Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to know that the health recruitment unit is continuing to do good work for the Northwest Territories. I've been reviewing the Minister's statement that she provided to the House. 12 percent increase is great, but I notice it's not called the health care retention unit, and the thing that's been challenging for filling the nurse vacancy is keeping nurses on the payroll. Many call it a revolving door. 94 percent of nurses have reported burnout.

So can the Minister clarify, of that 12 percent increase in indeterminate staff, how many of those are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, and to be clear to the Minister, we're not talking -- we're talking about people who are paying the minimum wage for service jobs, and that's what we're talking about here. And this is a real situation. This is not a hypothetical. There are Northerners in those jobs, people who are born and raised here, who are making minimum wage versus nominee program workers who are making median wage. So how are we going to reconcile that so we make sure everyone is on a fair playing field? Because I don't think it's fair to those minimum wage workers, and certainly it's a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've been speaking with business owners who use the Northwest Territories nominee program, and one of the issues that's been brought to my attention is they pay Northerners minimum wage but they pay nominees median wage based on their occupation, and usually -- and it's always higher than the minimum wage. Now, that is -- there's a good reason for that. But can the Minister explain clearly to the House, so there's no confusion, about why there's a discrepancy in compensation for Northerners versus nominees? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that would be useful to report publicly. So when it comes to the performance of this unit, can the -- currently, my understanding is that they measure their performance by time to fill a position rather than how long the employee lasts in the position. So would the Minister consider either changing the metric of success to that, how long the employee stays, or at least reporting on how long the employee stays? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, if it wasn't apparent from the boutonnieres and pink shirts, today we recognize Pink Shirt Day, a student-led initiative to confront bullying that has grown into a nationally recognized day of action. This year's theme, Sprinkling Kindness, reminds us that who better to lead the call for inclusion and compassion than our children.

Kids are not born prejudiced, yet they are quickly tasked with navigating society's unfair biases, learning to balance their own uniqueness with a world that often decides, unfairly, who deserves kindness and who does not. When our kids are different and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That was a good summary of how our system works, how our child and family services system works, but what I am asking about is when people are raising concerns about the well-being of children in the system that aren't in custody or that are in custody, who's looking after the system? So if the very system is the problem, where do Northerners go to get assistance? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I feel like the handsome men are getting overlooked so I am going to recognize a handsome friend of mine, the grand chief of the Tlicho Mr. Jackson Lafferty. Great to see you here today. And I also want to give a shout out to all of our interpreters. We could not do this job without you. I think a few of you are in Range Lake,, but thank you so much for the service you provide in keeping Indigenous languages alive and well here in the NWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, February 26th, 2026, I will move the following motion.

Now therefore I move, seconded by the Member for Monfwi, that this Legislative Assembly calls upon the Government of the Northwest Territories to take immediate steps to establish an independent Office of the Child and Youth Advocate as an Officer of the Legislative Assembly;

And further, that the Government of the Northwest Territories introduce enabling legislation defining the Advocate's mandate, powers, and responsibilities, including but not limited to the authority to investigate complaints...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

Medical travel continues to place growing financial pressures on the healthcare system. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

The Department of Health and Social Services recently released its report on medical travel services. The report indicates the overall cost of medical travel has continued to increase over the past three years. Can the Minister outline what specific factors are driving the cost increases year after year?

Can the Minister provide a general...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The specific -- to answer the Minister's question, the specific criteria on how applications will be -- how the points will work, how they will be weighted. People will need to -- feel that they want to see more things. They understand how the process is, that there's a new step, but they need to understand what points they will get, how that will be evaluated against other applications, the whole kit and caboodle. Thank you.