R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are consultation guidelines, and we follow those. You know, there's some places across Canada, they might not think that those are very clear, those Section 35 consultation requirements. We understand those here in the Northwest Territories, and we consult whenever we are required to, and beyond that, when we're not required to because we want to be good partners. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can take this back, I can have conversations. But I think we're going to need to involve the Member, involve Tlicho leadership, so that we can get a better understanding of what people are looking for. This is the kind of thing that there needs to be real discussions about. Here on the floor of the House, just spitballing ideas is not -- I don't think it's going to come to the solution that people want, and it's not something that the Department of Justice can say here's what we're going to do going forward. Whatever is done, it needs to be done in a collaborative...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's a big question. It's a tough one for me to stand up here and answer. I don't want to direct any student to go out and -- or former students to do anything that would, you know, potentially re-traumatize them. If the Member has some sort of proposals -- she knows her community much better than I do -- can provide some guidance on what exactly the former students were looking for, I am happy to see how we can work together on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So we have committed to provide Lutselk'e with funds for different purposes over the past couple of years, and those monies have flowed. There's perhaps other requests for funds that were not commitments but requests. That being said, I want to ensure that we are working to improve our relationship with the community of Lutselk'e. I have been invited to the Akaitcho Assembly. I responded saying I will attend the Akaitcho Assembly in Lutselk'e. So that's an opportune time to go there, speak with residents and speak with leadership, and I look forward to spending some...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have a couple of visitors from Fort Smith here today, and their MLA is out representing the territory on the national stage, so I'd like to, on his behalf, recognize Mildred Martin and Rashmi Patel and welcome them to the Assembly. As well, I would like to recognize Marie Wilson, one of the Commissioners of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

-- point of order --

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe Housing NWT does their own infrastructure acquisition, so this would be directed to the Minister of housing. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Absolutely, they get paid to do that. When we develop legislation, it's done with Members of this Assembly. As I've said before, when things are said in this House, when we get letters from committee, when Ministers are in front of committee, that's feedback. MLAs don't need a special designated time to provide feedback. They can always provide feedback. That is their role. Once we develop a legislative proposal, which is the first step in creating legislation after identifying a need, that legislative proposal is sent to the Standing Committee on Accountability and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, we have a negotiated contracts policy in the Northwest Territories. That is to support companies or Indigenous governments that are -- to help them gain capacity. Generally, for the first, you know, few times when there's not that capacity and they can't necessarily compete with other companies, there's an opportunity to enter into a negotiated contract and support them. There's -- it has been used differently across the territory, and there's some instances where a single company might get a negotiated contract for 5, 10, 15, 20 years in a row. And we can't...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's not a small question. A lot of the work that we do involves Indigenous governments. That's the reason work gets done. I can point to a number of areas where we've collaborated and improved relationships. I always start with the Council of Leaders, a place where all the different leaders in the territory, Cabinet, Indigenous leaders, can come together and actually discuss issues. And those discussions inform Cabinet decisions. They inform how I operate. And so right there, that level of communication doesn't exist anywhere else in Canada, in any other jurisdiction...