R.J. Simpson

Thank you. So we've been working, you know, now for a year trying to work with Ottawa and, you know, experiencing success in some areas, less success in other areas, and it was clear that there was a need for, you know, a different approach or augmenting the current approach, so not even going to say necessarily different. I don't want to get into an individual public servant's resume on the floor of the House, but the individual in the position has significant experience working in Government of Canada, in various departments at various levels in the Government of the Northwest Territories...

Thank you. So the NGO stabilization fund that -- previously with Department of MACA is one of the line items that we have inherited as we work towards integrating services across government starting with how we work with the NGO sector. And so for now, this year, it is a status quo for that NGO stabilization fund, but we are planning on engaging with the NGO sector to determine how we move forward with the suite of programs that we really use to support this sector right now, and that work is to begin this year. Thank you.

There's as many people in the executive hallway now as there were when we started. Thank you.

Thank you. I am glad the Member has such confidence that this budget is going to be approved; I appreciate that. And I appreciate the Member's advocacy. I know the Sahtu has the highest cost of living in the Northwest Territories and, you know, we do have a number of programs to fund, you know, food, whether it's funding for a food bank, whether it's funding that goes directly to schools, or whether it's other programs we have that allow for some sort of, you know, food distribution under them. And so we do have a lot of that. We are also engaged with the federal government on the Nutrition...

I'll hand it to the deputy minister.

Thank you. So the senior envoy is not a new person. It's the same person who is in a different role. We have an associate deputy minister with Housing NWT and an associate deputy minister with the health care system sustainability unit. And those are the senior positions that have been recently added. Although I'll note that the associate deputy minister position already existed in Housing NWT. Thank you.

Thank you. And there's a lot to unpack here so I'll start with the -- you know, the homelessness piece and why it's here. And as I mentioned, it was about integrating services. And so we have integrated service delivery and we have basically the homelessness file, and we were attempting to -- we are attempting to advance integrated service delivery through working on the homelessness file. And the reason it's -- this integrated service delivery and homelessness are in EIA is because integrated service delivery was formerly under the Department of Justice, and it's tough to get people to listen...

Yes, thank you very much. And so, you know, we do have access to some of the same academic advice that that advisory council is receiving. We are looking at developing a -- sort of a public basic policy around defence. I mean, we're not tasked with national defence, but it's clearly being put -- thrust in the spotlight and we need to be able to deal with it, so we're looking at how do we best do that in a very structured manner and what are the interests of our jurisdiction in that world. And also, you know, the Yukon, they do have their council, but we have the Joint Task Force North...

The position of principal secretary is currently vacant, and as we move forward with this new arrangement, we will see how things go and what the future holds. I can't say one way or another what the future of the principal secretary position is. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So in the past, there have been attempts at integrating services in the GNWT, and they haven't been successful, and so a few years ago the GNWT went out and they worked with a contractor to look at those efforts and a path forward, and what the recommendation was and, you know, was -- I think it was widely accepted among those in government who were working on this initiative as well was that instead of trying to integrate everything at once, well, they start with a specific area and build from there. And so homelessness was that area. You know, at the time it was a, you...