Caroline Wawzonek

I also don't want to have to answer questions about outhouses for rest of our tenure here. As I said, I know that Infrastructure and ITI have been working together for years. It's not a new problem. It has become acute, given what's happening with COVID-19 and some of the restrictions put on those who are such a critical part of our supply chain. I can assure the Member they are being cleaned every two weeks. We are looking at whether or not that needs to be increased. Again, as I said, with COVID-19, I have had it confirmed to me that we are going to have, between ITI and Infrastructure, an...

I have used every platform I think I have had in the last several months to talk about critical minerals and why the Northwest Territories needs to be on, and is on, the value chain for critical minerals, and why everyone should be paying attention to that fact, to federal partners all the way through exploration companies. We have extremely good critical mineral resources here in the Northwest Territories and an extremely good place for those who are particularly looking at green energy. This is the place where you want to come because of the ESG factors, environmental, social, and governance...

At this point, relief on work requirements on the mineral resource claims or mineral claims is enacted up to March 31st of this year, 2021, so quite a large number, I think just under 200, in fact, have benefitted from that, from that relief. At this point, Mr. Speaker, there is not, as I understand it, necessarily a need for blanket relief. Many have been able to continue to do the work on the claim. What I will say is: we are going to look at it, and what we are looking at is whether and to what extent we can be doing some case-by-case relief for those who legitimately cannot get to their...

I think step one is going to be perhaps to bring back to the House what exactly at this stage is being tracked and to put that forward, to have that presented, so let me start with that commitment. I expect some of these, as I said, are largely publicly tracked. Let me make sure that everything is up to date and public, and we can look at what is being tracked in terms of northern employment; skill level; status, residential status, whether one is a resident of the territories or not; the training components; the number of suppliers; contract dollar value, so on and so forth, all of which is...

I think I have learned that, once one becomes a Minister, one kind of ceases to be an individual, and you pretty much stay a Minister all the time. As a result, Mr. Speaker, I think, if the Member is asking if I would personally sign, that is a conversation I am happy to have over a coffee, but I think what the question is: what's the position of the government? Mr. Speaker, the government is also a proponent on this project. We are a co-proponent on the project. What I have done, though, is looked carefully at what is on the petition. Again, with respect to developing the skills necessary...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, when we prepare for session, when you prepare through the year, this is something that I had flagged even before we came into session. It is something that the deputy minister of ITI, deputy minister of Infrastructure are already working on together. They know it is an issue. As I've said earlier, I was not here five years ago, and I certainly didn't have the awareness that this became an issue. It is an issue. It happens every year. It happened every year, every time the facilities freeze up. The Wayside Parks fall under ITI. The roadside pullouts fall under...

As it turns out, some work has been done in that regard. A permanent heated type of facility would be about $150,000 per unit, and we have right now about 10 pullouts from the border to Yellowknife. We are looking at $1.5 million, Mr. Speaker, which may not seem significant, but is not insignificant and would certainly have to go through the budget planning process. Whether there are other options, I will certainly inquire to see the extent of the inquiries that we have made and whether there is anything else that can be done. Not to make light of the whole situation, these people are working...

Yes, there is an assessment process that does exist. There is, in the event that a criminal record has what we call a bona fide connection to the position of employment. In other words, if there is a legitimate connected reason why having a criminal record would prevent someone, for safety reasons, to perform the conduct of their duties, there is a process by which, once they are being offered the position, they could be asked to go and get their criminal record checked and bring that back. There is a process for how that would be evaluated, including potentially by a deputy minister who would...

Again, there isn't intentionally a barrier. There shouldn't be a barrier, again, acknowledging that there may be positions where not having a criminal record is directly connected to the performance of that duty. That said, someone who may see that advertised certainly wouldn't necessarily want to apply if they have a criminal record, and they may not be in a position themselves to make the evaluation of whether that connection is there or not. People may well feel shame around having a criminal record. I very much want to emphasize that people can get criminal record suspensions, and that...

Thank, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT does not prohibit the hiring of any individual with an unrelated criminal conviction, and as such, there are no people who are screened out simply on that basis. Thank you.