Katrina Nokleby

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, again, as I echoed, said before, I think you would definitely find support from the Regular Members for more money into that. We often talk about getting money into communities, etcetera, is better for our economy than having it sit in the government pots.

Speaking of that, the community futures – sorry, the community transfer initiatives no, I'm looking at the wrong one. What am I looking at here? Community futures, sorry. Perhaps maybe we could think of some different naming for some of these pots, but.

I note that it's at $450,000. We had given $600,000 before...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, a lot of my colleagues have already spoken about what they feel is lacking in this budget, and I think I'm pretty vocal about what I also think. So instead I wanted to focus today on the economic outlook of the Northwest Territories going forward.

The Northwest Territories economy has shaken off the effects of the COVID19 pandemic. Economic activity, output, and employment expanded throughout 2021 and 2022, recovering much of the economic loss that occurred in 2020. Labour markets have performed particularly well with resident employment and the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think that's wonderful. I'm sure the Minister's aware we had our food security panel recently and have had a couple, actually, of different presenters come in. I just really can't underscore how important food security is and that also it isn't really always, though, a money issue. So if the Minister hasn't watched or her staff hasn't watched that food panel, I would definitely recommend that they take a look at that.

My next question is just I note that there is some sunsetting here of different supports, which I would assume are because of the COVID funding etcetera...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm good.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the BF for this or as the public doesn't know, the email for this question that I've asked the Minister is not due tomorrow. It is actually overdue, and I would like that to be clarified for the record. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I'm disappointed to hear that the Minister doesn't have this answer, considering it's an outstanding request that I have into her department that I've yet to see a response for. Maybe the question is when will the Minister respond to me with my answers to my questions? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I'll make sure to follow up with the ECE Minister when he sits in the hot seat.

My last questions are around the scientific collaborative research projects. I'm always a big, big proponent of this type of work. We've only seen an increase in the number of universities and other institutes that are in the North and working and providing great collaborative relationships in that area.

Can the Minister speak a little bit more maybe to, we obviously we didn't spend anything last year it looks like but then we're back up to the 350. What do those projects entail, and do we...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, it's my understanding that work did resume on the health centre over the last while and that since then there's been a demobilization or a stop of work. Can the Minister speak to that? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I appreciate that explanation because it is something that I've never actually really delved into but kind of always wondered about. And don't get me wrong, I fully support the tourism industry and I'm super excited to see all of the return of the blue parkas around town and here at the Chamber, coming in to see the Assembly while we've been in session and such, so fully deserved to the tourism industry. They're doing great work in getting our name out there. And, you know, there is also even a crosscomponent there. You know, there is a need now for or an interest in...

Okay, so not much of an update. Can the Minister respond to whether or not Clark Builders, the contractor for that work, has demobilized from site? Thank you.