Katrina Nokleby

I don't have another question, but I am just going to take a moment to plug for the seniors. I don't think that we should do the income testing because I think they contribute in so many other ways, and we do want them to stay. As one pointed out to me, we get $37,000 a year for them, so I will just leave it at that. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Would the department or the Minister characterize that the trend is going, across all those programs, towards income testing, or what is their feel about what is going to happen?

Thank you, Madam Chair. My question is around the assessment or legislation to do with the property tax for seniors. I have had several constituents reach out to me about what the department is going to do to help them should the municipality assess their properties at a higher value than they have in the past, whether or not there is going to be some help there or some control. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just more of a comment, again, I want to reiterate that I think that that is a key area and very important to be providing those supports to SAOs because I do think that high turnover rate of SAOs seems to be affecting the North. Like the conversation we have had with the teachers, it is way better to retain people we already have with northern knowledge than trying to retrain and bring up people all the time from the South. More of a comment than anything. Thank you.

I am really glad to hear that, particularly the idea of critiquing things that have happened in the past and looking at things through a new lens. My next question is a little bit redundant like the first, but I would like to know what the GNWT is doing. We have seen a lot of evidence of police brutality, derogatory treatment, and incarceration of Black and Indigenous people across the country and here in the North. What is the GNWT doing itself, or internally, to address anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism in law enforcement and in the criminal justice system?

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for that. It's more just me trying to learn, sometimes, what the budgets are and how the GNWT operates. More of a comment. I just want to say that I think it's actually great to see increased budget to A Brilliant North, and I do also support the School of Community Government. I hear what my colleague is saying, but this, to me, seems like internal training, almost, for community members, a way to train community members on the operations of the government. Maybe I could ask if that's a correct assumption to make in this area. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to take advantage of the Minister being responsible for both ECE and Justice and, as well, make him answer a few questions that his colleague, the Minister of Finance, may have input on. My first question is: what is the Minister doing to work with local organizations, such as BACupNorth, in addressing systemic racism, not only in the public service, but also in the criminal justice system across our territory? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you for that. I agree that we don't want to just give people money and set them up for failure. However, to go from such a large amount to nothing, and then just from the conversation that I have had with them, it sounds like this is hurting them and their bottom line and their ability to deliver services. While maybe that $250,000 was a one-time thing to do a certain role, they are crying out for money and funding. They provide good services, so I would like to encourage the Cabinet to think about adding a line here at least to give them some additional funds, particularly in light of...

Mr. Speaker, yesterday marked the United Nations' International Day of Women and Girls in Sciences; sadly, something I wasn't aware of until after I had done my Member's statement for the day. However, as I think every day we should be focused on this important topic, I've decided to speak on it today, as well.

My career prior to politics, for those who may not be aware, was in engineering, and one of my passions in life is advancing the opportunities for women and non-binary people in the field of science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM. You may have heard me quote the statistic in...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would actually even ask maybe a little bit further, if this funding is not accessed for specifically National Indigenous Peoples Day or the Treaty Days, that you do just open it up as a general pot to the communities to put on well-being events or high spirits type of events. I can't get my language right after five days of this. I really do think that the more the government can do to raise the spirits of our people by funding events in communities, that will not only put dollars into those communities, they have an effect of raising people's spirits, and I think...