Caitlin Cleveland

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. It's a very exciting time because, when we are faced with stuff like a pandemic, people start to get very creative out there. While it is nice for us to be the leader of the pack, sometimes we are not, and we get to look to what other provinces and territories are doing in order to respond to the pandemic. Right now, within the Government of Saskatchewan, they have given a million dollars to their Chamber of Commerce to support a "shop local" campaign. Then, if we look all the way over to the Atlantic provinces, PEI has done another "shop local" campaign...

I definitely have had this conversation with constituents of mine, and I understand where the polarization lies. That's why I'm asking for the Minister to consider existing businesses right now in the wake of a pandemic. It's not an opportunity for multiple other businesses right now in the middle of a pandemic to all of a sudden turn around and access this funding. It's targeted towards existing businesses who are already established within our communities who are having, basically, cash-flow issues in the middle of a pandemic to turn around and pivot their businesses. My concern with waiting...

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. During the 18th Assembly, the then Minister of Justice informed this House that the Aurora Research Institute was contacted to identify best practices to prevent and reduce family violence. Domestic violence deaths almost never occur without warning. In most cases, there have been repeated instances of violence and indicators of risk, as well as opportunities for agencies and individuals to intervene before an incident that ultimately results in death. What can the people of the Northwest Territories expect to see as a result of the work done by the Aurora...

Recognizing COVID's negative impacts on mental health and family dynamics, has this government put any special measures in place to assist women who are experiencing family violence during the middle of the pandemic?

[English translation not available] …flourishing in the conditions created by the pandemic. Women, girls, and LGBTQ2SIA+ people face a heightened risk of home-based violence with COVID isolation measures. In Canada, more than 70 percent of domestic violence murders happen after the victim has ended the relationship. Indigenous women are killed at six times the rate of non-Indigenous women. Half of all women in Canada have experienced at least one incidence of physical or sexual violence since the age of 16. Two-thirds of Canadians know at least one woman who has experienced sexual abuse and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. WHEREAS Section 61 of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act permits the appointment of an Information and Privacy Commissioner by the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories after the approval of the appointment by the resolution of the Legislative Assembly;

AND WHEREAS the Legislative Assembly considers the appointment of an Information and Privacy Commissioner essential to exercise the powers and perform the duties under the Act;

AND WHEREAS the term of the Information and Privacy Commissioner is expiring;

AND WHEREAS the Legislative Assembly is of...

I am happy to hear that the Minister will be sitting down with the federal Minister for CMHC in order to discuss the Rapid Housing Initiative. I think it's really important, and I think that it's important that everybody in this House support the Housing Corporation and make sure that they have the resources that they need in order to be successful in putting housing on the ground. With that in mind, Mr. Speaker, will the Minister of housing please allocate a member of the Housing Corporation today to be the champion of the Rapid Housing Initiative?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The $1-billion Rapid Housing Initiative, which is complementary to the National Housing Strategy, was announced in September this year, and the applications are due at the end of this year, on December 31st. This is barely two months away, Mr. Speaker, and this makes me quite nervous, especially when I hear the Minister for the Housing Corporation talking to a colleague of mine about hoping to have the advisor person for the co-investment fund in place by the end of November. This does not leave somebody who is just potentially coming into the GNWT, coming into the...

Thank you very much for that, Madam Chair. No. That helps a lot, and I think now I'm on the same page. I guess this is the place, then, where I would say that my expectation is to open the main estimates come February and to see a very large, large, substantial line item for the co-investment fund, and $1.2 million is not going to cut it. It won't give the Minister the money that she will require in order to fully draw down on the co-investment fund and to support applications that are coming in the door. I hope that the Minister's colleagues are also hearing me, that this Minister needs...

Thank you very much, Madam Chair, and thank you to the Minister and Mr. Williams for answering that. I think it's a really important number to have on the record here for Northerners. I think it's really important for us to understand that we can't afford to leave any money on the table. If the feds are willing to give us money, then we need to be able to do what we can to access that money. At the 19th Assembly, we also need to support one another on both sides of the House to make sure that that money's ending up in these budgets so that it's available for the Housing Corporation to turn...