Katrina Nokleby

Thank you, Madam Chair. While I may disagree with my colleague about the interest in oil and gas in the region, I share his concerns with the cutting of the funding to this department or to this regulator.

While I don't want to sit here and split hairs on where the money went, where my concern lies is that with the cutting of two positions, one at least having been technical, I'm concerned that the review did not necessarily incorporate the opinion of technical people. And one of the reasons that I ran was because I felt there was an absence of scientific knowledge in decisionmaking in this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

What are the ramifications of the sixmonth gap in the contractors for the sober centre? For example, will there be additional expense incurred by the GNWT? Is the department going to retain the dozens of employees from the centre to minimize the disruption to clients? Any information that we can get would be very helpful so I can reassure my constituents. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. This is probably an area I don't know a lot about sorry, Madam Chair. An area that I don't know a lot about but, you know, we have talked a lot on the social development committee about perhaps a child's advocate. If we were to have a child advocate, does the Minister or the department think that this would then maybe take some of the strain off or relieve the need for the child's lawyer, or am I sort of just they're completely separate and not related? Thank you.

No, I'm good. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is one where, though, it's hard to say that just yeah, because maybe a number a little less or, you know, that doesn't mean that things aren't happening behind the scenes and just aren't being reported. As people are not socializing outside the home so much, there's probably less opportunities for them to have conversations with friends and family to maybe identify and be encouraged to go. I think everyone's aware of my situation in this last week, and I have been reached out to by the RCMP and by being offered victim services. It took me a bit to realize what had...

Yeah, I don't know that I blame the deputy minister. And I am trying to be respectful in how I phrase this, having obviously there's no secret to anybody that, you know, where my passion lies for women and representation. So you know, I think just being live to it is probably a big concern. And then I guess my other suggestion would be that there's some way to engage with small community with women in small communities. And perhaps that's, you know, something to look at a different Minister for but, you know, getting having maybe some specific female focus. And again, I guess I shouldn't...

Yeah, I completely agree with the Minister. I think there that there's an opportunity here for us to mind the data of this these programs to see what to inform our work around the regional economic development plans. And I see the Minister nodding his head, and I'm assuming that that is being or that information from this is being fed into that.

But maybe the Minister could speak a little bit to how that actually works, and are we really taking a full advantage of those resources in order to inform the future plans for us as a territory? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I would like to request that the Minister work with his colleague in ITI and provide us with a forecast of what is happening in the area of oil and gas such that we can evaluate properly before we get to the point where we need more money and more resources and can't hire those people for the Northwest Territories, that we have some idea of where this is going so we're not playing catchup and reaction yet again. Thank you.

Yeah, and that's what I thought it probably was. Again, I know it's a small line item but definitely one that I think is important.

I may have this a little bit mixed up so maybe I'll just ask for an explanation. But with this language proficiency testing, is this the testing that immigrant immigrants or people who are coming to the Northwest Territories that have to that are going through the immigration process need to take, their English proficiency, and is that offered here in the territory, and why is it no longer there any money there? Thank you.

Is the director executive director a technical person; does that person have a scientific background to understand this? Thank you.