Katrina Nokleby

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to today to express my thanks to the communities of Fort Simpson and Jean Marie River for my recent visit to the Deh Cho to have a look at how things were shaping up ahead of the recent flooding. I wanted to thank the interim Grand Chief for the Deh Cho, Stanley Sanguez, for taking time to speak with me, as well as the LKFN Chief Kele Antoine, and Chief Nolene Hardisty of Jean Marie River who made her staff available for me.

In addition, I'd also like to thank the municipal staff, Mayor Sean Whelly of Fort Simpson, as well as the shelter operator...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are around negotiated contracts and are for the Premier.

The Negotiated Contracts Policy allows the Government to negotiate contracts outside the competitive contract process. The policy also requires the government to disclose some information on its negotiated contracts, but not enough for this House to assess whether each negotiated contract is serving its purpose: To deliver benefits that competitive contracting wouldn’t, or to build capacity of Northern businesses.

Please provide a list of all negotiated contracts awarded by or completed...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm really glad to hear all of that. I'm glad to actual numbers of units, including the YWCA. I think the Minister knows I've always been a strong proponent of the work that they do.

I'm just going to throw the Minister a bit of a curve ball here and ask how is she ensuring that while this work is being done that we are ensuring that northern manufacturers are having the ability to participate in this work.

I know that there's been an ongoing conversation around foundation designs and basically RFPs scoping out northern businesses by being very specific in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a Regular Member, I’ve repeatedly asked the Minister of Health about the state of our residents’ mental health and the supports available to them. And time and time again, the Minister has denied what is blatantly obvious to most residents of this territory that we are in a mental health crisis.

Mr. Speaker, the issues facing this territory and the deeply ingrained trauma experienced by our people is not going to go away by logging onto some app or calling a crisis line. People need real supports that include inperson counselling, culturallyappropriate...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Minister for her responses. And she knows we'll all be holding her to task about those comments.

My last question is just a little bit of a side tangent as well. But recently I was in Fort Simpson, and I noted that there were a couple units there that were under construction that had been impacted recently by fire. And when I spoke with people in town, they told me that they were RCMP housing that was being constructed by the Housing Corp.

So my understanding is that due to this vandalism, that the work has stopped. And I'm just wondering if the Minister...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm so excited about the road conversation. I kind of want to throw my questions out the window and keep at the Minister of Infrastructure. But I'm going to move on to the Minister of Housing.

My first question is around the recently purchased Nordic Arms. Could the Minister tell me if any public or housing clients have been moved into that unit as of today. Thank you.

Against.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure regarding the Inuvik Airport.

When I hear the Minister say that the delay at this point is around funding, I find myself quite confused considering the announcement of $150 million was made in 2019. Can the Minister speak to why the conversation about funding, particularly when we would be breaking this project up into phases and different work packages, would be waiting as of now two years three years later. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In favour.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to provide some clarity around the issues at the Inuvik Airport. Media has reported that the need to dig a trench is the issue; however, it appears upon further investigation this is not correct. The real issue with the airport project and why a delay now could cost this construction year has to do with the permafrost our coldhearted friend that causes so many headaches for engineers and contractors in the North.

Due to ground conditions, construction of the runway expansion in Inuvik requires that the design and construction factor in the...