Julian Morse

Okay, thank you, Madam Chair. I'm just going to gently push back a little bit. I mean, I do note that -- you know, I'm going to go -- every single department is going to get the targets and measurable outcome speech, and I don't want to spare ECC from this speech.

Without measurable outcomes and without targets, it's hard for us to know when we're achieving something. So it's also hard to know how much of a priority it is for the department. So I want to state for myself implementation of the audit recommendations are important, and I think they are critical to the mandate commitment that this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that offer. Certainly, I'll talk to my colleagues, and hopefully we accept that briefing.

Mr. Speaker, it's great to have a goal, but we also need to know when are we trying to achieve it by. So I appreciate that we are working to have equitable access for all NWT residents to primary care. I would suggest that we add the word universal, meaning everybody, has that access. But, Mr. Speaker, when are we -- when is that goal going to be achieved; when do we anticipate being able to tell every resident in the NWT that they have equitable...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of health, and it's quite simple. Mr. Speaker, what is our goal for primary care in the NWT?

Thank you, Madam Chair. Those are all my questions for now.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The next question I had was about I note that there's quite a significant increase in the FireSmart area.

Now, assuming that this is related to delivery of FireSmarting, which it looks like it is according to the notes in the budget here, I'm very supportive of that and happy to see it actually, so maybe the first question I'll ask is whether that can be confirmed that this actually does increase the amount of FireSmarting that's going to be done in the territory, and perhaps if the Minister can provide us some details on where that funding's going to be going. Are there...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have to follow up a bad pun like that but try to get back on the subject here.

Madam Chair, I just wanted to understand better; I note that there's some pretty significant fluctuations between year over year in the forest management division. I have to assume that that's related to wildfire response. But just noting that, you know, we went down to $47 million in 2024-2025 mains, and then actually ended up spending about $90 million. Can the department first explain the reduction down to $51 million this year, and is the department confident that this will give them the...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, okay, so just to be clear what the deputy minister said there is that they are expecting to bring the land -- the regs forward within this fiscal year, so 2025-2026? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I am excited to hear that from the deputy minister. I'm glad to hear that you've been meeting. Glad to hear that you're making some progress and identifying specifics to move forward on. It's certainly a priority for myself, and I think for the Assembly generally, to ensure that land transfers are happening, and it's a priority for the department as indicated in the business plan.

Can the Minister perhaps elaborate a bit, do we have any legislation -- I know that the Land Titles Act is involved here. So is there anything the Minister can tell us about aspects of that...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I can certainly make that commitment, and we'll continue to keep the pressure on the department as I think -- yeah, I -- I've made my point. But if we're talking about streamlining; we're talking about, you know, a high functioning regulatory system that we can be proud of, the audit is the key and so I'll keep the pressure on on that matter. I think that's all I wanted to say about the business plans. I do want to keep a focus on that for now. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just pondering the answer a bit. Yeah, I hear what the Minister is saying. I know that it is difficult to obtain funding. And certainly, I did note that most of the core funding for Arctic Energy Alliance is still there, and I know it's tough when the federal government takes things away and that we can't always continue every single program the federal government gives us money for. But, again, would just note, you know, if we have to use territorial money for something particularly related to climate change, what I want to see that money going towards is programs like...