Kate Reid

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we tend to talk about what we can control, what is in our jurisdiction, and how to be best of service to the residents of the Northwest Territories. Unfortunately, climate change doesn't care about jurisdictional boundaries. Climate change demonstrates that we live in a fragile, interconnected global system that requires all governments, indeed all levels of government, to be thoughtful and strategic with how we manage, mitigate, and adapt to these impacts.

Mr. Speaker, the North of my childhood is very different than the North that we currently live, work...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And will we be staying within the PeopleSoft Oracle Planet World experience, etcetera, Mr. Chair? Thank you.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. And, really, more a comment than a question but, you know, considering public safety is one of our priorities in the Assembly and considering that these very detailed questions to both the MACA Minister and the Minister of Finance here today are coming directly from my constituents who are very concerned, and I would say, you know, rightfully so if we have outages and people are in emergencies and don't have access to emergency services, that is a crucial piece that we need to fill. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, and I'll note too that the scheduled outage in May of 2025 was a NorthwesTel outage. I'm just curious if we can get some clarity as to whether these system upgrades would bypass that service or enhance our other capacity to have redundancies built into the system such that we wouldn't be, you know, having these service outages for especially smaller communities that might not have access to 9-1-1 services in a time of need. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I'm so sorry, I couldn't quite hear the assistant deputy minister; I'm not sure if their mic is working. But I did crane my hearing, and I think they said that they are going to include an elevator in that project, which is a great interest to me as someone who used to work in that building, and I'm really glad that that is under consideration. And I'll just leave it at that as a comment. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, on page 20, it speaks about the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre accessibility upgrades. Could the Minister please provide a substantiation of this project? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister. Can the Minister please tell me how scientific modeling and predictions are impacting decisions made for the future of our energy systems specifically hydroelectric systems, such as Taltson, that her department plans to action into the 2030s. Thank you.

Thanks, Mr. Speaker. So in short, two questions, two nos.

Will the Minister direct his staff to allocate additional resources for climate monitoring and especially more community-based monitoring while also incorporating traditional knowledge when it's appropriate? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you for that explanation. I'm curious -- I'm happy to hear that this work is happening. I'm glad that the department is actioning that recommendation. But what was the correctional complex doing to reduce harm to inmates who maybe needed a space like this previous to this being retrofitted? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister explain whether or not our NWT boreal forest is still acting as a carbon sink. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.