Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Mr. Chair. So on February the 9th, 2021, it's over a year ago, the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources announced that the terms of reference for the NWT Climate Change Council were finished. Council seems to have met a few times but I don't even know who sits on the council. There's no web page. There's no nothing in terms of products, communications. Is there actually a climate change council in place? And who sits on it? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. And look, no disrespect to the deputy minister; I know he's very hard working, I just need to get a political commitment from my colleagues across the aisle.

So I'm a bit surprised to hear that nobody really knows if we actually have a formula for calculating this on an annual basis and that it's not reported annually. So my suggestion, recommendation, is that whatever the formula is, that it should be transparent and that it should be recalculated on an annual basis. And I imagine that this is something like, it was done in 2014 with the Northwest Territories Association of...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Well, I'm sure we could clear some of these other items from the agenda. No, more seriously, Mr. Chair, I move that the chair rise and report progress. Mahsi.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yeah, the first item on page 27 is reduce the funding gap by $5 million. Do we actually have a formula to calculate what the funding gap is at any point in time? Is it transparent? Is it reported annually? Sorry, there's two or three questions there but I'd like to find out more about how this is actually calculated. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that response. And maybe the last line I have here is about there's supposed to be some sort of a new program that's outlined on page 52, the second from the bottom row, some new income assistance program that's tailored to seniors and persons living with disabilities and it's supposed to be launched in 2023.

I've heard about this now several times. So is there any progress that's being made here, and what sort of program are we talking about? Is this going to be through the tax system? Is it going to be a some sort of means tested or income tested, you...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I'll try that one more time. So the two agreements concluded as the milestone, is that beyond the two draft transboundary agreements? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to double check that on page 52 it says that the NWT Seniors Strategy is going to be developed by June 2022. That doesn't really leave a lot of time between now and then. I just wanted to check on whether we're still on schedule for that. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

And look, my I know that the Member the Minister was very passionate about this when she was on this side of the House. I just want to make sure that we allow for enough time to do a good job, not a quick job, and I'm sure the Minister will agree with me on that. So I'd like to hear about that....

Merci, Monsieur le President. Committee would like to consider Tabled Document 56719(2) and Minister's Statement 20219(2). Mahsi.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Sorry, this is very cumbersome. When is that going to happen? When is this new version of the executive council handbook with the new tool for climate change going to be made public? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. Of course, there are other children that may not get covered by these negotiations, but I'll just park that one for now.

The auditor general in that report was not complimentary of how we have been carrying out child and family services. The report of this House or one of the standing committees that supported a child and youth advocate with regard to the auditor general's report, so. When does the Minister actually expect that we could ever establish an Office of Child and Youth Advocate for the Northwest Territories? Mahsi...