Jane Weyallon Armstrong

Thank you. Thank you. You know, we were talking about having -- you know, we have a lot of people on the waitlist. It's not just the young people. It's the seniors. It's the elders, you know, 65 and over. They're on the waitlist for independent living unit, so -- and we have two, I know that in Behchoko, and there's one in Whati and in Gameti. There's nothing in Wekweeti. So I just want to know if the Minister had been talking to the local leaders over there, possibly doing an independent unit, because it -- you know, some of the elders living in their own home, it's good, but it's costly for...

We all know that there's still 33 communities but the designations. So, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister provide the legal or policy instrument used to define a "region", quote, of the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Okay, thank you. Seniors aging in place, retrofits, and repairs. So I just wanted to ask the Minister, for the last fiscal year this fund 1.6, was it used up to date? Like, did we use it to the capacity? When did this program run out? Because I know that I've been getting a lot of phone calls or, you know, talk to elders that, you know, they were approved but they have to wait until the next fiscal year. So do they need to do an application? Do they need to do another application even though they were approved within the last fiscal year, and they realize, okay, they have no more funds...

When we do terms of reference and working group, it's going to take more than a couple of years to get the region. So I just want to ask the Minister, will the Minister commit to advancing and expediting the establishment of a separate and distinct Tlicho administrative region during the life of this Assembly? Thank you.

Thank you. So that is -- the small community homelessness fund, is that application-based? First-come, first-served? Or how is this fund allocated? It's a good program. I know it's going to benefit some of the communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Behchoko is the largest Dene community in the NWT. All four communities - Whati, Gameti, Wekweeti, and Behchoko - the majority of the people are Tlicho people who speak fluently in Tlicho language. With that in mind, Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Finance. Can the Minister clearly explain what is preventing the establishment of a dedicated Tlicho administrative region from moving forward at this time? Thank you.

Okay. So that $15.2 million, so how are these funds allocated? Because, you know, in Tlicho region alone, you know, in Behchoko there's a lot of houses that are boarded up and some are beyond -- you know, I mean, it's been boarded up for 10 years, and I think it needs to be demolished, some of them, but -- so how is this fund, you know, going to be allocated or being allocated? Thank you.

Masi, Mr. Speaker.

On February 25th, 2026, committee held a clause-by-clause review where the nine motions described throughout the report to amend Bill 34 were carried and concurred with by the Minister of Justice. Committee passed a motion to report Bill 34 to the Legislative Assembly as ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole as amended.

This concludes the Standing Committee on Social Development's review of Bill 34.

The Standing Committee on Social Development recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a response to this report within 120 days. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. GSO, for Tlicho region, there's four. It was like that within the 2024-2026, and it's the same. But it's part-time, on a part-time basis. I just wanted to ask the Minister if they have any plan of changing the status from part-time to full-time. Because I can -- I get a lot of phone calls from my constituents, especially elders, and they said I can't wait -- because this is an emergency. I can't wait for the workers to be in the office in the afternoon. And most of the phone calls I get are in the morning, so I just -- I know they're -- you know, they can --...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, how is the department working with other departments and Indigenous governments to support the creation of new local industry to ensure communities can retain workers displaced by mine closure? Thank you.