Caitlin Cleveland

I will take that, thank you. In March, the GNWT put together an economic relief package that offered NWT businesses fee and loan deferrals. At that point, the GNWT did not know the extent of the impact of COVID-19. We can now see the devastating impact the lockdown is having on the global economy. Can the Minister confirm if the GNWT intends to extend the measures offered in the economic relief packages beyond the original timelines?

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the Minister's commitment. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to know, when someone disappears, there is rarely evidence that a crime has been committed. However, this is a prerequisite for police to seek the court's permission for a search warrant or for personal records to help their investigation. In the earliest hours after someone is reported missing, access to this crucial information can yield clues to the person's whereabouts held within their cellphone, computer, home, and more. A number of provincial jurisdictions have missing persons...

The Minister mentioned that the working group is currently doing an analysis on the calls for justice from Reclaiming Power and Place. What is the deadline for this analysis?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Because of the swift collective response from this government and the people of the Northwest Territories, COVID-19 has not taken the life of a single Northerner. Sadly, the same cannot be said for Indigenous women and girls. Today, I stand in solidarity with advocate, colleague, and my friend, MLA for Inuvik Twin Lakes in condemnation of the number of Indigenous women and girls who have gone missing or have been murdered in this country. Almost 2,400 Canadians shared their personal, gut-wrenching stories for the June 2019 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls...

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Friday, June 5, 2020, I will move the following motion: Now therefore, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that the Legislative Assembly recommend the reappointment of the following individuals to the Northwest Territories Human Rights Commission:

Ms. Marion Berls of the Town of Fort Smith, for a term of four year; and

Mr. Charles Dent of the City of Yellowknife, for a term of four years;

And further, that the Speaker be authorized to communicate the effective date of these appointments to the Commissioner.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister has mentioned before that we are national leaders in aggressive COVID-19 testing and that we are national leaders in a very timely response to the Reclaiming Power and Place report. I would like to urge the GNWT to be both an aggressive and a timely national leader in its action to do with Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Will the Minister commit to providing an annual report to this House on the status of its plans and timelines so we can be accountable to keeping all Northerners safe? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In continuation of the questions posed by my colleague from Inuvik Twin Lakes, I would like to ask some questions of the Minister of Health and Social Services today. One of the questions that was asked by my colleague was in regard to working groups and who our GNWT collaborates with on those working groups, so what I would like to know is: who outside of the Government of the Northwest Territories does the Government of the Northwest Territories collaborate with on its working group for creating its action plan for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls...

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. My next question is in regard to the Support for Entrepreneurs and Economic Development, the SEED Program, which we did just discuss a couple of days ago here in the House, so I will make sure that I don't overstep on those questions. This, to me, is one of the most exciting programs that ITI has, especially right now where we have a lot of businesses needing support in the Northwest Territories.

One of the concerns that I have heard from my constituents in regard to the SEED Program is that there isn't a northern, kind of, commitment clause within there...

Thanks very much, Madam Chair. I am with my colleague from Yellowknife North: this is a very exciting page. Your comments about how ITI considers themselves allies to northern entrepreneurs and business community was not lost on me. Without further ado, the Great Northern Arts Festival was unfortunately, like many of our festivals, cancelled this year. I'm wondering, with the line item of $25,000 that was associated with that, what is ITI's plan for that money now? Thank you.

That makes me very happy to hear because our public servants are definitely in the driver's seat when it comes to making sure that northern procurement stays in the North and benefits northern workers. Would the Minister be willing to commit to quality-based procurement rather than lowest-bid rule while the department works to modernize its procurement policies to ensure that benefit retention to northern businesses and northern workers exists?