Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I spoke in my statement earlier about the need for a youth advisory council to give young people in the Northwest Territories a voice in the government decision-making and to advise government of policy issues. I have brought this issue before the House before, but today I would like to ask the Premier, as most of these youth councils are creations of First Ministers, if the Premier has made any progress with his government on developing a youth advisory council for the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We begin our legislative sitting on the heels of the Northwest Territories' 16th Youth Parliament.

It was a real honour to serve as a Page for our young leaders, and I am more impressed than ever seeing the next generation of Northerners hard at work in this great Chamber. I was particularly impressed with my counterpart, the youth representative for Kam Lake, Aafreen Khan.

Ms. Khan is a young, bilingual Muslim woman and is the embodiment of what a diverse and progressive NWT will look like in the future. Youth Parliaments are great forums that give the leaders of today...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommend that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources give consideration to the development of the following procedural authoritative instruments: a territorial climate change act; a formal GNWT climate change policy; memoranda of understanding, identifying ministerial and departmental responsibilities for climate change initiatives; and an assessment exercise designed to identify and provide the department with sufficient capacity to fulfill its leadership role; and further, that ENR report back to the committee on its consideration...

At the time of when this issue was first brought to the floor of the House, there was a concern from the City of Yellowknife, the community who has been targeted for these changes, and who desperately needs them after this government has cut their tourism support. Has the Minister reached out to the City of Yellowknife and solicited them for their upcoming budget challenges if this legislation isn't brought forward according to their timelines?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommends that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources report annually on progress being made to meet the greenhouse gas emissions targets established in the Climate Change Strategic Framework and remain open to the possibility of making target adjustments as required, to meet the overall emissions reduction target by 2030. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think, when reports like this come out, they shake the public's confidence around our justice system. I'm wondering if the Minister can commit to reviewing the report and providing a response or some sort of public statement on what he sees as the strength of our system, if he does in fact disagree with these reports? Can he commit to read the report? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. As I referenced in my opening comments, the committee is aware that the Climate Change Strategic Framework is a work in progress and is expected to be completed soon, but one of the concerns of committee is ensuring that the Auditor General's recommendations are properly addressed therein.

In the course of our review, the evidence that was provided to the committee for consideration was that this framework is going to be how the department addresses the Auditor General's findings, and committee wants to ensure that the specifics of those recommendations are met clearly and...

It's somewhat unfortunate the Minister hasn't had time to look at this report. It was released earlier this month. I would assume it would be of interest to him and his department, but some of the findings do address what the Minister's just spoke of. The report mentions the challenges the North face, but we also have the second highest rate of violent crime in Canada and the highest rate of property crime. The report also found that the Northwest Territories funds little on legal aid compared to other jurisdictions. We received an F in support for victims, according to this report, with the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommend that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources acknowledge and reference the Auditor General's report and recommendations in the Climate Change Strategic Framework. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to recognize my constituency assistant, Mr. Garett Cochrane. This is the last day of session, and he has been invaluable over the last several weeks in helping me prepare for the day's work and helping me keep in touch with my constituents. I want to take the opportunity to recognize his service. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.