Rocky Simpson

Mr. Speaker, the communities of Hay River, Enterprise, and K'atlodeeche have been through not one, not two, but three evacuations in 15 months. This fact is not lost on me, nor should it be on this government.

Mr. Speaker, we have not recovered from the 2022 flood or, for that matter, from the 2023 spring fire, and now we add to that the most recent fire and the extensive damage it caused in Enterprise and Hay River. Considering the rate of which government moves, in addition to the lack of labour, trades, and contractors, I see flood and fire recovery going beyond the life of the next Assembly...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when we're talking about, we're talking about Paradise, it's actually a flood plain and, you know, the damage there was significant and there's potential for it to happen again. So, Mr. Speaker, I ask the Minister if he is prepared to offer the property acquisition option to residents in areas where rebuilding is not feasible due to the severity of flooding and fire potential, such as Paradise Valley, and if not, is he willing to step aside as the Minister responsible for MACA and allow someone who will? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the federal government's Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements allows for innovative recovery solutions under section 3.4.1, a tool provided to help those impacted by disasters. What are the barriers stopping the Minister's department from using this tool? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Finally, I got permission to recognize somebody. I'd like to welcome my wife Bette, my daughter Chelsea, and my granddaughter, Inaaya; that's the one I've taking to her first day of school since kindergarten. And I'll continue that on into university. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, when I look at this bill, it you know, it doesn't really require the or it doesn't require the Minister to share any information because it says that the Minister may disclose it, and there's no definitive requirement.

For me, the economy is very important in the Northwest Territories even more so now that we you know, with what we've been going through in these last few years. We need jobs. We need training. You know, we need you know, we need opportunities for you know, for NGOs to, you know, to provide support as well to the economy through, you know...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, considering that, you know, we still have, I think, 22 files left over from the flood that you know, that haven't been completed, haven't even started to be actioned yet, and we do have, I think, three Pathfinders in Hay River, and I'm not sure what we have for staff here, but now with the fires and the magnitude of, you know, what happened in the South Slave, will there be additional staff added in the South Slave to help people, you know, deal with their claims? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. These questions are for the Minister of ECC. I'd ask the Minister have any assessors visited the communities that had structural damage to assess those damages as of today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate that answer. You know, however, you know, like I say, we've gone through three major events in Hay River and, you know, a year after the flood, we're still you know, we still got a number of files that need to be actioned. And when I see what's happened here, it's going to be this is going to be still existing after the next Assembly, the way things are going. So I think we need to be really proactive and forceful when we're dealing with the federal government to try and get additional funds, otherwise we're going to lose residents, we're going to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd ask the Premier to confirm what programs and associated funding amounts are in place to specifically support businesses impacted by the wildfires, and how quickly can we get that support out to alleviate the financial burden on our local businesses? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there seems to be some confusion, or there has been anyway right from the start with Pathfinders in place, as to who was actually making decisions to either approve or decline applications. You know, I think that's very important so that when people are going to see a Pathfinder, you know, sometimes they think the Pathfinder is the one who might be approving an application, but I don't my sense is that they're it's not them. So I'd like I'd ask the Minister to provide, I guess, maybe with a flow chart of the process of who is responsible for the...