Thank you very much, Suzie Napayok. Please be seated.

Colleagues, before we get going here, I want to talk to a couple things. One, when we're asking questions, short preamble. Second and third questions, to the point. Ministers, short and precise answers, please. So we can all work together for the people of the Northwest Territories. So thank you.

Member from Hay River South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask for unanimous consent to move to item 5 which is recognition of visitors in the gallery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's an honour to be joined today by the grade 6ers from Hay River. They've been touring Yellowknife and having a great time, and we're happy to have them here in the legislature here today. So I would like to recognize, along with my colleague who will be reading the rest of the names, Hendrix Jones, Sofie Norn-Cardinal, Aaleyah Sabourin, Bailee McPherson, Chazlynn Lafleur, Kaelynn Lockhart, Raye McKay-Harris, Trent Sanguez, Ila Dean, Dyna Earle, McCoy Fraser, Jeremy Graham, Lexi Lafferty, Seamus Russell, and Addison Smith. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Hay River North. Member from Hay River South.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to also recognize the grade 6 students from Hay River, Miya Taylor-Dumas, Jaxin Thompson, Bejamin Woehl, Jaxon Zdebiak, Parihaan Abrar, Scarlett Robillard, Emily Latour, Eleanor Bassett, and their chaperones Sherisse Bouchard -- chaperones and teachers, Sherisse Bouchard, Stephanie Haas, Adam Smith, Jillian Zdebiak, and their drivers taking them home safely this afternoon, Daniel Perron and Nicole Klause. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Hay River South. It's great to see these young people here. I appreciate you coming into our beautiful facility and seeing the capital, and I'd just like to recognize Mr. Danny, a former partner on the wrestling mat. He was the guy that beat me up all the time, so I thank you very much for being here. Hey, hey, hey, Member from Range Lake -- oh sorry, Yellowknife Centre, you be quiet. Anyways, so thank you very much for being here, and we appreciate having an audience here today.

Mr. Speaker, as we move further into the high-risk season for flooding and wildfires, the Government of the Northwest Territories is taking every step to ensure we are ready for emergencies, with the capacity to respond swiftly, coordinate effectively, and work collaboratively with our partners to protect the safety and well-being of NWT residents and communities.

In recent years, our territory has witnessed the impacts of the changing climate and has faced increasingly severe and frequent emergencies including wildfires, floods, and evacuations have become part of our collective experience.

In the 2023 wildfire season, the most significant in our history, tested our systems, stretched our capacity, and placed immense strain on the residents and responders alike. It was a season that highlighted both the strength and the urgent need to continue improving how we all prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies.

As we continue into 2025 emergency season, I know some residents are feeling anxious and concerned. I want to reassure you that the Government of the Northwest Territories has taken significant steps to prepare for the weeks and months ahead. Our emergency management system has been strengthened through additional training, coordination, and planning efforts at all levels. We are investing in people, partnerships, and preparedness.

The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs has supported community governments across the territory, who are in the lead in emergency response activities, by updating their community emergency plans. Community planning workshops and tabletop exercises have been delivered in every region. These exercises bring together leaders, first responders, and the Government of the Northwest Territories staff, to practice emergency scenarios, validate the plans, and clarify responsibilities. These exercises are vital tests of how we function and respond in high-pressure situations.

The Government of the Northwest Territories has also invested in building an internal surge capacity to support communities when emergencies strike. Currently, there are 137 staff members on the emergency management organization surge capacity list. Staff are encouraged to sign up to assist during emergencies when called upon.

As of last month, 106 staff received incident command system training, or ICS training, ranging from ICS-100 to ICS-400. This training ensures that when emergencies occur, trained personnel are available and ready to support response operations across the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, emergency preparedness is not only the job of the Government of the Northwest Territories but also a shared responsibility. That is why the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs launched the Be Ready campaign in 2025. This public awareness initiative helps residents understand risks and take practical steps to prepare for emergencies. The campaign encourages people to build or check their 72-hour emergency kits, speak to their insurance providers, and develop household emergency plans.

My personal emergency plan and emergency kit was shared on a video on my Facebook page earlier in May.

While we focus on the present, we are also building for the future. Earlier this month, an independent after-action review of the 2023 wildfire emergency response was released. This review was conducted by a third party with an oversight from representatives of the Government of the Northwest Territories, Indigenous governments, and Members of the House. The after-action review is not intended to assign blame; rather, it aims to identify opportunities to improve that will benefit the residents, the responders, and the future of our communities. It provides a detailed assessment of the emergency response efforts to the numerous wildfires during the 2023 season. And it outlines a path forward with clear recommendations.

