the only jobs that a lot of our Indigenous people had at that time. It's not like before. We...

But I do have one more question, sorry about that.

Are ECE and Housing NWT working together to create a more holistic approach to income support and social housing programs? Is there anything being done between the two departments to make it easier for people to access services? Thank you.