George Nerysoo

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 would like to recognize my niece, Maria Snowshoe. Maria is conducting her service-learning placement for her Capstone project here in the Legislative Assembly under my direction, and she'll be working with other staff members. Maria's in her final year of Indigenous governments degree with the Yukon University. Welcome Maria to the Assembly.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It has been 894 days since Frank Gruben has last been seen, 894 days of overwhelming grief that Frank's parents, Frank's brother, Frank's sister, Frank's extended family, and the community of Aklavik have had to endure on a daily basis.

Mr. Speaker, it is not only Frank's family or his community of Aklavik that is expressing great concern for the whereabouts of Frank. There is a national campaign for Let's Bring Frank Home. All of these concerned citizens want some answers, comfort, and closure for Frank's family. 894 days of not receiving any updates from the GNWT and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As our last Minister's visit did not go well in Fort McPherson due to a death, will the Minister commit to visiting Fort McPherson in April of 2025 to address some of the concerns of the residents? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to my Member's statement, you know, can you imagine that there are numerous people out there, like the young lady I was referring to, who wants help to overcome their addictions but the help from -- but they need the help from their own people within their own communities. Trust is a huge factor in -- when you're dealing with addiction recovery.

Will the Minister look at having her department look at supporting the residents of our smaller communities with financial resources to heal the residents of our smaller communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would also like to recognize Mr. Terry Testart, a resident of Fort McPherson and senior administrative officer for the hamlet of Fort McPherson. I worked with Terry several years ago. And I wanted to welcome Terry. And also to Mr. Loutitt for his many years of service and to the interpreters for their dedicated service while we are conducting our work here. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too will be supporting the budget. I'm happy with the housing funding that's going to be distributed within the Northwest Territories but there's still work to be done on distribution, especially within my region after I looked at where the preliminary distribution dollars were going, it didn't look very bright for the communities of my region. So there is room for improvement. So I am happy with the housing allocation. But there's room for improvement in other areas, especially with the -- my favorite, the income support program. You know, we have to work at finding...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the response. I want to refer to addictions recovery and specifically to addictions recovery, Mr. Speaker.

Will the Minister take the lead and help heal our residents within our communities and meet personally with the interested community agencies who want to heal their communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I MOVE, seconded by the Member of Hay River North to amend Motion 54-20(1), Extended Adjournment of the House to May 22nd, 2025, by changing all references of Thursday, May 22nd, 2025, to Wednesday, May 21st, 2025. Thank you.