The Government of the Northwest Territories will respond to the recommendations in the report, many of which have already been identified from lessons learned and have been implemented. Several of these recommendations are already shaping our work to improve our emergency preparedness, response, and recovery efforts, including enhanced training, updating emergency planning tools, improved coordination with Indigenous governments, and modernized financial assistance policies.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is prepared for the 2025 flood and wildfire season. We have strengthened our systems, trained our people, and reinforced our partnerships. We are encouraging and supporting residents to act through the Be Ready campaign. This is how we build safe and more resilient communities in the Northwest Territories. Be prepared together. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. Ministers' statements. Minister for ITI.

Mr. Speaker, at the end of March, I attended the Renewables in Remote Communities conference in Whitehorse, and today I'd like to share a few of my takeaways, especially around promising renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives being led by northern and remote communities. One thing that may be of interest is that Arctic Energy Alliance has produced some brand-new mini books and flashcards with words and terms related to energy that are translated into several Indigenous languages. Hopefully, we can get those books to our interpreters here at the ledge.

It became clear that out of all of the territories and provinces represented at the conference, the NWT is the furthest behind in that we are the last ones to come up with the policy on independent power producers, which communities have been asking for a long time. This is important because many Indigenous development corporations and communities would like to own the assets to be able to produce their own renewable energy and then sell that power to the power corporation or the GNWT. Another policy change that's long overdue is increasing the current cap of 20 percent on intermittent renewable generation. What I've learned, though, is how communities such as Inuvik have been getting around this restrictive cap by helping to stabilize their system with more battery energy storage. Inuvik is the territory's biggest non-hydro community, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn it has well over 150 percent penetration with renewable technologies, such as solar and wind.

I also heard loud and clear that for these community-led renewable energy projects to be sustainable, we need more federal funding to support operations, not just capital, and the GNWT needs to fund more training for community members to install and maintain and repair the energy technologies because it doesn't do any good to invest money in shiny new technology that sits there broken or unused.

I met with the Gwich'in company Dinjii Zhuh Solutions which is aiming to set a new standard for sustainable housing and reduce home heating costs. They've already completed energy audits on 36 homes and retrofits on five homes in Fort McPherson, and they're looking to scale up to retrofit 120 homes over five years. They're looking to overcome challenges in getting contractors and materials by establishing local training programs and a centralized material hub. Mr. Speaker, I ask for unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thanks to my colleagues. Mr. Speaker, the NWT has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to renewable energy, but we have no shortage of passion and energy in our communities to drive it forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife North. Members' statements. Member from Great Slave.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I tend to write out my statements in advance as a way to collect my thoughts. I'm going to do a little bit differently today, with bullets. It's so I can speak a little bit better from my heart and my experience.

So with the release of the after-action review, it's pretty clear to me that we have a long ways to go to become a more people-centered government, and I think that that's always a goal that will always exist. In speaking with my constituents, there is less of a desire now for a formal public inquiry after those two after-action reviews have been conducted by both ECC and EIA and MACA. That said, I do understand and respect for some residents that closure has not come and may never come. The after-action review that was released recently details this in extensive amounts as to why.

We, as a territory, need to heal from this collective trauma. We -- at least I can speak for myself -- have been compartmentalizing, and that doesn't really work in the long-term.

There's still a desire to see officials express regret for missteps and ownership for actions that could have gone much better. I specifically want to thank certain people in the public service. That would be Aggie, Emily, Jay, Jennifer and Mike, but also many more who didn't have a public face and didn't interact with the media in daily briefings. Thank you to all of those who redeployed in that chaos, especially those who tried their best to help fellow residents at evacuation centres while they were evacuees themselves. Thank you, especially, to all of our firefighters and support staff who faced down a freight train of wildfire. And thank you very much to my ECC family and the loss that we all experienced of a firefighter on that year.

Mr. Speaker, it is an awful topic, it is a heavy topic, but I will have questions for the Premier later today. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Great Slave. Members' statements. Member from Frame Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to take the opportunity today to further highlight the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment's Report on the Review of Land Use Permitting and Water Licensing Regulatory Framework in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, our Cabinet, through their mandate commitment, one of their commitments is to ensure regulatory systems and decision-making are consistent, efficient, and predictable. Mr. Speaker, when Cabinet released those commitments, I committed back to push them on those commitments, push them on the mandate, and to focus my work on doing what I can to help achieve those commitments.

