Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Today, we anticipate that the territory will move into phase 2 of the Emerging Wisely Plan, and that will enable a greater degree of freedom for NWT residents and a greater range of economic activity to resume. My question is: in what circumstances would we have to return to phase 1 or even to lockdown? Thank you.

This news release is news to me. It's news to my colleagues on this side of the House. I haven't seen it reported in the media. We still are left with a situation where the government has created a council for which we have no public information. I don't know where this news release is. Is it possible for you to tell us now who is on the council, what their mandate is, and when they're going to meet again?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My first set of questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. The Minister announced the creation of a Business Advisory Council almost three months ago, and, when questioned in the House on May the 27th, she said, "We definitely commit to having an open and transparent and collaborative government" with respect to telling us the details of the Business Advisory Council. With that in mind, it's my understanding that the council has met at least once. Can the Minister now tell us who is on the council? Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There has been an unexpected silver lining resulting from the pandemic lockdown, and that's a significant decrease in greenhouse gas emissions. Flying, commuting, power generation, and industrial production have all fallen dramatically. A study in the journal "Nature" estimates global emissions have decreased by 17 percent and, in Canada, by 20 per cent. That reduction puts Canada almost halfway to meeting its Paris Accord targets that will hold global warming at 1.5 degrees.

Mr. Speaker, experts warn this change is likely going to be short-lived. When work and travel...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for that. I find the answer a little troubling, because we don't have the opportunity to question the Chief Public Health Officer in public, but we are holding the Executive Council responsible for the management of the pandemic, and they are, of course, taking advice from the Chief Public Health Officer. Where does the accountability lie on the decision to move backwards through the Emerging Wisely Plan, and how is Executive Council involved in that decision-making? Thank you.

Thank you to the Minister for that response. I am looking for more specific information. How many cases would force us to reverse phase 2 or phase 1? Is there any consideration about where those cases would be located to drive this decision?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My apologies. Thank you to the Minister for that information. The point is not that the information should be provided privately to me or to my colleagues but that this council that was put into being by the government should be made known to the public. This council wouldn't exist without the government, so the government has a responsibility to tell the public what this council is about and who is on it. You have just mentioned some names and what their mandate is. I'm sure you appreciate that there's a lot of interest in this council. There is some potential to make...

The public doesn't know anything about this council. They don't know who is on it. They don't know the terms of reference. They don't know that they've met or when they will meet again. In the spirit of transparent and collaborative government which you have committed yourself to, can you please make the public aware of the details of this Business Advisory Council today?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think that most of us are aware that the best thing that we can do for our children is have them in licensed childcare. It promotes their personal development and their school readiness. It also allows, usually mothers, but in some cases, fathers, to return to the workforce and continue to support their families and have the personal fulfillment of work. This is really a critical service that we offer the population of the Northwest Territories. Every dollar that is spent on children under five is a savings for expenses further down the road because it gives them the...

Thank you, Madam Chair. This recommendation has taken on particular importance today now that the Minister of Health and Social Services has shared modelling numbers of the number of potential hospitalizations, the number of potential cases, the number of potential deaths. We obviously need to be on top of our testing and contact tracing game. I know there has been a lot of testing to date, but that's based on five cases. If we end up with a hundred cases, a thousand cases, we need to be ready. The purpose of this recommendation is really to encourage the Minister to continue working with the...