Caroline Cochrane

Absolutely. The land claims for all of the Indigenous governments are critical, and Salt River is no different than any other one. We have a trilateral working group. They have met twice already since the beginning of this term, and the official steering committee has met even more regularly. They are meeting regularly already. If the Salt River First Nation is interested in advancing the treaty settlement agreement with Canada, it might be time that we want to sit down and talk about other strategic approaches to working with the federal government. We're open to working with the Salt River...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories is not a party to the Salt River treaty settlement agreement. It's a party to Schedule B. The agreement is between the federal government and Salt River, but Schedule B, which is attached to the agreement, addresses the transfer of Commissioner's lands to Canada. It also talks about the Appendix C as regarding the programs and services that you will receive on the reserve. A trilateral working group has been formed to undertake the discussions pursuant to the terms of reference that have been agreed upon by Canada, the GNWT...

I think that Members would agree that this government has been trying to work on our communications as we go forward. Out of that, and I'm not even sure if we have a policy on that, but my understanding is any employee in the Government of the Northwest Territories should be reaching out to their applicable stakeholders, if that is in their position and direction from their managers. If it's something that's politically sensitive or inappropriate, there is a chain of command, and that's why managers make those. However, excuse me if I use an example, if it's an income support worker...

Journalists often pick up the phone and phone our departments. In fact, they sometimes get a hold of me. Again, it's not about trying to keep secrets. It's about processes. When you talk about the Akaitcho, when you talk about land claim agreements and stuff, there is a risk that those are partnerships between my department, the Government of the Northwest Territories, and Indigenous governments. We have to be very careful what we're saying in those. It would be more appropriate to go through a Minister for that to make sure, if there is anything controversial, then I'd certainly want to call...

This is critical. I mean, it's too bad COVID-19 hit, because people need to go into the communities and see how people are living. The Regular Member, while she was a chief, did take me to the reserve and showed me some of the issues that they were seeing, and I advocate that, as soon as possible, all Members do that. Absolutely. I've already written a letter of support to the Salt River First Nation when they put in the proposals for these shovel-ready projects, so that is a commitment that I've already done and will carry forward. However, I can't commit to bringing it to the weekly meetings...

Again, to my knowledge, the government isn't a party to the land entitlement claim because it's a reserve. We don't have authority on that agreement, but we do have the appendixes. Appendix A, which is talking about the land, is actually done, in my understanding. It's Appendix C that is about programs and services.

We're more than willing to work with Salt River on this. I think the MLA would know that, when I was the Minister of housing in the last Assembly, for many years, housing had not been provided on that reserve, and I stood up and said, "We need to provide services to that reserve."...

Mr. Speaker, the COVID-19 pandemic is a global crisis on a level the world has not seen in generations. Taking action to slow its spread and protect public health has required leadership from all levels of government. Today, I would like to highlight the work that has been done by the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs and the Emergency Management Organization in response to COVID-19. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, or MACA, has the mandated responsibility for public safety within the Northwest Territories. To accomplish this, MACA houses the Emergency Management...

I have to give you both. Yes, they are allowed to travel across Canada. The charter right gives the mobility right to travel into any jurisdiction. No, once they hit the border and are across our border in the NWT, at that point our CPHO, our Chief Public Health Officer, has the authority to restrict travel as she sees fit. Yes, they can come across the border. When they put one step in our border, it's our jurisdiction.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Right now, we're in phase 1 of the Emerging Wisely, and we have kind of limited the amount of travel. Phase 2 is going to be coming out this Friday. The Chief Public Health Officer will be announcing those orders. Hopefully tomorrow and Thursday I'll be getting more information on them, as well. Again, I'm very cautious about what I ask her for. I do not want her to think that I am imposing my will on her. It's a very delicate line. We will be talking about those issues as we talk to her. At this point, we have been paying for the isolation units. As we open up phase 2...

We've asked to meet with the Chief Public Health Officer, but we're really conscious that we can't have any political influence on her. The act stipulates that it is her responsibility once the Minister assigns her that title. How we work is that, often, the orders come out. Before they come out, hopefully, she will meet with us, and then we try to figure out what we need to do to implement those orders. She is in charge of making the orders herself. She is in charge of the enforcement herself, but there are issues that need to be addressed, such as the borders. That isn't her concern; that's...