Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I talked about bringing a young child that was buried in Fort Resolution home to Fort Smith. But, Mr. Speaker, right now in our community, the family has reached out to the chief in Fort Resolution to help do that. But we ran into a little bit of a problem now as we went looking into this whole situation about how we're going to exhume the body of the baby and bring him home. But we understand that the GNWT has a policy on archaeological artifacts dating back over 50 years, and I'm not really sure if that applies to cemeteries. So I just want to ask the Minister does that apply to cemeteries? Thank you.
Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Member first and foremost for raising this very important intersection of legislation and how it impacts the lives of Northerners. And I think that's really very important that we always take a look at, we always keep in mind, and making sure that our legislation is responsive is incredibly important.
Mr. Speaker, under the Archaeological Sites Act, Justice has provided a legal opinion that this legislation does include ancestral remains of Northerners. Mr. Speaker, I think it's incredibly important to note here that this is a piece of legislation that was mirrored off federal legislation post-devolution and that we are in the process of updating that through our Intergovernmental Council process, and I look forward to updating this House on that work. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As well as you know, in the 19th Assembly, I think it was Bill 85 on the -- where we worked on the UNDRIP file, and we did that for about a year and a half and we finally brought it to the House in the 19th Assembly, and we passed it, and that legislation. So that legislation recognizes and respects the Indigenous governments' culture and values. So I just wanted to ask the Minister now that there's a chance where we could go back and revisit to make -- to modernize this agreement -- or sorry, this new legislation so that we are able to exhume further remains that we have buried in the graveyard. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I agree with the Member and had the privilege and honour of working with the Member on that legislation from the other side of the House. And this -- the work there really is to determine what pieces of legislation are prioritized and go first and as identified within the legislative priorities of this Assembly, this piece of legislation has been identified as needing to be updated and be reflective of where we're at in the territory, be reflective of what the Member did bring up, Article 12 from UNDRIP, and making sure that our legislation is in line with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. That's incredibly important to this whole House. And so that work will be done through the Intergovernmental Council, and that work will be done in concert with Indigenous governments. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Final supplementary. Short supplementary. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just want to briefly talk about that little 5-year-old boy that we want to bring home to the family and Fort Smith. And I just wanted to ask the Minister now that we know what needs to get done, what can we do now to bring that little boy home? Like you got to remember, this little boy was buried, had no family around, died of probably TB or whatever at the time, but the family wants to have a proper burial now in Fort Smith. I just want to ask the Minister what can we do now to work together in collaboration to bring this little boy home? Thank you.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is what is ultimately the most important here.
Mr. Speaker, in relation to the entire legislation, ECE is working in consultation with Indigenous governments, and that work and the speed of that work will really be determined through the protocols with Intergovernmental Council. Specifically for this individual case here, you have the absolute commitment of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and myself to work as quickly as possible through the decision points that do remain but also with the associated consultation that needs to take place not only within Deninu Kue but also with other Indigenous governments across the territory. Because as we know, children across the territory were removed from their homes, and so the children who are buried there may also be from other traditional territories as well, and we need to ensure that we're respectful of that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife Centre.
