Rylund Johnson

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes. I am looking forward to seeing this, and hopefully, we can get a few of our Red Seals to also get Blue Seals. I am just wondering if there are any plans for Aurora College to provide the training required for a Blue Seal.

I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on Friday, March 12, 2021, it shall be adjourned until Monday, March 29, 2021;

AND FURTHER, that, any time prior to March 29, 2021, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, or at a time later than the scheduled resumption of the House, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at...

One of the reasons the City of Yellowknife wants to see a city charter, and I want to see it, is it's a fiscal arrangement. The City of Yellowknife is the only jurisdiction where a percentage of their taxes have to fund the education system. It's the only city that has a property tax base that could actually fund municipal services. There's a reason we have tax-paying communities and non-tax-paying communities. Whenever the City of Yellowknife asks for a change to how they can administer taxes, they are told no because the conversation is only relevant to the City of Yellowknife. In part of...

Mr. Speaker, the starting point in any conversation about our municipal powers is that they are presently a mess. Twenty-four of our communities either fall under the Cities, Towns and Villages Act, the Hamlets Act, the Charter Communities Act, or the Tlicho Government act. The remaining nine communities are designated authorities and fall under the Indian Act. I am surprised the NWTAC can find agreement on anything. As such, whenever a problem falls that only applies to one of those specific pieces of legislation, there is no support for the other communities. Six of our communities...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Regardless, if Alberta does this, we have to follow suit. Is the Minister willing to go out and get some public engagement before about support for this? I suspect, if we do poll the people in the NWT, there will be overwhelming support as has been the case in every other Canadian jurisdiction who has done this work? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes. I recognize the debate here is whether to do it if Alberta does it. I am of the view that we can do what the Yukon did and just do it anyways. I think permanent Daylight Saving Time is the way to go, not permanent standard time. Can I just get confirmation: the wording of this bill is slightly confusing to me, and I believe this is the case. We're scrapping the daylight savings regulations to create one standard time, but that standard time still could be Daylight Saving Time year round if we want it. Is that correct?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am looking at the corresponding nature fund protected areas, $1.9 million, and I heard the Minister say there that there was a decrease in federal funding. Can I get an understanding of how much of that $2 million for nature fund protected areas is not GNWT money? I don't know if it's all federal, but it's not necessarily all our money. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that, on Thursday, March 11, 2021, I will move the following motion: I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on Friday, March 12, 2021, it shall be adjourned until Monday, March 29, 2021; and further, that, any time prior to March 29, 2021, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, or at a time later than the...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Can I get a bit of a clarification on what exactly the knowledge agenda is? I believe I have asked this before. There's $233,000 here, but does this have any relation to the work being done to implement a knowledge economy? Thank you.

I struggle with how that is the case. In a previous analysis, it showed that it's actually cheaper for us to own our buildings than it is, often, to lease them. This was part of the analysis that justified building the new government building and justified the GNWT building large office buildings in the past was that we could do it cheaper to own than lease. How does the Minister rectify saying that we are paying $18 million to southern landlords with the fact that we have previously concluded that its cheaper to own our own buildings as opposed to leasing them?