Mr. Speaker, I also spoke previously in the Assembly to the concept of red tape and how, when speaking about our regulatory system, this is often a lot of criticism about the red tape that people had to cut through. But I found that those conversations tended to focus on either fundamental changes or removal of the system altogether and didn't get into the weeds of figuring out what's wrong with the system and what needs to be improved to change it. Knowing that the system is not going anywhere, Mr. Speaker, the regulatory system in the Northwest Territories is foundationally rooted in land claims, and we've learned through court challenges that the system is not going anywhere. And so we needed to cut through the fog of this discussion and identify what's not working and why and lay out a path for change.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that standing committee's report does just that, and I'm particularly proud of this work and want to echo that the comments made by the Member for Yellowknife Centre yesterday thanking our excellent staff for their work on this report.

Mr. Speaker, if fully implemented, I think this report could lead to significant positive change. Certainly, no single report is going to be a panacea, but the recommendations in here lay out a path in a very complex system for changes that could be made, tangible changes, that could lead us to a more efficient, more meaningful participation in a regulatory system that's working better. So I'm particularly proud of it, wanted to take this opportunity today to highlight it, and to just highlight it for Cabinet and note that I am going to be holding you to account for implementation of this report and will continue to pressure the Ministers, the relevant Ministers, on it, and look forward to doing that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Frame Lake. Members' statements. Member from Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the week of May the 5th to the 9th, a Sahtu tour took place to discuss the critical issues of food security and food sovereignty in our region. We met with local leaders, elders, community members, who generously shared their thoughts, concerns, innovative ideas, about addressing affordability.

Mr. Speaker, these meetings were a huge success with participation from community members, leaders, investing in finding sustainable solutions. The discussions were heartfelt and productive, touching on traditional harvesting practices, modern food distribution challenges, and potential collaborative approaches.

I would like to personally thank Food Banks Canada, Nutrition North, and Sysco Canada for their travelling to our remote Sahtu communities and for their commitment to understand our unique northern challenges. Their expertise and willingness to listen to community voices were invaluable to the success of the tour.

I also want to express my sincere appreciation to CBC and Cabin Radio for their excellent media coverage throughout the tour. Their thoughtful reporting highlighted the significant hardships that are faced in the communities, including the high cost -- extremely high cost of food, limited access to fresh produce, and the importance of traditional food in maintaining cultural connections.

I'd also like to extend my special thanks to Buffalo Airways for providing the chartered services. Their discounted rate for the charter made it possible for our diverse group to visit all Sahtu communities despite the vast distances between them.

Mr. Speaker, the community members and leaders in the communities came together, shared their personal experiences with food insecurity, and asked thoughtful questions about how they can realize food security, the discussions -- Mr. Speaker, I request an extension to conclude my statement. Mahsi.

---Unanimous consent granted

Mahsi cho, colleagues. The questions revealed a strong desire to blend traditional knowledge with modern solutions, creating food systems that are culturally appropriate, environmentally sustainable, and economically viable for our communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And now the work begins on logistics.

Thank you, Member from the Sahtu.

Colleagues, before we continue with Members' statements, I'd like to recognize members of the Office of the Auditor General of Canada's team that are here in relation to the publication of the Auditor General's report on protected and conserved areas in the Northwest Territories, and I apologize to the people if I say your name wrong:

Jerry Demarco, Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development;

Carey Agnew, principal auditor;

Emilie Anne Duval, director, territorial liaison.

Welcome to the Assembly, and thank you for your work.

Members' statements. Member from Inuvik Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last September, the NWT's new Extended Health Care Benefits Policy took effect, replacing the old specified disease condition program, with an income-based model that now covers drugs, medical supplies, dental care, and vision care for everyone who qualifies. The program requires residents to register and go through an income testing process.

I am hearing, Mr. Speaker, from some residents in my community that they are unaware of the extended health benefits program which begs the question, Mr. Speaker, how is this program being communicated to those residents who need it most.

The Minister has told us that her department is monitoring uptake and refining the application process. I am curious about how that work is going and if the department is seeing any indications that certain pockets or demographics are being missed in their efforts to boost enrolment in this program. Are they seeing any gaps that may reflect challenges for residents with the new income-tested deductibles or confusion about eligibility requirements? Clear communication and targeted outreach are critical to make sure no one is left without the benefits they need.

Another concern, Mr. Speaker, is related to medical travel. Under the old SBC program, eligible residents were covered for travel for insured health services; however, medical travel is administered under the NWT medical travel policy which created a duplication. Mr. Speaker, I understand the Minister's working on modernizing and simplifying the medical travel program, and I wonder if any consideration has been given to folding the Medical travel policy into the extended health benefits framework. This could streamline administration, align cost sharing roles, and give residents one pathway to essential health benefits. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll have questions for the Minister of health later.

