Kieron Testart

Thank you. That's less than minimum wage so I hope that we see some progress on that.

Finally, the committee has also recommended that interactions between jurors and other participants in the proceedings be minimized outside the courtroom with special parking spaces, access routes, and including secure areas where jurors can be alone to recharge after hearing, you know, difficult evidence and testimony in the courts. Will the Minister make the necessary changes to the Yellowknife Courthouse, and on community circuit as well, to ensure that those kinds of provisions are in place to ensure that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Department of Justice recently announced a new program to support mental health of jurors who often go through very difficult circumstances in the course of executing their responsibilities through juries. This is relevant to a report put out by the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights in May of 2018 called Improving Support for Jurors in Canada. That's a House of Commons committee. That committee made 11 recommendations, and one of these was to recommend that provinces and territories offer psychological support and counselling programs...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Committee examined the distinction between market and non-market communities. Most NWT communities lack a functioning housing market, meaning residents have few options beyond public housing. In these communities, the conventional housing continuum promoted by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation does not reflect local realities. Committee supports the development of a northern housing continuum that includes transitional housing, supportive housing, community-led housing, and subsidized homeownership.

Committee also explored the principle...

Thank you. That's good to hear, and I'm pleased that we are making progress in this area. Again, I have my own reservations. I know a number of my constituents and my own immediate family have reservations about this technology, but it is here to stay.

In those digital services conference and jurisdictional -- or sorry, in FTPs and things like that where the Minister is speaking to other colleagues, have there been any movements in other provinces that look promising for the Northwest Territories as well? I'm just wondering if we can get almost a sneak preview on that. Like, if we see those...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So I've asked about this, you know, about AI policy for the government, and I happily see correspondence from the Minister's office on how we're managing AI usage as a government. But I'm wondering if we are in discussions or planning to incorporate that into our information technology, like our enterprise-wide information technology systems. Because, you know, we're seeing more and more movement in this space. It's currently driving global markets and, you know, potentially we're entering into a bubble. But, regardless, I think it's safe to say the technology is here to...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Well, on page 24, you can see Range Lake North School rear entrance ramp and accessibility improvements, and that is classified as an infrastructure contribution. So it's doable, and that's what I would expect if it was a renovation that was needed and if it was a retrofit or replacement, obviously there would be a broader discussion. So I will give the Minister that one that we don't know until we know.

But moving to that larger issue, I understand that N.J. Macpherson School is in the top five of infrastructure needs and is in basically dire need of replacement, and its...

Thank you. In the previous exchange of questions, there was a comment about funding mechanisms to pay for some of these renovations, and surpluses were identified. So my concern with that is that's what surpluses are for, of course, and Yellowknife schools, which is relevant to my riding and my work as an MLA, are also funded by taxpayers in the city.

The new education assistant program, that $14 million program that the department has rolled out, has a caveat that surpluses have to be emptied essentially before that -- or in conjunction with receiving that money. The concern that I have heard...

Mr. Speaker, this program, I think, is all nestled under income assistance. When income assistance is late for -- has late fees related to power, they pay it. So I don't understand. We have a mechanism for that. Will the Minister use the same mechanism she uses for income assistance at the departmental level to pay these late fees and take the burden off of our learners? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As per my Member's statement earlier today, why are students in Range Lake being told that they have to pay late fees and other costs through no fault of their own due to the department's lateness in getting payments out the door to kids on SFA? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister. As the former jury administrator for the Northwest Territories, this is a deeply-held issue for me because I dealt with so many people in the system who were doing juries. We actually compensate jurors around $80 a day. The same committee report recommends increasing it to $120 a day. Ontario has already done this. Nunavut pays between $100 to $150 a day. This eases with the time commitments required for a jury. Will the Minister increase fees for jurors to $120 a day? Thank you.