Caroline Wawzonek

No, it will certainly not be lost, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the department is very committed to this work. And as I said, this is really the work that's gone on is part of what has already been going on and what's already in place under the Indigenous recruitment and retention framework, the Human Resources Strategic Plan, the Diversity and Inclusion Framework. So while this policy is certainly connected to those things and that work is ongoing, as such it is connected. And the work is ongoing, and it will certainly not be lost. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, when we started the 19th Legislative Assembly, Members put forward, as one of its priorities, ensuring that government procurement maximizes benefits for Northwest Territories' residents and businesses. We knew that procurement policies had not been meaningfully updated for several years, and we wanted to make sure we were getting as much value out of every dollar as we could.

In January 2021, I appointed an independent advisory panel to engage with Indigenous governments and Indigenous organizations, elected leaders, the business community, stakeholders and residents, on...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Honourable Member for Nahendeh, that Bill 84, An Act to Amend the Northwest Territories Business Development and Investment Corporation Act, be read for the third time. And, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for the Sahtu, that Bill 83, Liquor Act, be read for the third time. Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, I'm happy to give my own views on it. I do think it would be beneficial to also hear from the CEO. But, I mean, I suppose at this point I'd probably highlight I don't like to pick favourites; it's like picking your favorite child. But, I mean, to be to be quite honest, actually, I would actually put the rebranding on there because there is confusion in the space, in the ecosystem of supports for businesses. I'm not it doesn't even matter to me necessarily. As it has been said already, whether it's Prosper NWT or something different, but it needs to be...

Thank you, Madam Chair. So I mean, as a general process, again, I suppose it's sorry, I'm struggling with the long question. There was a lot I mean, one of the things I guess I would speak to would be the need to get the venture program to a place where it was more accessible and more useable. There was significant interest in being able to deliver business supports, business programs in a way that right now under the current legislation was not authorized. There was a desire to move an authority from an executive council, which requires all of Cabinet, to the ministerial level, but also to...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, we have had a fairly significant disagreement about the really, about the process of getting information to committee on this one. And I will say, Madam Chair, it is unusual, but we're also not dealing with a department of a government here. We are dealing with an entity that is meant to be arm's length in which, to be quite frank, over many years was not necessarily given as greater latitude as it could have been to be truly at arm's length from the department, from the Minister, from the Minister's office. So I certainly made it my point to really embody...

Yes.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Reclaiming the Capable Person: We Are All Capable Persons When We Have Community A Strategic Framework for Addressing Family Violence in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when we establish programs or modify programs with speed, it is most easy to do that within the context of programs we have, which is why we've done the wildfire within the existing SEED policy, which does have some parameters to it. That said, as well as looking at increases and modifications based on the impacts to different communities I would say that, yes, we are also looking at whether there's some additional flexibility that we could have in terms of what is covered as well as some additional flexibility in terms of the periods to be covered again...