Julian Morse

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Okay. I mean, I guess this is where we get into the difficult area of, you know, is ITI the department that's responsible for the economy or not. I recognize that we want to have a cross-departmental, government-wide approach to these economic risks that we're facing but, I mean, it's just strange to me that, like, ITI -- I mean, I will just get right to the nose of it. I mean, what evidence did ITI review in 2024-2026 to conclude that existing risk and mitigations remain fit for service -- fit for purpose, sorry, despite significant shifts in the NWT economy and...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. My opening comments are short and sweet.

Mr. Chair, Bill 35, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2026, received second reading in the Legislative Assembly on October 31st, 2025, and was referred to the Standing Committee on Government Operations for review. The committee completed its clause-by-clause review of the bill with the Minister of Justice on February 16th, 2026.

I thank the committee members for their efforts in reviewing this legislation. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And with the director position, what justifies the need for a new director? I mean, that's a significant and indefinite investment. ITI is a relatively small department. Can you comment on, say, the number of directors that ITI already has compared to other departments given the size of ITI, like the total staff numbers? And, like, what's the rationale for needing a new director position? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the Minister's comprehensive and thoughtful answer to the question. I don't know how big the ask is. I don't know how many people are out there. I've had a few constituents reach out to me. It seems like the ISD team is a good fit for this. It's -- the service integration is exactly why I am asking for and why I've raised it with ISD. Can the Minister at least have a look into whether this is a possible interim measure while we're figuring out the health care sustainability unit for persons and their families with disabilities? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And with my last few seconds, I will just ask, how is the department identifying new opportunities for the NWT, new opportunities for bringing investment into the NWT? We are not seeing new sectors, growth, just generally diversification. Because that's kind of coming back to the beginning of my first question which was not only what are we measuring but what are we doing to actually increase diversity in the economy as opposed to just supporting existing activities? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to follow up on my earlier questions. The Minister noted and keeps referring to the health care sustainability unit. Mr. Speaker, we have no way of knowing what recommendations will come from that unit. In the meantime, we have a system coordination issue with our existing services. The ISD team is a good model, and it's an existing model. Can the Premier or health Minister commit to consider whether to support to persons with disabilities could be provided by this unit? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, I think I will just say I appreciate that they're doing this work, and I think this kind of measurement is needed. We've talked a lot about the need for economic planning and connecting it better with our economic analysis. So I am not going to belabour those points here, but just to say that while the department is doing this work, I'd appreciate it if they look into that. And the comments that have been made about the economic and fiscal outlook and how we can plan our economic planning around that using the fiscal outlook to inform our actions in the sense of if...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the 2023 supported living review recommended wraparound case management as a key systemic change needed. Has the department made any progress enacting this recommendation?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The first question, how is ITI measuring whether its business programs are actually diversifying the economy rather than reinforcing the existing composition of it?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't have the best view of the gallery in my seat, but I did notice a few constituents coming in this morning, so recognition to Susan Saunders and Brigitte Forget Watt, and I do apologize if I've missed anyone from the Frame Lake riding. Thank you.