R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Madam Chair. So I'm I have some questions about this. So this is stating that each Regular Member shall sit on a minimum of two committees in addition to the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight. So it says every Regular Member shall sit on the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight. And so if a Member is not sitting on the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight, they're in violation of the rules I suppose. So I wonder what would be the redress if they were in violation of those rules? I know we don't have witnesses here but this is just...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is a lot of engagement to come. So after we get the report back from the phase 2 environmental assessment, that'll determine the next steps. And before there's any shovels in the ground, there will be a significant amount of engagement, hopefully partnerships with Indigenous governments, hopefully economic opportunities that will be realized. So with only, you know, a couple weeks left here, I can't make any commitments to go out and, you know, do more engagement on this. But all of that work will happen. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A number of sites were looked at. There's a number of different options for postsecondary campuses. Some campuses are all located in one area. Some are located in downtowns with buildings located on different blocks of the city. And so the model that was chosen for the for Aurora College North Slave Campus was a model where we wanted to be close to downtown, close to transit, close to places that people can live, but all in one place so that students can live near the school and somewhere near, you know, outdoor areas as well, so that people maybe coming from the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government did exempt a significant amount of the federal supports that were provided to residents by the Government of Canada. We made clear that certain income from the government would be deducted. And so there should be no reason now why income support is clawing anything back because those residents would have claimed that they were receiving that income at that time. I'll also note that although it is delayed, the rollout of the new income assistance program, this government has increased income has approved increases to income assistance that we haven't...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not quite clear what the Member is referencing, what he means by disability payments. I'm going to need a bit more detail on this. I know that the folks who administer income assistance, they are as compassionate as they can be. We do have regulations. And so they must the program is regulated and so they must follow those regulations. It is the law. And so while they are compassionate as they can be, there are some parameters that they have to follow. So I'm happy to look into this further. And if the Member can provide a bit more concrete information about what...

Thank you, Madam Chair. So right now there already is a vote. There's not a motion, but there's a vote, if there is a bill that is deemed not ready to go into Committee of the Whole. Someone will call that bill if they want, and then the committee will vote whether or not they want to bring it to Committee of the Whole. So, you know, during this Assembly, we have lengthened the amount of time it takes to get through legislation through additional, you know, public processes, Intergovernmental Council processes, the protocols that we've signed. And going forward in future Assemblies, I imagine...

Yeah, no, I mentioned we don't have witnesses. I just wanted to bring this to the House's attention. I'm not asking any questions as there's no one to ask. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Operating Plans for the Northwest Territories Education Bodies for the 20232024 School Year Ending June 30th, 2024. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've met with chiefs from Yellowknife on a number of occasions to discuss the economic opportunities that could arise from the North Slave Campus. It is much too early to nail down what those might be. And it's difficult to plan to make a longterm plan when, you know, a part of that plan the land that we could potentially use is sort of unknown what the status of it will be. Perhaps, you know, a future Indigenous government doesn't want wouldn't want to partner with the college. However, I'm very open to that. I think that would be great. You know, when we do things...

Thank you. And there's been comments about protecting, you know, other protecting governments. The legislation's not about protecting governments, it's about ensuring that workers get paid. And the GNWT is not an entity that we're worried about being insolvent. There's not a concern that the GNWT won't pay their bills. There's you know, we hear concerns from the Members about when the bills get paid, but the issue isn't that they won't get paid. Thank you.