R.J. Simpson

Thank you. With me today, I have Mr. Brad Patzer, assistant deputy minister Attorney General with the Department of Justice. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm here today to present Bill 7, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024.

The Department of Justice routinely brings forward Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Acts which make changes to various statutes that require minor amendments, or where errors or inconsistencies have been identified. These must not be controversial, involve the spending of public funds, prejudicially affect rights, or create a new offence, or subject a new class of persons to an existing offence. The proposed amendments are minor, uncontroversial or non-substantive, and many consist of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And we are in the fight. We've been in the fight. One of the things that I do in relation to the RCMP is I provide the policing priorities of our government. So the RCMP, again, they are independent. Their operations are dictated by them and by the Department of Public Safety federally, but I provide the policing priorities. The number one policing priority that I provided -- and there's only four. Number one is to disrupt the supply of illicit drugs and alcohol in the Northwest Territories. So we are working on this. I have committed to introduce additional pieces of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Of course, I must recognize former Premier Handley. I appreciate him being here, and I must say I have a new-found respect for the work that he has done as Premier as well as all others who have done that work. So thank you. And I also want to recognize him as the chair of the board of governors of Aurora College and thank him for that work as well. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I won't say much about this; I've spoken extensively about the wildfires, and the Member for Hay River South has spoken about the accommodations being provided as well as other supports. So what the government will do is take this motion, use the 120 days to consider it, and provide a response. And we will be abstaining. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to recognize my former colleague and current grand chief of the Tlicho, Mr. Jackson Lafferty. It was an honour serving with him as his deputy Speaker, and as the only Lafferty I'm allowed to recognize today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents: Mandate Letters for the Executive Council of the 20th Legislative Assembly; and, GNWT Search and Rescue System Review Final Report. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, earlier this week I attended the Western Premiers' Conference in Whitehorse, along with the Premiers of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nunavut, and Yukon. The conference is a forum to discuss issues that are of interest or concern to all seven western provinces and territories.

This year, we started our informal discussions with Deputy Chief Darla Jean Lindstrom, of the Carcross/Tagish First Nation. She had a very simple message for Premiers: If we work together, we are stronger together. She also spoke of the importance of working together with Indigenous...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, yes, this is something that is in our business plan. The review will be done within the next 12 months. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There's plenty of things I would like to do. This is one area where I would like to see something happen as well. What that is, I'm not quite sure yet. This does take resources. But that being said, I've already had discussions with the Minister of MACA on potential future steps on what we can do. Again, that being said I can't make any promises. We are going through the budget process right now. We are really looking to get our financial house in order so that we can pursue activities like this, which falls in line with our public safety mandate. But that's work that...