Caroline Wawzonek

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So Mr. Speaker, a lot of the projects, in fact I gather the majority of the projects that are coming through the Mineral Incentive Program, are early stage or fairly low impact projects. So these are not they're at the front end of the life cycle, and they're not necessarily ones that would have a significant amount of disturbance. That said, Mr. Speaker, the Member's quite right, I am quite committed to promoting the fact that the Northwest Territories is and will be a growing leader on ESG environmental, social, and governance factors and so while we're at it, why...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you know, I am the forms have gone out for 20222023, but let me be clear, I don't think we we don't want bad actors and nor do I believe that we are a wash of bad actors. It is expected that if someone's going to be getting funding to undertake any kind of work anywhere in the Northwest Territories that in order to do so, they're going to have to be compliant with whatever regulatory requirements apply to their project. And I will note I'm told that in the past, in fact ITI has declined to fund projects where their permitting was an issue within the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there's no plans right now to be piloting a fourday workweek. There are plans right now and work underway to develop a GNWTwide public service strategy, government you know, human resources strategy. So to the extent that we'll be engaging and available to members of the public service to have feedback and to discuss where and what they see as some of the challenges in terms of our you know, whether it's morale, whether it's opportunities to be better engaged, whether there's learning plans, whether there's other options, you know, that that's the kind...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Range Lake, that Bill 50, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 20212022 be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the barriers are multifold, and that's a part of the reason why we have launched the Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework. It's one that looks not only to recruitment, which is certainly one of the barriers, but also to retention. And Mr. Speaker, the barriers, as I've stated, they're manyfold, meaning that they're not only structural within the Affirmative Action Policy or other tools or techniques or a lack thereof, they go into the very fact of people's you know, the need to understand who we are as a territory, living well together, and other...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that we're trying to find solutions but if we simply we are already going to do a review of the Affirmative Action Policy. We are certainly looking at the Public Service Act. We're doing the recruitment and retention framework, and we now are looking at having a GNWT action plan. The framework and the action plan are new. We didn't have that overarching look at what's going on across the entire GNWT before. And again, I don't want to minimize how important that is. So if I'm to suddenly turn around and say well, we're just going to up end all...

Yes, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, again, I don't want to be belabour the Indigenous Recruitment and Retention Framework, but if one spends time on both the framework and on the action plan that goes with it, it is now an effort to look at each department's needs, each department's barriers. There are different barriers in different departments because of the nature of the work in those departments, because of the nature of the jobs in those departments, and that's exactly the point of having this, is that there's now going to be that individual look but within a framework, with measurable...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So Mr. Speaker, I can't make that commitment. Every department does have its own area of responsibility for their hiring and for their positions and vacancies. But again, one of the points here for each department is that once they have targets that they have to meet, they're going to have to use all the tools and tricks available to them, whether that's the various policy items that I know the Member's already spoken of, the Indigenous recruitment, retention or sorry, the Indigenous Gateway Program, internal management training, education plans, all of that needs to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to take the opportunity today to congratulate Yellowknife South constituent Margaret Henderson on being the recipient of the MACA Outstanding Elder Volunteer of the Year Award for 2021.

It was obvious from the words on her nomination form as to all the reasons she should be the recipient of this year's award, with examples of hard work that she has contributed to the Food Rescue Yellowknife since it began back in 2008.

I'd like to echo the praise we heard yesterday from the Minister of MACA acknowledging Ms. Henderson's contribution from the very earliest...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not sure I would accept or agree with the characterization of "mismanagement" on this. I think the story has yet to be finished and is yet to be written. Indeed, as I've said, staff from the Department of ITI are quite active right now in terms of doing their due diligence and hoping for a positive outcome on the sale. In fact, if anything, Mr. Speaker, this has been an example where although at the time of the sale there was some disagreements perhaps between Canada and the GNWT about how to proceed, we were able to set aside what differences there...