Thank you, Member from Inuvik Boot Lake. Members' statements. Member from Deh Cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Access to health care and addressing the effects of trauma is a priority of this Assembly. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, my colleague, the Member for Yellowknife North, touched on health promotion and well-being in our small communities, which is an issue I have raised in the past and something I am passionate about. We have people living with diabetes or cancer. Reliable health information can be life changing and lifesaving. Other people need information about quitting smoking, prevention, nutrition, getting active, sexual health, and education about substance abuse. Across the territory, and especially in small communities, we have high rates of alcohol use, smoking, chronic diseases, and sexually transmitted infections.

Mr. Speaker, this all needs to change. These rates need to go down, or our health system will become even more burdened than it currently is. During the fall session, the Minister of Health and Social Services said the community health representative in collaboration with the department of health and the RCMP had a campaign going on for illicit drugs. The current approach seems to be that the CHRs assess needs in the communities and then design programs based on those needs. I want to know what campaigns are in place in my riding to reach our youth, adult, and elders so that they can be aware of health issues, the risks, and how to manage them.

Mr. Speaker, I've said it before many times: I would like to see people being healthy, informed, and thriving. I do not want small communities to get left behind. I will have questions for the Minister at the appropriate time. Mahsi.

Thank you, Member from the Deh Cho. Members' statements. Member from Range Lake.

Mr. Speaker, for many Northerners lacking access to a family doctor, the emergency room, once a last resort, has now become the only option for care. Month after month, I hear from constituents in Range Lake enduring six to ten-hour wait times for emergency room treatments that should be routine. How can we reasonably expect our doctors and nurses to provide safe and timely emergency care when their volume of patient overflows month after month thanks to gridlocks, cancellations, understaffing, alongside the alarming lack of access to primary care. Yet, year after year, the health and social services has failed to reflect these realities in its reports on statistics. Now the Minister suddenly insists that the ER will remain open by any means necessary, but so far her solutions amount to little more than adjusting shift schedules for a workforce already stretched to its limit without meaningful input from the professionals on the ground. If the Minister were to truly consult with frontline staff, she would hear unequivocally that Stanton requires at least a dozen more emergency physicians, yet currently, only two are in place. And it doesn't stop there.

The need is urgent for unit clerks, mental health nurses, care coordinators, social workers, lab assistants, and personnel to support elders and individuals struggling with addictions. When pressed on how she intends to reach appropriate staffing levels, the answer appears to be a revolving door of temporary workers, staff who must be constantly trained and oriented and who lack the necessary experience to respond to life threatening emergencies such as strokes or cardiac arrests.

This, Mr. Speaker, is not health care. This is chaos. And concerns about even further deterioration of our system are not hypothetical. They are the reality we've witnessed for far too long.

Last week, the Minister stood in a public forum and claimed that the Northwest Territories is the best place in Canada to get sick and seek treatment even as she admitted that residents cannot book a primary care appointment and, in many cases, can't even get someone to answer the phone. If the Minister cannot come before this chamber with a serious, credible plan, grounded in staff consultation, focused on real capacity building, then, Mr. Speaker, we may not have an emergency room at all this summer. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Range Lake. Members' statements. Member from Monfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about how we work in collaboration for the people of the Northwest Territories. The nature of our job as elected officials is to be a strong voice for the people we represent.

Mr. Speaker, the interpreters behind us are elders, and they watch over us when we are in this House. Also, the elders from our home communities are also watching us. Mr. Speaker, I can tell you our elders may not be registered psychologists or psychiatrists or psychoanalysts, but our elders have the knowledge and life experience to lead our communities in good times and bad. In our consensus government, my colleagues and I come together and make decisions that will have an effect on the lives of the residents of the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, we must think of our elders as we do this work. They should always be respected and cared for. I believe it is important for all of us, as Members of the Legislative Assembly, to look to the elders as an example of how we interact with each other when we are in this House. Mr. Speaker, people in the Northwest Territories are our priority, and we need to work together for the benefit of all. Our elders teach us how to be responsible and respectful.

