Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your long pause on Yellowknife made me worry for a moment. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, during this morning, many of my colleagues had a really I'd certainly say an enormously incredible presentation provided to the committee from the NWT climate youth advisory group. And I want to use just a moment of my time saying they were a fantastic bunch of young people. They were extremely well represented by the Hay River reps, and they spoke well and clear and they had wonderful focus. I think they are truly the promise of tomorrow.
But, Mr. Speaker, when I asked them do they have funding for their advisory group and their recommendations on how they present things to the government, etcetera, they said they don't get funded. Now, they get a per diem when they meet, which is a few dollars a day, but that said, all their work goes unfunded. So my question specifically to the Minister of ECC is does the Minister recognize and respect the hard work that that little coalition is doing? Thank you very much.
Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you very much for the question. Certainly do welcome the input and respect the input from that group and all of the other groups that participate in the climate file. I think this is certainly a very challenging space right now in that we look at our rapid rate of climate change in the Northwest Territories and certainly having their input, especially of the youth, in that forum is very important. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I'm glad he and I share the same point of view of welcoming and respecting their points of view. It's critical. Mr. Speaker, if he does so, as he just said, would he find ways to work with his department to help fund this group and a territorial advisory group? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. I'm certainly always supportive of youth participation in all of government across the whole Northwest Territories, and I would definitely go back and have a discussion with the department to see what opportunities we could look at in the future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if I understand it correctly, the Arctic Council is holding its first Arctic Youth Conference in Tromso, Norway, January 2025. If I understand further, not only it's the first but -- in the sense of this type of initiative, but they've also sought funding from the federal government, although not guaranteed and certainly -- and as such, that brings me to the question to the Minister which is if their application with the federal government fails to send an NWT delegation to the Arctic Council's Youth Conference portion in Tromso, Norway, would the Minister find ways to see if he could help support their initiative whether fully or in part? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would certainly be supportive of working with the department to see what opportunities are available to support that initiative. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
