Frieda Martselos

Mr. Speaker, today is the one-year anniversary of the tornado that hit the community of Fort Smith. It was a devastating event for a family in Fort Smith, and I just want to ask the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation when the file is going to be concluded for this family in the community of Fort Smith. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I think a positive message is important to the students of the Northwest Territories. What message does the Department of Human Resources have for the territory's students who have missed out on potential job opportunities by the Government of the Northwest Territories this year?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we enter phase 2 of Emerging Wisely, I would like to know if the Minister has plans to end the hiring freeze and hire more summer students this year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I have no further comments.

Acknowledgement by the Government of the Northwest Territories is extremely important in this file. It's a way of acknowledging the missing and murdered women, and it's a designation that would be unique. It shows us that we care. I'm not asking for it to go to a committee because I just saw the whole thing with the Victims Assistance Fund. A lot of families are still hurting from a lot of the whole events that took place, and justice hasn't been served. I want you to think about that as the Minister of Justice. I think it's extremely important that we acknowledge this. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Can the Minister explain when the last time an evaluation was conducted to determine whether the Government of the Northwest Territories is providing our firefighters with the best resources available for addressing wildfires?

Mr. Speaker, I would like to address the issue of capital spending in the NWT, specifically for Fort Smith. I would like to see a new territorial fire centre for the NWT to replace the existing fire centre in Fort Smith. As we all know, the NWT fire centre has the important role of being the first responders to any territorial forest fires. Not only does the fire centre operate across the NWT, but the fire centre also has signed agreements to assist with large forest fires across Canada, as well as internationally.

Geographically, the South Slave region is the northern-most part of the Boreal...

[Microphone turned off].

Thank you, Madam Chair. We have been here eight months now. I don't know when we are going to stop using the excuse of being a new Minister or a new whatever because I voted for a lot of the people on the other side. I voted for them because I knew they had capabilities. Using the excuse all the time that they are a new Minister and not being able to answer the questions is no longer an excuse. Are we going to be doing this until Christmas or next year or whenever? I just want to make sure that we are all clear on that.

With that, I am excited about this page, also, 203. Business Development...

Can the Department of ENR confirm whether the NWT does, in fact, have the latest technologies and equipment that is needed in addressing the wildfire safety of all of our communities and resources?