Mr. Speaker, I have recently learned that the Legislative Assembly has an elder on-site program. Members and staff can join an elder for quiet reflection, tea, and conversations in the tent behind this building. Mr. Speaker, this program is similar to the GNWT initiative like the elders in schools program. I would like to see more programs with elders in our public spaces, and I strongly encourage Members to visit with the elders at the Assembly. I will have question for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment at the appropriate time. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Monfwi. Members' statements. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the non-insured health benefit, NHIB program, is a fundamental right for all ineligible -- sorry, eligible First Nations and Inuit across Canada. For many of my constituents, it serves as a critical safety net, particularly in emergencies, where public or private insurance falls short. NIHB provides essential services, including medical transportation, when they are needed the most. However, I would like to bring attention to a recent case where the delivery of these benefits failed one of my constituents.

While travelling in Alberta, a constituent of mine became seriously ill and was hospitalized. As this was a personal trip and not a medical travel, they were deemed ineligible for medical transportation benefits. Compounding the issue, they did not have travel insurance. Recognizing that NIHB could apply in this urgent situation, my office immediately began working to secure access to these benefits. Unfortunately, due to jurisdictional administration barriers between Alberta and Northwest Territories, we face significant delays in Alberta.

Physicians could not initiate the NIHB process. This had to come from our own department in health and social services. Yet because the patients were hospitalized outside the NWT, the NTHSSA was unaware of this condition. As a result, we spent over two weeks navigating these barriers to access a service that should have been readily available.

Ultimately, coordination was achieved, and I want to thank the Minister and NTHSSA for their efforts, along with NIHB staff, but the delayed caused substantial emotional and financial strain for a family that should have been focused on supporting their loved one.

Mr. Speaker, this cannot happen again. We must ensure that NIHB services are available immediately and seamlessly regardless of location. I urge that NTHSSA to review this case, provide appropriate training, and develop protocols to prevent similar situations in the future. I look forward to working with the Minister to make this a reality. I would have questions for the Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh. Members' statements. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Health care is what I'm going to talk to the House today.

Mr. Speaker, we have a great system, best system, some of the best people, Mr. Speaker, but all systems have their challenges. So, Mr. Speaker, when we talk about the heroic efforts that the nurses face or challenge every day, you know, we are a great -- we're of great appreciation of what they do. Mr. Speaker, often they're treated as the only people we talk about in the system, but they are the symbol of the system in the way we chat about them. Let us not forget there are many people that support this system, such as personal support workers, admins, techs, and the list goes on. So when we speak about nurses, sometimes we tend to forget to mention the other names so I don't want people to feel we don't think about them. They are on top of mind.

Mr. Speaker, but like every great system, a hospital is similar to what I would describe as the game Jenga. You can only put so many stresses and challenges on the system before it tumbles down. Nurses are on the vanguard of our healthcare system, Mr. Speaker, and often we talk about them in a way of being the first ones that we see to receive our health care. But I often wonder, you know, no matter how many health care czars we hire from far and wide, Mr. Speaker, will they get to the root of some of these challenges our system is facing?

Mr. Speaker, it seems to be that we're giving glazing efforts towards the management and relationship challenges, the pay equity challenges, and certainly the working condition challenges. Mr. Speaker, to go back, we don't seem to spend the time about finding out why the frustrations are there with the management challenges. No, we just assume everything's good, and if you hire the guy from Regina to go through it, well, heck, you know, he'll hear what he's paid for to hear. He's hired by senior management to look at the system. Well, he's not going to be as critical on the system as one would think. Mr. Speaker, pay equity, often we hear about –

Point of Order

-- point of order, Mr. Speaker.

Member from Hay River North.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is speaking about an identifiable individual who is not in the chamber to defend himself. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Member from Hay River North. Member from Yellowknife Centre.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Premier's now identifying him. I said you can hire someone from Regina. We have had many people in this House reference who he is so if we want to get to specifics, we can name him, but we're not here to name people. Particularly, I think it's a far stretch, and we can't keep talking about these people and pretend they don't exist. It's a reference, and that's the point. Thank you.

Thank you, Member from Yellowknife Centre. Colleagues, it was a very close line. Please let's not do semantics in saying could be where, it should have, would have. Let's be very respectful of our people in the public service. At this point in time, there is no point of order, but I appreciate us making sure we're aware of this situation.

Member from Yellowknife Centre, please conclude your -- or back to your statement, please.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the chance to finish, uninterrupted hopefully.

That said, Mr. Speaker, we should be talking about ratios. MIT did a review years ago, I seem to read, which was we're not computers; we're people, which is you can only challenge and stress the system so much whereas in nursing ratios asked the question can we allow our teams to focus in a reasonable and balanced way? Mr. Speaker, I'll end with this because I can't seem to -- I don't have enough time to finish my statement. I'll say you can only work the system to the bone and expect best results, but if you work the system to the bone, all you're going to get is a bony system and nobody wants that, Mr. Speaker.