Rylund Johnson

Yes, that is actually the heart of the issue. We presently provide the vaccines, and they are free. Communities can use them. It's difficult to get someone to actually deliver those vaccines, and that is where the NWT SPCA really fills that gap. Another way that has been done is that multiple jurisdictions have hired or contracted a public health veterinarian. I believe we only have three veterinarians operating in the territory right now. Is this an option that public health has reviewed?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. During my election campaign, I naively thought I would have a hope of getting the NWT SPCA some funding. I am now seeing that that is an impossible task. Instead of asking MACA about this for the tenth time, I am going to take another run at it today through a public health lens. My question for the Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Speaker, is: what is public health's role in monitoring health risks caused by animals? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The committee heard the commission's concern that many NWT businesses and service providers believe that the National Building Code sets the standard for accessibility and that "compliance with this code allows them to meet their responsibilities under the Human Rights Act." The commission says this is not always the case.

The commission held an International Human Rights Day event with the theme "accessibility" in Yellowknife. Mr. Van Dyke presented on how the National Building Code affects him as a person with a disability. The commission expressed much concern about...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am appreciative of a lot of the work that the Department of Infrastructure is doing in regard to district heating and cogeneration. However, this is one of those situations where the technology exists in many jurisdictions. It's proven. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions. It makes heating bills cheaper, but it requires a system-wide rethink. It requires community plans to ensure that the largest facilities are clustered. It requires making sure our power plants are built next to our water treatment plans so they can share energy. Presently, that kind of coordination...

Mr. Speaker, I am trying to advocate for those exemptions so we can get a path to a living wage. I recognize that, the first few months on a job, perhaps it is justified to pay someone a lower rate. However, I think, if we're going to get in trouble with human rights, it's probably the fact that $13.46 at full-time is less than $30,000 a year. People are living in poverty if they earn our minimum wage. The market has moved well beyond this. You cannot hire someone in this territory, a full-time adult, and pay them $13.46. We have simply made our minimum wage irrelevant. Is the Minister willing...

I really look forward to that report. Right now, my understanding is: there are less than 100 people that make less than $13.46 in the Northwest Territories. The vast majority of those people work in bars. I, myself, was a bartender for many years, and I know the paycheque almost becomes irrelevant because you make the money through tips. I want to raise the minimum wage. I want to go high, but I don't want to get pushback from the hospitality industry who's suffering. Many jurisdictions have made a lower rate for liquor servers. Is the Minister willing to do that?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think it's a little rich for us to say it's not our mandate to provide home heating and then to tell the communities, which it's clearly not their mandate, to all of a sudden expand and to become a utility. Is the Minister willing to approach the Canadian Infrastructure Bank, where that federal funding is sitting, to fund a territory-wide feasibility study of biomass district heating, and we can find the most cost-effective way to do this for every community in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am appreciative of that work, and I know the NWT Housing Corporation has been connecting some of its buildings using district heating and putting pellet boilers in. When we do this analysis, the City of Yellowknife knows better than no one. They actually won an award for 2018 for connecting their facilities, and it has saved them money. It's proven to work to get the pipes in the ground. There is no better place than downtown Yellowknife to implement district heating and connect all of those large towers. However, we do not own those towers. The City of Yellowknife is not willing to become a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This past Monday, the Minister of Infrastructure gave this House an update on our 2030 Energy Strategy, and I would like to thank the department for all the work they are doing, and I would like to thank the Arctic Energy Alliance for all the great work they are doing. Specifically, I am a huge fan of the wood-stove program. For some reason or another, we started building houses in communities and did not put wood stoves in them. This was a mistake. Now, we have this program where Canadian-manufactured wood stoves make their way up the Mackenzie, and they make their way...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that Bill 11: Legislative Assembly Standardization Act, be read for the third time. Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.