Caroline Cochrane

Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, at this point, I've been focusing on building relationships and, so far, Madam Chair, it's working quite well. Like I said, governments that said, "We don't want anything to do with you," are coming back to the table. Trust is critically important, and the belief in the leader is critically important. We don't have any specific work groups or anything that are working on that, except, Madam Chair, we have the Indigenous reconciliation committee that, Madam Chair, you are the chair of, and part of that goal is to, within the term of this government, give us...

Actually, I do believe that the ministerial travel is posted on the website and is available to all Members already. I think it has been done. My understanding is that no Minister, as I said, has left the territories since COVID-19. The only Minister who actually left the territories when COVID started was myself, as Premier, at the beginning of COVID, when I was down there and I got hit. Sorry, I have been corrected. There was a Minister, again, who left because of extenuating circumstances, but not during the Christmas period. That record is public. That record can be obtained. If the Member...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, that's impossible to do, to say that. I have given direction to my department. When the Indigenous governments are at the table and ready to negotiate, ready to talk, we're there. Put everything aside and make it your priority. When the Indigenous governments say, "Back off," we back off. So, out of respect, Madam Chair, I can't give a timeline. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As our Government House Leader raised in the point of order, it is inappropriate to speak about people who are not in the House. I will not speak about the people who left because of extenuating circumstances. What I will speak about is to the process. Ministers are directly responsible for approving leave for their deputy ministers. However, in saying that, deputy ministers have to notify, but they are responsible for their own. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. If you're so happy, that means that that's your one ask for all of the MLAs? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, COVID-19 is a time of exceptional situations. I do agree with the Member that we need to be flexible. If the organizations that don't traditionally access this don't need all of the funding, then yes, I think that we should be able to do other wellness events. Indigenous rights and treaties, et cetera, are critically important, but if they are not going to access it all, we should be looking at other events. Cultural events, I'll call them, so that they fit within my line budget. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I do remember this. It was in the last Assembly, and I was part of that Assembly. The original intent of the $250,000 was to actually build capacity for the friendship centres so that they could access other sustainable funding. The goal was that they would hire a coordinator, and that person's job would be to actually solidify funding. Sadly, Madam Chair, I am not sure if that happened as much, but what I can say is that the friendship centre has met with Cabinet, has presented to us on their needs. My worry is that that it's more than just throwing money. We need to...

I will give direction to the Ministers during the Cabinet meeting. I can make a commitment to do that, that they should talk to their senior officials in every department and do try to talk about client services and how we can best work with people. I do think that all Ministers recognize that. I know that they're trying to do that. We're open to ideas, like I said. The combining of one release of information form that was brought from this Assembly from Regular Members, give credit where credit is due, was a phenomenal thing, in my opinion.

We have work to do. The integrated case management...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is a concern. I know, from my own history of being a social worker, that there are issues to the government. All government programs are meant to provide services to the people based on the needs of people. Because the government is so big sometimes, they do actually end up working in silos. Over the years, we have tried many things to address this issue. We have multiple working groups. We have committees of Cabinet where members from different departments sit together. We are looking at an integrated case management service with the Department of Justice. Within...

There is no arguing with the Member. She is absolutely right. It would be really nice if people could stop and hit one service centre and be able to get their answers addressed and the services they need and to actually not have to walk to the next government office two blocks or five blocks away, whatever it may be, that they could pick up the phone. That is the goal of the government, eventually.

Giving credit in the last Assembly when they started the integrated case management program, that was the goal, that it would become a pilot project, and from that work, which we're just concluding...