Rylund Johnson

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 73(2) and have Bill 6, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration later today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are gaps. I think one of the gaps is we have that open policy, and that work was started by the previous Minister of transparency and engagement. That work has largely not been actualized. I'm unsure if the responsibility of that policy lies with ISSS. Can the Premier make sure that there is a unit where someone is clearly in charge of implementing the goals in the open government policy which was developed? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I believe, in the future, I will direct my questions to the Minister of Finance. I do think that the centralization of ISSS will bring some of this work, but ultimately, they need to reach in the departments. Each Minister needs to be responsible for this. I think COVID has shown us that more and more government data needs to be public, and more and more services need to be online. One of the things that should come out of this: every single government service should be available online eventually. Is the Minister willing to put that in mandate letters to department that they work to bring...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe this Assembly needs to take drastic steps to become a more open and transparent and digital government. I would like to thank the last Assembly for all their work on the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. I believe that ATIPP Act is truly one of the best in the country, yet it is still not in force and, during this pandemic, I have heard no shortage of complaints from both media and the public that not enough information and data is available.

Mr. Speaker, the Information and Privacy Commissioner presented her annual report to the Standing...

One brief moment, Mr. Speaker. Apologies. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that Bill 6, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

One of my concerns during this pandemic is that there are certainly many departments who are working on overdrive and all of those workers are working overtime. Many have been redeployed to other departments, and then I hear concerns that certain departments have essentially been put on hold, and some workers are wondering what to do. I think a solution to this is further redeployment, and also, I think one way to booth domestic tourism would be a four-day work week for some workers. I think we could start that this summer. Is that something the Minister of Human Resources is willing to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am happy to see the GNWT slowly bringing some of our workers back to the office, those who are needed. I have seen flexibility and had a number of constituents help navigate their issues such as childcare. I hope to continue to see that flexibility from the Department of Human Resources. My question is: will the department be developing a work-from-home policy that extends beyond the measures imposed by COVID-19? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate all that work that is occurring, and I know that is essentially the work in the long-term care review. I guess I am trying to get a number so I can look at the capital budget and get a sense of every one of these units and beds we build, how much this number would increase. If you don't have that right now, it could be provided to the Standing Committee on Social Development or just a projection of even a sense of what the operating costs are for each additional unit we build, and then I could probably do the math to figure out what this is going to...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess just a general question if the Minister could update me of how and any progress we have made on telehealth and kind of what we can see to continue out of the progress we have made due to COVID-19 and if that is expected to be found in this budget or whether there is a supplemental appropriation for a more digital healthcare system coming. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am happy to hear that, and I look forward to continuing those conversations. Similarly, our society is operated on a Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 5:00, schedule for many decades now, and it's difficult, at times, for the private sector to break away from that, as there are a few key industries and businesses who necessitate that model, and then everyone must follow suit. Can the department reach out to those stakeholders? I think, in this territory, which is so small, we could be a little bit more nimble and flexible and reach out to private industries and see what...