Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I had indicated earlier in my Minister's statement, I have two things I want to say. Firstly, is rolling out a very express anti-racism campaign, really speaking to the idea of challenging all of our own mindsets about what is racism and what is anti-racism, as a starting point. That is just one small starting point. Getting to the rub of what I think the MLA is asking me about targets, Mr. Speaker, I have also spoken in the House frequently about the Indigenous recruitment and retention framework that is being developed and put into place over the course of this...

At present, there is not a set service standard for responding under the northern manufacture policy. Again, the average time right now for processing the application, ensuring that it goes from start to finish completed, is four to six weeks. If having set standards is something that the manufacturers believe would be beneficial, would be useful, then, again, I would hope and expect that that is going to come through in the procurement review and that we can find something that is more functional and more workable, ensuring that, again, if there are other certain standards that are expected...

I was looking for some information rather quickly. I can give an average, and the average is four to six weeks. I am not clear if that includes an application that is for both of those. I expect that it is. It may be that it is less complicated if it is only under BIP. Mr. Speaker, I should note it doesn't include a timeline if there needs to be further information, if an application is incomplete at the front end. As such, the clock would get stopped on the government end to allow a proponent to add to their application if need be.

Those two departments, while under one Minister, have different areas, and they may not necessarily flow into the agriculture-commercial sector, for which ITI is responsible. Notwithstanding, Mr. Speaker, I was happy to discover very recently through my colleague that take a kid gardening is, in fact, a program that exists in schools across the Northwest Territories. Absolutely, I will commit to speaking to the Minister of ECE and the Minister of Justice to see what we can do to bring some synergy to this area and to agriculture more broadly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

With respect to meat regulations, that work is right now actively taking place in my colleague's department, Health and Social Services, and that indeed is part of the mandate and, as such, is moving along and will be reported on in that regard. Beyond that, Mr. Speaker, there is also now, newly formed, the territorial agriculture agri-food association. That is an entity that is very active in this space and one that I would certainly commend producers to be involved with as an advocacy group to identify any other barriers that may exist. Last, Mr. Speaker, there is recently rolled out the red...

That, right now, is not in the plan. I, as much as anyone else who has not travelled anywhere, would like to be outside. There is nothing much that I can do, though, and I can't speak to what the situation in the Yukon may be or what their circumstances or facilities may be. For us and for the facilities that we have, for the contractors that we have, they are going to need time, once it thaws enough, to go in there. Mr. Speaker, I suspect it comes back down to outhouses, oddly enough, twice in one day. Not to minimize the other work that needs to get done, but right now, that is the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am also excited for the summer coming back. Right now, the planned reservation time for parks will be a staged opening between May 4th and May 7th. Thank you.

First of all, I had April 1st as the fiscal year in my head and said one complaint. It's three, not one; my apologies. Nonetheless, fortunately, not a significantly large increase. At present, there is not a report per se. Again, not having a very large number of complaints, I don't know that a report has been necessary to date. That said, they certainly do gather up all of the complaints. Procurement Shared Services does process those complaints. The Comptroller General does receive notice of the finalized complaints. They certainly are reviewed throughout the government, and the purpose of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have been trying to be quite clear, both with the panel and publicly, that I think it's important that the panel have the opportunity and ability to do their work independently from my office, from government, and remain objective and remain creative and do what they need to do. I have not directed them to do that, and I have not heard back from them at present on whether they intend to do that. I'm sure, if the message doesn't get back to them through the course of this forum, then I can certainly make the inquiry on behalf of the MLA. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I certainly am keen to see what can be done with respect to ensuring that we continue to grow this industry, not only in terms of its commercial value but also as far as it may impact on food security more generally. For now, Mr. Speaker, what I can say: if there is a community that is looking to have a greenhouse, looking to have access to some agricultural opportunities, I would urge them to speak to their local economic development officer or other ITI officer. There are programs and projects that can help support them, whether in terms of the training that may be needed or in terms of...