Rylund Johnson

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm happy to see that we are establishing a climate change council. Is there a terms of reference, or do we know who is going to be on that climate change council? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am really happy to see this increased funding for Indigenous languages. I am just curious, and I believe the Minister spoke to this previously, so I apologize. The difference between the $150,000 line item here for Indigenous language revitalization and the $450,000 line item for Indigenous language revitalization, I see they are in two different units of ECE, but if I could just get a distinction between those? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Can I just have an explanation of what this $100,000 for the Legal Aid Information System project is? Is this essentially the project that we use to replace the law library? Can I just have an explanation of what that is and what this money goes to? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes. I would like to see a bit more of, I know this is in the mandate and I know this is MACA, but a bit more of a costed plan of how much this actually reduces the funding gap by. I know we're quite a few million dollars short, and I also think when we do some of our hazard mapping and permafrost mapping from the climate change framework, we're going to see the cost of municipal infrastructure increase even more. It's somewhat a losing battle that I think we, as a territory, really have to prioritize. I'd like to hear a commitment from the Minister that we will get a...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm looking for a general update. This is $282,000 into the Yellowknife Courthouse, a building that we don't actually own. I know there has been a number of upgrades, and we keep putting money into someone else's building. Can I just get an update from the Minister? Are there plans to build a new courthouse? How long are we in this lease for, and are we going to continue to put money into Northview's building? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess I'm always happy to see two less lawyers in the world. I have a little caution here to using lawyers on a rights-based occupancy dealing with unauthorized uses. We're essentially dealing with squatters. I know that we have to do a lot of work, and I'm very excited to see the Department of Lands make some progress on this. I would just offer some caution to the Minister of Justice and the Department of Lands that, perhaps, lawyers and the court process are not always the best way to go about doing this, and I think some mediation, some alternative dispute...

I believe many journalists may disagree with the statement that they get better answers, but I'll leave them to advocate for themselves. I recognize that we have to have processes in place and track them, but I believe that this culture has then trickled onto members of the public. I consistently get constituents that have unanswered phone calls, unanswered emails. My question to the Premier: is a member of the public allowed to pick up the phone and talk to any single person in the public service?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think we would all like to see at least everyone in the Northwest Territories making $18 an hour. That's still well below a living wage for many of our communities. I recognize that there is some work to do. It's only $215 average a month for an employee. That's not that much money to us, but it's a lot to them. I'm looking for: perhaps there is a way, as this program expires, that we can meet those employers in the middle and offer some sort of wage-incentive program, and they can offer a bit of a raise to their own employees. Really, I don't think anyone should be...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we often do in this House, I'm going to ask some question that I believe I already know the answers to. I, as a Regular Member, am unable to pick up the phone and call a public servant and ask them a technical question. My question for the Premier is: why is that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. No. That's very helpful. I just wanted to clarify for the public's sake that, when this $23 million shows up, it's largely money that we've already spent. Moving onto the next line item there, the $8,700,000 for passenger airlines. When this was announced, it was said that it was kind of part 1 of negotiations, and there was a potential second half for our cargo airlines. A number of our airlines that supply our communities in the NWT are fundamental to our supply chain, and they were unable to access this money because they don't carry passengers. Can the Minister...