Richard Edjericon

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I had the privilege of chairing the Mackenzie Valley Impact Review Board for six years, and I had also the privilege of working with the Yukon Environmental Assessment the Yukon Environmental Social Economic Assessment Board and also the Nunavut Impact Review Board. Amongst these three boards, I was able to work with them to create an MOU so we could work together and share information. But at the same time here in the Northwest Territories, I chaired many environment assessment projects here and so I understand what's happening here in the North in terms...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In October 2022, following the upsurge of deaths to suicide, the Minister of Health and Social Services acknowledged the NWT was in a mental health crisis and "expedited" the Community Suicide Prevention Fund. The Community Suicide Prevention Fund provides financial support for communitybased prevention activities. At the direction of the Minister, the Department of Health and Social Services provided funds directly without application. Committee believes this was an appropriate response. Many communities do not have the human resources capacity to write an application...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. From what I'm hearing, then, the Minister had said that we the Northwest Territories has is involved in the regulatory process for approval for development in Alberta. I'm not sure about that.

Can the Minister provide a commitment that the government will prioritize a protection of the water system in the Northwest Territories over the interests of industry and will take proactive measures to prevent contamination from industrial activities from entering the Slave water system? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Minister. When I was chairing the public review board, we dealt with Giant Mine, for example, and what we did with Giant Mine is that we had a lot of proponents that were impacted. So all Indigenous governments, the Metis, and we went through a review board assessment, environment assessment process, and we thoroughly examined that project and we made some strong recommendations and measures and that kind of thing. The thing is that the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act, the way it's set up right now, is that it doesn't address the downstream users...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you, Premier, for your answers. And I know this is a very sensitive subject, and it hits home to everybody here in the Northwest Territories. And I'm also probably one of those survivors as well. So, you know, we I guess going forward, we need to really start looking as to how we're going to start dealing with this issue as a government and start looking at how we're going to address these outstanding issues with survivors after 1969. So I'm will the Premier work with her also with her counterparts in Nunavut to ensure that all students receive adequate...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The territorial government was born in 1967. Two years later, the Indian Federal Day School of Canada transferred that responsibility to the GNWT. And I understand what the Premier's saying that the GNWT's not part of the federal class action lawsuit prior to 1969. But after 1969, the abuse continued to happen to this day. So, again, is the government aware of the total number of days day home survivors in the Northwest Territories after 1969? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too would like to recognize Michael McLeod, our MP from the Northwest Territories. I'd like to say welcome. Also I'd like to welcome Jackson Lafferty, the grand chief of the Tlicho region. Mahsi for being here. Also I want to recognize Brad Enge; I think he's in the back. And also, I'd like to recognize Sholto Douglas, and thank you for being here. And also, I want to say thank you to, again, all the translators out of here as well, including Mary Rose Sundberg, Jonas Lafferty, Tommy Unka, Marg Casaway, and our friends who have a Happy Birthday to them. Mahsi, Mr...

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I too support this motion. You know, we've been housing's a big issue here in the Northwest Territories. And, you know, in my riding in particular, you know, it's to the point where I even have to put documents and everything else on the floor here just to finally get any action. And we already know that there's big problem we actually have a housing crisis here in the Northwest Territories. We have no plan. When I take a look at what Nunavut's doing, when we take a look at what, you know, our the way we handle housing here in the Northwest Territories and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the scars of intergenerational trauma caused by residential day school continues in the present confining many Indigenous people to addiction, poor mental health, poverty. The day school program in particular has not been properly resolved and compensation is needed. Will the Premier ensure the day school survivors are compensated for trauma they suffered through day schools, in all the schools in the Northwest Territories, including my riding and also in the Tlicho region? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. All day schools and residential schools were transferred to the GNWT on April 1st, 1969. During the 1969 school year, there were 10,291 students, 541 teachers, in the Northwest Territories, including Nunavut. This jurisdiction change did not result in change in management, and the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church continued to operate each school year under a contract. And their intentions remained the same: The extinguishment of the culture and traditional way of life of Indigenous people.

The federal government has acknowledged this harm for students prior to...