Kieron Testart

Thank you for that. I want to move on. But I will point out I have spoken to filmmakers who have left the territory because this funding's just not enough to continue to -- them to pursue their career in the industry. So there is a limit to how effective it is. But if it keeps growing, then, yeah, maybe we can take -- we can develop our own cottage industry like what they've done in -- or they did for a while -- it's different now but, like, in Saskatchewan, which isn't, you know, known for its robust film studios and things like that but they had a lot of activity just because of their rebate...

Mr. Speaker, we know Northerners face challenges accessing public health care services here in the Northwest Territories. Our constituents are spread out far and wide across this vast land. Then when we cannot expect to offer specialized care in every community, our constituents still expect to enjoy their right to care that they are entitled to as Canadians. This is where health and social services medical travel policy factors in to break down the barriers of geography and capacity for Northerners to get them to the facilities and treatment options down south which are vital in providing the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'd like to just talk about the film industry for a minute. I see the budget's doubled, which is good, and we heard about the multiplier earlier today. But one of the issues with this is it's still a very small rebate program versus other larger jurisdictions. So is this -- I guess, is the intention to this more on the arts side to support northern filmmakers, or is it more on the economy side to grow a film sector, and -- well, let's just start there. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize Range Lake page Ms. Tyra Ristau. I understand Ms. Ristau’s family may be watching our proceedings today, so she's doing a great job; don't worry. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a fantastic solution which is the money that Aurora College that is still being granted to them, take that back and use it to fund these facilities. So will the Minister pursue an exploration with that and see how we can keep these -- the productive facilities that are training students, that are important to communities, that are employing local people who will not have jobs when they're gone, stay open. Thank you.

Okay, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, sorry, I was confused by our procedures. Mr. Speaker, I too would like to ask just some clarifying points from the presentation that Aurora College gave to Members this morning.

For the physical assets of the community learning centres, the actual buildings and physical infrastructure that are present in the communities, what is the fate of that with the shuttering of all these facilities in a couple months? Thank you. What will be the fate?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on the subject of business supports, the Government of Yukon announced yesterday, I believe -- may have been announced before but I just saw it yesterday -- a million dollar fund to help Yukon-based businesses adjust to any additional costs caused by tariffs, the illegal and unjustified tariffs from the Americans. Is -- what are we doing to support our own businesses? I don't see a fund in this budget. I have heard no announcements. This seems like a good idea. Is the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment considering bringing forward a similar fund...

Thank you. No, and, you know, we have to tackle all. This is just the -- the kind of underlying stuff, the underlying conditions of crime, the poverty, the drug addictions, all that, like, there needs to be a broader thing but we do need these resources in place because the problem's gotten just as bad. So I do appreciate that, and I think all those flunkies report back to someone and they, of course, get resourced by people in southern Canada sending them here to cause mayhem in our communities.

Is this where we could find a resource to put social workers or people with those kind of skill...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for that. That is reassuring. Mr. Speaker, what changes are being contemplated? I know we have I think around 18 -- anyways, in the teens of exceptions in the Canada Free Trade Agreement. So what are we looking at eliminating here in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Madam Chair. So I'm assuming if we see those things go down that the program would be a access. So that's good to get awareness of that. I would say, though, there might be another way to look at it that if the CSO might reveal there's more of these incidents rather than less just because there's another body, you know, providing community policing so there should be some nuance, I think when you do the evaluation, to make sure that it's not like, well, things keep going up and we have a CSO so the CSO wasn't effective. So I guess I'll wait eagerly for this report -- or sorry, the...