Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, would the Premier consider a more personal and compassionate approach to helping the communities of Fort Simpson and Jean Marie River with appointing a disaster navigator with a team to help both communities for a positive recovery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hear the MLA talking about we need to be more compassionate and personal with people, and I heard the MLA say that as well during the presentation the other day, that, when we were looking at the flooding. And I agree. And, Mr. Speaker and the Minister agrees as well, the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. She has already said that we need to humanize our services there. So I do think that we need to have a more compassionate way of working with people. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, in my discussions with Chief Jerry Antoine, he said the Government of the Northwest Territories needs to establish a singular point of contact between Fort Simpson and the Premier's office to ensure better communications are established immediately, and he wants this contact to be someone in a position of authority. Will the Premier establish that point of contact? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Thebacha. Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, I do know Chief Antoine does have my number, and any chief can actually call me at any time. They also know that it's difficult to reach me during the days, and I think that's what the issue might be more so.
But, again, I did hear them. And I did have conversations with the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, and both of us agree that we need to be more concerned about the people on the ground. So we did have conversations, and we are looking. Actually, we will be bringing in either I'm not sure what the term is, a pathfinder, a system's navigator, somebody on the ground, Mr. Speaker, that actually can help people navigate the systems.
It's horrible what they must be going through, and it's horrible to lose your home, and then have to figure out the bureaucracy is not acceptable. So we've had those discussions and we will be bringing that forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, Chief Antoine said that this is a very simple request, but it is urgent. He also said they already have professional technicians on restoration ready to go. They need the guarantee to recoup the costs.
Will the Premier guarantee that the Government of the Northwest Territories will help the affected communities recoup all costs, such as labour, material, equipment, et cetera pertaining to flood restoration? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's a little bit harder of an answer to give. There's all kinds of factors that need to be taken into consideration when looking at costs. There's amounts the federal government will cover. There's also some people in communities do have insurance, and some people don't. Those things have to be taken into consideration as well.
What I can say, Mr. Speaker, is that the officials are meeting this weekend, and also Cabinet is going to meet this weekend to discuss about the flooding and what we can do to support as well.
So I'm looking forward to figuring out what we can do, but, again, it's not so easy just to say that we'll cover everything when there may be other factors, such as insurance agencies that might be able to take account, and Federal Government, in some communities, some of those housings are Band housing versus or Federal housing versus GNWT housing. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Final supplementary. Member for Thebacha.
Mr. Speaker, Chief Antoine's concluding remark was, mahsi, and thank you for being there. Premier, the ball is now in your court. I told Chief Antoine that I would request you call him after session today about these matters. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's an easy commitment. Absolutely, I can. All chiefs out there know that they can reach me. My life is pretty basic, go to work and go home. So they can reach me any evening and every weekend.
And I will make the commitment that I will call Chief Antoine this evening. If not Chief Antoine, I don't know what will happen, but tomorrow at the latest. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Honourable Premier. Oral questions. Member for Great Slave.
