R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There has been enhanced cooperation around the territory with Indigenous governments. I can attest to that. Indigenous governments can attest to that. Maybe not every single person in the territory is on the same page and has the same opinion, but I hear it all the time that we are collaborating, cooperating in a different way, and it's much appreciated. That being said, there's collaborating in general, and then there's the negotiating table, and those are two different things. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to update you on progress made by the Government of the Northwest Territories' sector support initiative for non-governmental organizations. In response to the 2023 external advisory committee report on strengthening the non-profit and charitable sector, the GNWT has committed to building stronger relationships, cutting red tape, and making funding more reliable for NGOs. A cross-departmental committee is actively addressing the report's recommendations. This includes updating the NGO funding guide, developing training on implementing the guide, and strengthening...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will engage in the process as the Minister as is appropriate. I don't want to say that I am going to sit at the negotiating table. I'm not arrogant enough to think that I can just do, you know, Mr. Nadli's job without a lot of background information, a lot of training, and a lot of time spent digging deep into the file. We have people who do that work, and it's my role to ensure that at the high level I'm providing the direction needed to get things done. And I am going to do that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize one of our former colleagues, Mr. Michael Nadli, and current negotiator for the Deh Cho First Nation. So if Members want to support that Deh Cho process, maybe we can wrap up question period early so I can sit down and meet with Mr. Nadli today. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, earlier today I had the honour of joining you and other Members of this House at the First Poppy Ceremony, marking the beginning of the season of Remembrance to honour the veterans and serving Members of the Canadian Armed Forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Remembrance Day has been observed in Canada since 1919. It was originally known as Armistice Day and marked the end of the First World War in 1918, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. Each year since then Canadians have taken this day as a moment of solemn reflection.

Remembrance is our collective duty...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That'll be the discussions we're having at the next Intergovernmental Council meeting, and I'm happy to update the Members after those discussions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And of course, we signed the devolution agreement, you know, it's a little over 10 years ago now, and we do a lot of work related to that agreement. Of course, all of the land and resources legislation that we advance is under that agreement and it's done in partnership with the other signatories to devolution. And so any discussion about devolution necessarily includes those Indigenous governments who have signed on. So we continue to work through that process. We continue to work with our partners. We're working closely with Canada, the Yukon government, and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I am very familiar with this issue. I was the Minister of education for four years, and I heard about the issues around teachers' housing quite often. In fact, I put in the mandate letters for the Ministers of housing, Finance, and ECE to work to ensure market housing is available for teachers in small communities where a lack of housing has been identified as a barrier to teacher retention. So this is not a new subject, but it is one that is -- it takes some effort to get at the heart of.

Work that's been done to date includes putting together a list of all of the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Absolutely, I would be happy to do that, and I know the Member didn't necessarily want a full presentation, but I'm also happy to offer a briefing to standing committee that he chairs on our efforts in this area as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The working group is something that happens every year. Each year it is co-hosted by one of the three territories. This year Yukon is co-hosting. But every year we have departmental representation at this working group. It's a director and manager level working group, and it will be the -- we will be registering our staff here I guess the coming days. So yes, we will have a number of staff on this working group, and we are active participants. Thank you.