Julian Morse

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do have questions on this one, again related to the business plan, which contains all the juicy information, page 72 in this case. So there's a couple items in there with relation to a negotiating selfgovernment and other Indigenous rights agreements. And so the first question I'll ask on that is just the actions to support the mandate commitment, is EIA working with departments who will review the GNWT principles and interests to explore possible updates? You know, I just I would note to the Premier that it seems at face value as a bit of an underwhelming commitment...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah no, I appreciate that. And I would just kind of encourage the department to continue to work towards better defining what it is they're looking to achieve here and would emphasize that, you know, if our focus is going to be on crime prevention, you know, like I said yesterday in my kind of higher level comments, you know, there's a lot to it that does not involve simply policing, work that's done in the jails. Most of it takes place the work that really makes a difference takes place long before people enter the criminal justice system. So I'm excited to see this in...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So my next comment, question, is, again, related to an item in the business plan, page 83. There's some discussion there on focusing on crime prevention. And this is going to relate back to comments that I have on Justice as well, but I'd like to speak to it here also. I just note the lack of targets under this business plan item. And I do think that this is very closely related with Justice. And I like that they are looking to identify barriers to service, address root causes of crime, certainly focusing on crime prevention through collaborative efforts at early...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just wondering why we're not starting on page, I believe, 123?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And just to get a bit of clarification, I believe the Minister said building standards framework. Is this going to be a Building Act, or are we talking about something different? Because I know the city of Yellowknife has been asking for a Building Act with accessibility standards built into it, so can the Minister provide some clarity on that. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. And this is, just to be clear, not a reduction in service, it's just the program needed a bit of extra money to bet launched?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the NWT Human Rights Commission recently presented its 20222023 Annual Report to the Standing Committee on Government Operations. In keeping with trends noted in previous reports, the commission noted that disabilities were the basis for 59 percent of complaints brought before them. The commission went on to highlight that there is a gap between the National Building Code standards for accessibility and an organization's responsibility to provide accessible spaces and accommodation under the NWT Human Rights Act.

In past responses to commission...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll leave with a comment, and that is just that, you know, I see the business plan as a live document. I know that there's going to be updates brought to it every year. And so I just hope that Cabinet and the Premier can kind of work with the Council of Leaders, identify some targets that we're going to work towards so we can be focused in implementation of our priorities. And I'll just keep hammering back on that focus item we if we're not focused, if we're trying to do everything, I think it's going to be much harder to achieve our goals. So that's my comments for now...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I do appreciate the Premier providing that clarity because I think it'll help the public kind of better understand what we're trying to achieve. And maybe if we just push a little bit, I mean, does the Premier kind of have any updates for committee on whether there's any indication that we will see a settled claim within the term of this Assembly? Are we moving forward, or are things currently stalled? I'm kind of curious to hear some more comment on that.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And, yeah, the Premier's right. I just realized that I am asking questions related to a page that's coming up so I'll keep those questions for that time. I don't have questions on this specific page. Thank you.