Caroline Wawzonek

Madam Speaker, at the appropriate time today, I will table Changing the Relationship, the final action plan in response to the Calls for Justice on missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ peoples. At its core, this action plan is about relationships Our relationships with institutions, governments, people, and history.

The national inquiry examined the causes contributing to the ongoing violence and systematic vulnerabilities that continue to disproportionately affect Indigenous women, girls and two spirit persons. They found that the thousands of truths shared reinforce...

Madam Speaker, I wish to present to the House Bill 70, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 20222023, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I'm also taking this opportunity to congratulate Mr. Thagard. I am also taking this opportunity to say that this is a chance for Yellowknife South to have the most fantastical and wonderful tourism attraction because if he is the longest serving Member anywhere in Canada, we should get maybe a big spin bike at the entrance to Yellowknife South since he happens to be a resident. So congratulations, thank you, and welcome to our new Sergeant-at-Arms.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, part of the hesitancy is I want to make sure that whatever I'm saying is accurate and compliant with what's in the collective agreement and with what is in the public service manual. So just ensuring, you know, that I am accurate with that, I would certainly say that, you know, each individual public servant does have the ability to go and speak to their supervisor and is able to speak to their supervisor about what their circumstances might be, including medical circumstances, and it would certainly be my expectation in line with any other time for the...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, that's certainly not my intention. It may happen to be an election year coming up but at the present time that's still quite far away. And the way that the budget cycle works, the budget that we're preparing now is based on main estimates process where based on a business planning process that started back in June. Again, this is sort of full circle. The reason we do budget dialogues in the spring and summer is because that's when departments are actually preparing their materials going into the next year. And while I certainly have said in the context...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. That works out quite well, because I get to now continue what I wasn't going to say earlier. But let me give a few of the comments that I have on that one.

Well, with respect to the notion that we are about to hit the fiscal or the debt ceiling, Madam Speaker, that has been a spectre over many a fine government. That is no longer the spectre because of the changes we've introduced to the capital planning process. By reducing the size of the capital plan to be more right sized, we are not running up against our debt ceiling. We've not had to take on as great a borrowing...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I can certainly commit that the Department of Finance, which is where any loans or other matters that are forgiven, for example, student financial assistance, anything of that nature that is going to be forgiven as an obligation or debt owed to the government, does come through the comptroller general's office, and I will see that that office does connect in with Housing NWT to ensure that if there are programs underutilized or ways that we can support that department, that office, that we will do so. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 69, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 20222023, be read for a third time. And Madam Speaker, I would request a recorded vote.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, the property tax arrears is for homeowners who are paying property taxes. So in that respect, someone who is living in public housing would not have access to that program. Thank you.

Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, that Bill 70, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operation Expenditures), No. 2, 20222023 be read for the second time. This bill makes supplementary appropriations for operations expenditures of the Government of the Northwest Territories for the 20222023 fiscal year. Thank you, Madam Speaker.