Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what work is already underway to review the regulations, or absence of regulations I suppose, as we currently have them? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Nunakput, that pursuant to Rule 9.1(5)(a), the Government of the Northwest Territories table a comprehensive response to this report, including all recommendations, within 120 days, or at the earliest opportunity subsequent to the passage of 120 days.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, your Standing Committee on Public Accounts is pleased to provide its Report on the Review of the 20222023 Public Accounts.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Nunakput, that Committee Report 720(1), Standing Committee on Public Accounts Report on the Review of the 20222023 Public Accounts, be deemed read and presented in Hansard in its entirety. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the start of summer means the countdown beginning for the worldrenowned Folk on the Rocks music festival hosted every year in my beautiful Range Lake riding. Since 1980, this proud tradition has showcased the very best of the North's musical talent and has brought nationally and internationally renowned musicians to the NWT, delighting festival goers and giving these talented performers some northern exposure.

It's now in its 44th year. The festival features talented local northern groups, such as Amy and the Easy Hundo, Branded Sonic, Refrigerator, Narwhal, Grace Clarke, Tanya...

Can the Minister commit to getting it to this -- to the House or this Member? Thank you.

Thank you for that. And I think as much as I appreciate the other areas of the department working on economic diversification, there's only so many people working in the Northwest Territories that can ever be working in the Northwest Territories, and these resource projects are always going to deliver the biggest economic activity, the biggest bang for our buck, because we just simply can't compete with larger jurisdictions with significant workforces or substantial enough workforces to fuel the whole economy. So mining, of course, has a robust presence. There's plenty of low carbon...

Yes, thank you. Okay, well that resolves the expenditure problem. But I think -- I just really want to drill down on this thing that there is not a proposal for a wellness plan. It's not in the pre -- there's not a preplanning thing. It's not being proposed in the budget. It's included in the speech, and it's -- and that's it. So I think it's unfair to characterize this as, like, if we -- you know, if the budget gets approved, then the wellness centre moves ahead, and we transfer the jobs in Smith. Correctional officers are not social workers. They're not addictions and treatment workers as...

Thank you. Yeah, I think that's correct. I think it's probably 500K that went in in the 19th because it was increased to a million in the 18th Assembly. So given that there is quite a bit of interest in this fund, given that it's at times an economic multiplier, and that it hasn't been increased for some time, why isn't the Minister seeking an increase to this fund at a time when we need to get the exploration projects moving quickly to take advantage of the critical -- the interest in critical minerals and the significant amount of funding that's out there for critical minerals projects and...

Just to clarify, so this money that's in this supp, this is going to -- are these improvements for the men's side of the facility, or does it work that way? So just the entire facility, or are we able to drill down into that? Because it seems odd that we're going to spend $398,000 and -- well, $398,000 on a facility that we're planning on shuttering. Thank you.

Thank you. And what is the economic -- or the department's analysis of economic multipliers related to this funding? Thank you.