R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I believe the question is what are we doing to fast track these projects by working with Indigenous governments. And so to that I will say that we have put a lot of time and energy into improving the relationships with Indigenous governments. And as I travel around the territory, that's what I hear from many Indigenous governments, that we have improved those relationships, we've done that work, we've built that trust. And by doing so, we're able to combine forces and work together on different projects. Of course, we have the Arctic Economic and Security Corridor...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We're going to stay the course because, again, I don't agree with the premise of the Member's question. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I heard the Member mention the Minister's priorities of medical travel and cultural safety. I am not sure if he mentioned the other priority of care in small communities, and so I think a focus on care in small communities, which are primarily Indigenous in the territory, is -- you know, is a direct -- you can directly point to that to say we are working to fulfill the treaties. But I will comment since I am on the subject there that we do fulfill the treaties, I would say more than any other jurisdiction in Canada. We put more effort into ensuring that we do fulfill...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so when certain companies wind down, for example up at Diavik, for years they've had a my path program where they worked with the employees there to help them transition to whatever might be next. And so as I mentioned earlier, we have formed a partnership with Yellowknives Dene and the Tlicho to look at any training opportunities that might be available, trying to figure out where, you know, those individuals are working, how we can best support them. I want to also point out that there's already a lot of different programs available in the territory. There's...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So from what I understand, a lot of work has been done. There hasn't been I guess delays to the work for the sake of delays. Any delays are the result of some disagreements on the composition of the management board, and the other work that can happen has happened. So going forward, the ideal would be that we would have consensus from all of the groups involved on how that management board would be established and its composition. And so we really need to get through that process, and the GNWT has very limited ability to accelerate that type of collaboration and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And EIA does work with NGOs. We have a very, very small unit, extraordinarily small unit with only a couple people in there so it's difficult to overcommit ourselves. Right now we are focusing on service integration with a specific focus on homelessness and people who are at risk of become homeless. And so that unit doesn't have a lot of additional horsepower to take on other roles. That being said, I am happy to speak with the other two Ministers who are involved in this and have a conversation because I do see the value in having some sort of coordination. When you...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So this is an issue that cuts across a number of different departments. Housing NWT is actually responsible for the coordination of the homelessness strategy although EIA does continue to play a role in there, and health and social services, as the establishment policy of that department, gives it authority over family violence and family violence shelters and the funding. So it goes beyond just EIA, and I wouldn't want to make a commitment and commit the Minister of the Status of Women and the Minister of health to something without having a conversation first. So now...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have a conversation with the Minister of Environment and Climate Change who has oversight of this file and see what can be done. But, again, it's a matter of people working together and coming to a consensus in order to conclude this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will do my best. This is more of a question for the ECE Minister but I understand, you know, from the Member's statement why she's directing this to me. So I will say that currently the area is protected under a land withdrawal until 2028 I believe, and there are a few steps that need to take place before it can move from a candidate to a protected area. The majority of those are internal to the working group. There's a number of Indigenous governments and the GNWT who are all part of this process, and there needs to be some agreement, as the Member mentioned, on the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And as the Member mentioned, staff have reached out to have conversations with the YWCA about ongoing funding. I recognize the important work that NGOs do, and they do it at a fraction of the cost that the Government of the Northwest Territories can do it. So we always want to make sure that we are supporting them to the extent we can.

The program that has sunsetting funding is a federal program and so, you know, we see this quite often in the territory where the federal government will see an opportunity to fund something that's their flavour of the day I guess, and...