Kate Reid

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am a proud supporter of the arts. I was thrilled to take the Member for Kam Lake and the Member for Frame Lake to the Bloody Valentine Burlesque last weekend. This weekend, I encourage all Members to attend the Black in History art exhibition this Saturday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Yellowknife Racquet Club. Inemesit Graham's portraits are a celebration of black leaders, thinkers, authors, activists, and poets throughout world history celebrating Black History Month. Admission is free.

Additionally, the Black Advocacy Coalition upNorth, BACupNorth, is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories is a wonderfully diverse place to live. My riding has many newcomer residents that have joined us from numerous countries of origin, and I am proud to represent them in this House. The territories' struggles include those of our neighbours in all their diversity. When matters on the international stage cause my neighbours to lose sleep with worry over their loved ones, I am humbled to speak to these matters and be their voice in this Chamber.

As Northerners, we stand with the citizens of Ukraine, those who trace their roots to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I MOVE, seconded by the Member for Deh Cho, to amend Motion 920(1), Establishing a Public Inquiry into the 2023 Wildfires as amended, by adding the following clause after the fifth clause:

AND FURTHERMORE, that the Commissioner recommend to the board that they establish safe disclosure opportunities for people to share information with the inquiry.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to elaborate a bit on this amendment. It is very important to me that folks who were in the public service at the time of the evacuation be afforded opportunities to provide their feedback anonymously, and I thank my colleagues on this side of the House for appreciating this amendment to the motion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Just making sure I'm procedurally correct, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I was elected, I got a strong sense from the residents of my riding that they wanted to see someone represent them who would make collaboration their main mode of operation. They wanted someone who would listen to them as residents but also someone who would listen to all Members of the Assembly. That baseline expectation is what I strive to live up to every day that I have the privilege to stand here and proudly represent my riding. I have heard from constituents on both sides of the public inquiry argument...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm curious if the department has been looking into any of the most high need areas for medical travel, and what I mean by this is the areas of medical requirements that have a lot of subscription or uptake. So what I'm curious about is does the Minister think that we could bring specialists to the North to remove long haul burden on folks to go out of territory which is also a high cost for the GNWT? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I like being in your line of eyesight now.

Mr. Speaker, over the next three and a half years, you will hear me say to Ministers of the GNWT that people need to come first in the delivery of government programs and services. When a policy or process doesn't work continually, government can't keep defending it as being right without cause. There should be a genuine effort to learn from and listen to those who are affected. We must remove barriers that don't support the goal of service and move towards a client service model that enables continued improvement.

Mr. Speaker...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And it's really wonderful to hear from the Minister that they're looking indepth to a lot of the issues that I'm highlighting today.

Mr. Speaker, I'm also wondering, though, about improvements to processes that complement medical travel. So right now if someone accesses a practitioner on medical travel in the south who recommends lab work as an example, they then must get the lab requisition redone in the territory so they can have those services completed in the NWT. The question is, can the Minister speak to what work could be done to streamline this process to change...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the process of medical travel can be confusing. Depending on what treatment you need, intake can be different and it's also not really clear to some folks who are not employed by the GNWT as to what stream of medical travel they fall into. From personal experience, the forms for medical travel are also confusing and duplicate information.

Can the Minister explain if there is any work underway to improve standard operating procedures or communications with the public for the different streams of medical travel? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Certainly. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So just for clarification, I wanted to say thank you to the Minister, I understand that contract dollars are being represented in these interim estimates as for a full year, which is fine and dandy. I'm just curious if that contract amount for fire suppression, such as aviation contracts, has increased for this year compared to the last? Thank you.