Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to rise in support of my honourable friend, the Member for Deh Cho's motion. I think what's significant about this is it's not just an affirmation to declare housing a priority or housing important but housing as a fundamental right of Northerners. And this is very significant because taking a rights-based approach to the issue of housing would give new clarity to how fundamental it is to our citizens and, in particular, to Indigenous peoples who have struggled with a lack of affordable, suitable, and adequate housing for a very long time. And...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on Pink Shirt Day, as this year's Black History Month comes to an end, to speak to the government's cultural safety and strategy. Safety certainly is a spectrum, Mr. Speaker. There are many obvious ways we must keep ourselves and each other safe from mental harm and physical harm every day. Cultural safety and trauma-informed approaches, particularly outlined in the Department of Health and Social Services's cultural safety action plan, is creating a space where Indigenous peoples feel safe and respected, free of racism and discrimination. Of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the 19th Assembly the Government of the Northwest Territories increased supports to communities and municipalities to reduce the municipal funding gap by $5 million; however, the government has not made the analysis of the municipal funding gap publicly available. With the rates of inflation and rising costs of goods and services, how do we know that $5 million has addressed the funding deficit?

My questions are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs:

Can the Minister provide the current value of the overall municipal funding gap for the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Of course there's other forms of clean energy but often they aren't good enough for the Northwest Territories given our high need for quality energy. Is nuclear on the table and has I'll just ask the Minister that. Is nuclear energy on the table? Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I mean, I do feel for the Minister because she's not responsible for Health and Social Services so perhaps when these substantiations are coming forward, Members are going to are bound to have more programspecific questions, that the responsible departments can provide a bit more detail to the Minister at the table. So they can answer these questions directly before we vote on the financial item. That's just a general comment. Nothing further. Thank you.

So, again, I don't want to jump too far ahead, and I note the time, but I'm just the difference between the benefit provided to the public service and the benefit provided to the public is significant. Oh, I see I have more time now. So what if you'll indulge me, like what is the I can only imagine there's more members of the general public accessing medical travel than public servants. So why do we have a difference in the numbers? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, mining is fundamental, and I want to ask the Minister of Infrastructure how we are changing our policy environment to better support the mining sector and get exploration back on track. Can the Minister give an update on the Taltson project as it is crucial to providing cheap, affordable, clean power to the Slave Geological Province. Thank you.

Which is reflected thank you, Mr. Chair. And is that reflected in these numbers, or is that an additional cost that will have to come up? Thank you.

My colleague from Boot Lake just said we could build a very nice dental clinic for $8 million. So there's clearly a problem here. How it's not this Minister's job to solve it but when you're assessing these kind of applications in terms of an overall fiscal sustainability, does the department have a perspective that we need to solve this at a fundamental level rather than just throw more money into the medical travel program? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That's good news. I'd like to ask the Minister if she'll join my mission to MARS and get online map staking done by 2026 or earlier? Thank you.