Kieron Testart

Thank you. And thank you to the Premier for this. I mean, this is an area we do agree on. I'm glad it's in the mandate. I just want to see it moving as quickly as possible. So I'll probably continue to raise this issue going forward. But I think those -- and I want to just give a shout out to integrated service delivery as well. Like I've -- we've directed many -- I've done a Member's statement on it, we've directed many constituents there, and I'll just take the opportunity to say they do amazing work. It is not an easy job to provide that care, but I know constituents and clients really do...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So the -- we're talking about government and governance and service integration, and I was -- the Nunavut budget just came out, and they have been working on realignment of their departments, and they have a new Department of Community Services and the goal of that department is to establish a one-stop shop for territorial government services called Service Nunavut. Now, we have GSOs, had them for quite some time. They are amazingly helpful to small communities, to regional centres. We don't have a one-stop shop here in Yellowknife. We have some integrated service units...

Thank you. Yes, and I would encourage you to make use of those professional services. Ottawa is a fierce beast when it comes to politics, of course, as I'm sure everyone's aware, and having people who are used to navigating those waters is probably the best value for money we can do. I appreciate this kind of novel approach to assigning an envoy but when you -- I quickly Googled special or senior envoys in Canada, and most of the results that come back are about envoy -- like, the Government of Alberta has an envoy to the United States specifically around the energy relationship there. Quebec...

Thank you. That's good news to hear. Can -- is -- I'm not sure if this has been done but it certainly is something -- it's one thing to have modern treaty or a claims -- a comprehensive claims process, but some -- in many cases, treaty obligations aren't being met by the Crown and the agents of the Crown. So can the Premier speak to this or commit to an analysis of outstanding treaty obligations that the GNWT might have to its signed treaties, so not the stuff that's not done, but the stuff it has done, and take an inventory, what's outstanding and what still needs to be delivered in terms of...

Okay, I'm trying to do quick math. So halfway through. Is there a plan to update the current ones to reflect the priorities -- the changing priorities of this government, of the Indigenous governments, the Government of Canada potentially, and the increasingly precarious geopolitical circumstances we find ourselves in? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I provided a lot of information to the Minister so he could start there. He's welcome to do his own research. Mr. Speaker, we do have a peculiar set up with the WSCC unlike other jurisdictions. Could the Minister work to secure an agreement that we can move forward with this and start drafting our own legislation? We could pass the updates now, get it out of the way, and then Nunavut can catch up. But I think it's high time we did this. Every day we wait is a day that firefighters have to take more time to get coverage. It's not just firefighters; it's...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said in my Member's statement, presumptive coverage for firefighters and first responders for PTSD and ten forms of cancer and event specific coverage, such as catastrophic disasters like the Fort McMurray wildfire or the wildfires we experienced here, are not currently covered by WSCC legislation. This means firefighters have to go through a lengthy approval process and, in some cases, they're dealing with terminal cancers and had to spend all this time fighting with insurance rather than enjoying the time they have left. Mr. Speaker, is the Minister...

Thank you. And, yes, it is -- it's great if you're a Franco-Ténois, you absolutely can access one-stop shop. There's some issues there as well, but it does exist. So there's funding out there, clearly, because that's how a lot of the Francophone services we do provide are through federal government funding specifically for Francophones and, of course, the funding for other language minorities is much more limited because they're not official languages of Canada. But I wonder if there -- Indigenous Services Canada has client officers and things like that, so there's a lot of client facing...

Yeah, thank you. And I mean, it's hard to -- because it is a political role, it's hard to assess it as you would with GRI or one of those tools that we've been trying to use for evidence-based decision-making. But I just -- I fear that we're not going to get the best result possible from an expensive singular role when we could spread it out across contracts and, you know, have those people who are working in those circles and get more awareness of what's happening on the ground and more influence for our government on the ground as well. So I don't need a response from the Premier, but those...

Thank you. That's very proactive and positive, and I appreciate taking those steps. And I appreciate the indulgence of asking these questions at this section that I thought to jump on -- ride other people's coattails.

Moving towards the envoy position, I'm wondering if -- do we currently have a contract or do we contract government relation services from firms, like lobbyist firms essentially, to support our efforts to engage with not just the federal government -- well, primarily the federal government, but other governments and organizations? Thank you.