George Nerysoo

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to address the closures of the community learning centres and the infrastructures that remain within these communities.

The sudden closures of the community learning centres have had a negative impact on the employees, the communities as a whole, and especially the potential students who are trying to better themselves for a secure future. But today I would like to inquire about the infrastructure within most, if not all our smaller communities.

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment has put out two community organizations that...

Sorry, the Member from Yellowknife North asked my question, so it's been answered. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll reach out to Members of my three communities and see if they can allocate some funding. How can we work in collaboration to provide what is needed for the residents of the Mackenzie Delta in regards to addictions and aftercare and for funding and resources to be made available within our smaller communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following on my Member's statement, we have a lot of people of all ages going for treatment for alcohol and or drug abuse. There's a lot of people from my community, my region, go out to, as far away to Toronto for up to six weeks, and upon the return they're going back into their same old habits, they have no resources to go to. There's absolutely no help and some of these people are falling back into their old habits within a week or so. It would be good if the government can follow through and make some of these programs available in our, especially in our smaller...

I'd like to thank the Minister for that opportunity. I'll be taking her advice and reaching out to her. It's been a long time. There is people going out and not following through or don't have the capacity or don't have the resources to reach out to. How long is it going to take us, take for us to move forward and support our people who are crying for help to move forward and break the cycles instead of taking steps backwards because of the lack of resources, especially in our smaller communities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to address an issue that affects those who make the choice to go to treatment facilities away from their homes to get help for their dependency and the lack of resources available to them when they return home. Often, these people who return home fall back in the same cycle of substance abuse because they do not have any follow-up or acknowledgement for their efforts to get sober.

Mr. Speaker, making the choice to attain sobriety is not an easy choice for most people to make. Due to lack of treatment facilities in the NWT, people usually leave their homes to go...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. According to NWT bureau of statistics, the employment rate in the NWT dropped from 66.3 percent in August to 65.2 percent in September. Based on a labour force activity report released on August 8th, 2025, the annual rate of employment in the NWT dropped 2.6 percent since July 2024.

Mr. Speaker, on the other hand Stats NWT states that the total cases of income support rose from 1,005 in May of 2025 to 1,097 in June, a difference of 92 more cases in one month. With this recent drop in employment, I can only assume that the rate of income support will rise.

Mr. Speaker...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There's a vacancy of a highway inspector in Fort McPherson. Has this position been filled, or is there any interest in this position? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure in regards to my Member's statement.

Communication with the department and the regional department is important to ensure the safety all our users of NWT highways. How often is your office staff in contact with the regional department to look at improvements and/or maintenance reports from the highway inspectors? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too will be supporting this motion. Like my colleague here saying that these motions are non-binding and can already see the outcome of it, but supporting and reimbursing our greatest resources, our elders, I've always stated that, you know, these elders, we're losing elders at a rapid pace and they're our greatest resources to have within our community. So we have to support them in every way possible. And the non-binding issue is still at the forefront because you can already see the outcome of it, but the intent is there and the support is there, so therefore I...