Caroline Cochrane

Thank you, Madam Chair. At this moment, I am not willing to make that commitment because I need some time to think about it. It is too rushed to make that commitment. We have a whole bunch of Indigenous governments that are at the table. Am I going to pick and choose or have one of each? Then when does it become a land claim negotiation versus a joint oversight committee? I am not ready at this minute to make that commitment. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Minister of ENR would like to take this question.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is the goal for the Government of the Northwest Territories. Again, I am sorry if I get passionate too much, but this is my passion. We will have 100 new homes, and 100 people will be moved into homeownership. The Indigenous governments, that is aside. The previous government with housing was always saying to the federal government, "Give us the money, and we will put it out there." This government, I have met with the federal government; I have met with Ministers; I have met with our Prime Minister. We have a different tone. I want houses in the North. I have been...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I had earlier said that I am glad to have a lawyer in the House. I am glad to have a few lawyers in the House. To answer the lawyer's question, I will allow Martin to answer that. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is pretty conservative. Again, I realize that some people are going to be judging us in two years on the mandate to see if it's accomplished or changed, and other people are going to be judging us and trying to take us out of our seats, so I purposely have done that. I know that; that's fair.

There is no way, actually, to say that we will have ten jobs in this one and ten jobs in that one. Once we open up just the public housing alone, it might just flood. We've got people, I know, that are making slippers. I'm going to be careful here, because I buy my wood from...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I already said that relationships were critical. I have to recognize that one negotiator at one table might seem like the worst person in the world, and the next table, they might be the best. I have seen that because I have had people come to me and say, "You need to fire So-and-so." Then I went and met with another Indigenous government, and they said, "That is the best person we ever had." What it tells me is: we need to have more than one negotiator and be willing to move them up. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I do know that there is a funding formula that is worked on with the NWT Association of Communities. We work closely with them on this. They represent all communities. All communities have a say in that organization, but I will commit to actually finding out more information for the Member. All I know is that we work with them, they help us allocate, and they represent all communities. They allocate where the monies go to, and that is done in partnership. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. There was quite a bit said. What I heard, though, was clearly "people, people, people," and I think that that's reflected in our mandate. I think all of the Cabinet is very people-focused but recognizing still that you have got to have a strong economy and to support social programs. Anyone that's in the social program area field knows that there's got to be money to pay for programs. You have to have a balance.

I heard: if everything's a priority, then nothing's a priority. It's a very wise saying that has been around for centuries, and I think it's true. I think that...

Thank you, Madam Chair. What I can commit to: as soon as we get the working group in the summer of 2020, the first conversation we'll put on the table is, do you want an AIP or an MOU or a terms of reference to be able to do this? That, I can commit to and work from that. I'm not seeing that we're downloading it and we're going to say, "This is all about you." What I'm saying is that we need to make sure that they are the voices that we're listening to, not just a whole bunch of bureaucrats. Because we all agree, I think, that just having a whole bunch of bureaucrats do it might not be the...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Our commitment is to getting 125 jobs in small communities. This is not talking about Yellowknife or bigger regions. We can't control the market and who's going to move and come, but what I can say is that there is a lot less mobility going south, people, residents, leaving from small communities than there are from Yellowknife or larger centres. This goal is specifically for small communities. There is less migration out of small communities outside of the territories. They tend to come to Yellowknife or Inuvik. Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I think the Minister...