Kevin O'Reilly

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Legislative Assembly direct the Office of the Clerk to produce a reference guide for Members and staff outlining key changes and best practices to be used while sitting remotely; and further, that the Office of the Clerk be mandated to update the reference guide as needed as new practices are identified. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I do have a few comments here. In June, Members will recall that we passed changes to The Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act that now provide us with the authority to conduct remote sittings of the House. The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures was tasked with providing some guidance to the Speaker on how and why the Assembly might sit remotely and when it would appropriate for a Member to take part remotely and what changes or amendments to rules might be needed to enable all of that. The committee reviewed emerging best practices from Parliament...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that, in the event a Member loses connection while delivering a Member's statement, the Speaker ask the Member to conclude their statement once they are reconnected, provided the House has not moved to another order; and further, in the event that Members' statements have been concluded when the Member reconnects, the Member's statement would be printed in full at the end of Member's statements. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Madame la Presidente. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that Motion 24-19(2), Changes to Committee Membership be amended by adding the following: AND FURTHERMORE, whereas Mr. Steve Norn was appointed to the Special Committee on Reconciliation and Indigenous Affairs by Motion 21-19(2) on October 29, 2020;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that Mrs. Frieda Martselos replace Mr. Steve Norn as a member of the Special Committee on Reconciliation and Indigenous Affairs. Mahsi, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that, if a Minister attending remotely loses their connection when a question has been asked to that Minister, then the question shall be redirected to the Premier or designate to respond. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Madame la Presidente. I want to thank the Minister for that. I really look forward to counting carrots in the future. We are going to get some hard statistics. I spoke about how ITI's efforts on agriculture seem to be largely focused on business and commercial food production. I think that there is some real urgency in building a food security strategy here for the Northwest Territories. Can the Minister commit to developing a real food security strategy for the Northwest Territories that incorporates food self-sufficiency, including agriculture, country foods, inter-settlement trade...

Merci, Madame la Presidente. I want to thank the Minister for that. Of course, I'm going to keep pressing this issue. My next question, though, is about GNWT policies that require CSFTNO to sometimes conduct internal workplace investigations. Of course, the employees are French-speaking. The GNWT offers assistance with workplace investigations but in English only. When CSFTNO has to do this work, it costs them about $64,000 a year. Will the Minister commit to making an arrangement with CSFTNO to reimburse these additional costs or provide these services in French, [English translation not...

I am always up for a frank conversation with my friend across the Chamber. There is a proposal to renovate the current Garderie Plein Soleil daycare at a cost of approximately $1.2 million. When the first request was made, funds were available from Heritage Canada if GNWT matched the funds, but the project has been rejected twice by our government, even after Heritage Canada increased its potential funding. Can the Minister explain why the project has been rejected twice, even after Heritage Canada funding was increased?

Merci, Madame la Presidente.

[Translation] In August, the Minister of Education brought an end to years of confrontation and uncertainty for French language students and families by rescinding the Ministerial Directive on Admissions for French language schools. The Directive was too long the basis for a series of costly legal actions, and was replaced with new regulations governing admission to First French language schools.

The new regulations were warmly greeted by the Commission scolaire francophone des Territoires du Nord-Ouest, which manages École Allain St-Cyr in Yellowknife and École...

Merci, Madame la Presidente. I support part of this bill. I support the emergency leave provisions that are being brought forward. In fact, I think it probably can and should have been done as part of an omnibus bill as part of our response to the COVID pandemic.

The part of the bill that causes me great concern is the exceptions to that it may provide for large layoffs. Currently, in the Legislation, if an employer has more than 50 employees, four weeks' notice is required, eight weeks if it's between 50 and 100 employees, 12 weeks between 100 and 300, 16 weeks if it's 300 or more employees...