R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I've got to say I'm a little surprised that the committee hasn't done that themselves. They have the full authority to make that offer or reach out to the RCMP, and I know that the commanding officer would be happy to appear and have those discussions. So I can pass along the message but what I recommend is that the committee actually write a letter and ask for that meeting. That way you start building a relationship between the committee and the commanding officer. If I act as a gobetween, I'm just kind of passing notes back and forth. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. One of the main things that I've been doing during this Assembly is lobbying my fellow MLAs to also make crime prevention and law enforcement a priority. We wound up with that in our priorities of this Assembly. Well, public safety, and so I'm happy to see that. And that will allow us to now move forward hopefully with some other initiatives. I meet regularly with the commanding officer of the RCMP. We discuss some of the challenges they're facing, potential solutions, and I'm always trying to find ways to provide additional support to the RCMP. We've added new RCMP...

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, of course the Government of the Northwest Territories was providing funding for the operations of the Spruce Bough, and that was federal money that we were using and, of course, we always knew that that funding was going to run out and so, unfortunately, there wasn't a way to extend that funding. And so we're not at the point where that funding is going to expire. We have found some funding to allow the operation to extend for a few more months to buy us a bit more time. I believe that there are meetings happening maybe today or tomorrow with the most...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, again, it is that treaty process, so I look forward to or the negotiations, so I look forward to including this and being able to in future Assemblies say yes, those issues have been settled. The issues that the Member from Tu NedheWiilideh raised back in the 20th, we've dealt with those, we now have this the Akaitcho treaty and, you know, the Akaitcho people are exercising their inherent right to selfdetermination and selfgovernment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And we are going through that process right now, and that is the land claim and selfgovernment negotiations. I think that is what we need to conclude to ensure that there is a welldefined relationship between the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Government of Canada, and the governments in Treaty 8 territory. And so in terms of the Akaitcho treaty that we hope to finalize in the not too distant future, that would be the place to identify those relationships, and that is why it is important that we get that AIP concluded, to reference the Member's questions...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And land and resource legislation is the development of that is governed under the devolution agreement, and we work with the Intergovernmental Council to advance that legislation. I've also committed in my previous role as the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment to codevelop the Education Act, which is one of the biggest undertakings legislative undertakings that we can do. And there's a desire to do more as well. And so I'm happy to have those conversations.

As I've said before, we are moving towards a future where Indigenous governments selfgovernments of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Council of Leaders, Members of the Council of Leaders did come together, and that was in response to a visit from two federal Ministers. And so it was a it wasn't a general Council of Leaders meeting. It was focused on health care and we were actually all, as Members of that table, conveying our concerns and issues to the federal government. And so I think that the issues that were raised there are familiar to all of us in this House issues of medical travel, issues of access to services, and things like that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We're looking at all of our options. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We're in the same place we were when the Member asked a couple weeks ago. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I do not have the authority to make that commitment. The GNWT is also signatory to the devolution agreement as are a number of Indigenous governments, and so it's that group of governments who would make that decision, not myself as Premier. And as I understand, the last direction was that the signatories receive those funds. Thank you.