Rocky Simpson

Mr. Speaker, today is the day where most government departments will require proof of vaccination from employees who wish to continue working, and for those unvaccinated employees not willing to follow PPE protocol, tomorrow they may be sent home.

Mr. Speaker, questions are asked of me as to how this government, as an employer, is going to guarantee the safety of those that are vaccinated in the workplace when working alongside someone who is not vaccinated. Could this be considered an "unusual danger" as defined in the Safety Act?

Mr. Speaker, any employee or contractor has the right to have...

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I support this bill as well. I think as an Indigenous person, and you know, I've got to speak up to this, you know, to this change. It's important that, you know, Indigenous people have a day that, you know, we can celebrate, and we do have a lot to celebrate. And I know that in the last day everybody or the last time everybody thought we were supposed to have a holiday, and we were wondering why we didn't. But we had one anyway. So no, it's important, and, you know, there we've got culture. The other day I talked about, you know, moose hide. Like, you know...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know that many of the artisans are actually bringing in hides from, like, Saskatchewan and Alberta because they don't have access to them here. So, you know, it's important that, you know, that they have access to tanned hides but also they need access to the raw hides as well. And this is where harvesters come in. It's important that we also provide incentive incentive to harvesters if we expect them to bring the hides out after a successful harvest. So, Mr. Speaker, will the Minister commit to working with the Minister of ENR to work out a program that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's important, and we need to support and encourage those artisans who hold the traditional knowledge of tanning moose and caribou hides. These traditional tanned hides are a much sought after commodity here in the NWT. And this practice goes handinhand with culture, arts, and tourism. So we need to provide a form of compensation for those tanning their own hides. We know it can take up to three weeks and many hours. And the artisan ends up either using the hide for themselves or selling it sometimes at a deflated price, and they deserve more.

So Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this government needs to do more to help the artisans of the NWT in accessing traditional tanned hides.

Mr. Speaker, over the last several years I have met with numerous artisans who have voiced the same concern that concern is the lack of access to traditional tanned hides which they require to make a variety of products. Many of us here are familiar with these products which include earrings, slippers, crow boots, gauntlets, mitts, vests, jackets, gun cases, and more.

Mr. Speaker, when those who purchase Indigenous fashions that require hide and fur, they...

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I understand that, you know, you can't have a mixture of youth and seniors I guess, and in the time that I spent in the correctional centres visiting. You know, like I had lots of friends like, I had friends in there and I'd go visit because they had good food there. And so I'm just wondering if, you know, you've got, you know, one or two people in Fort Smith, say, in the facility there, is there any way to incorporate youth at risk that maybe aren't going to school, somehow, to use that facility as well to provide, you know, some education, because I suspect that...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just I guess we're talking about the Minister mentioned about bed usage and the difference I guess the between how many beds we have and how many are actually being used. Have we seen a consistent decline over years in bed usage, or does it fluctuate quite a bit? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess I'm just curious as to the two vehicles, there's one going into Fort Liard and one going into Fort Simpson? So I'm just puzzled as to why those communities are receiving one or do we have a facility in those communities. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I guess last question is we still have the roadway going towards the museum, and I don't think there is a walkway; you have to walk on the road. Is that going to be is that further down the road where there will be a walkway going along there as well? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess what I was getting at was that was instead of building a new pathway is to direct them to the existing pathway on that side. Thank you, Madam Chair.