Kate Reid

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I consider myself a pretty big nerd, and I don't really understand what that meant. So maybe if I could get the Minister to explain it a little bit further in plain English. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Sorry, Mr. Chair. I was just trying to catch up to your page number; it took me a moment. I do have a question for the Minister, but I'm not certain if this is the right area. No, it's not, thank you. Sorry, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So along the line of integrated service delivery and little bit expanding, I think, on what my colleague was speaking to, I note in the business plan, and from corresponding with the Minister and his team, that we are expecting that ISD will move next into Inuvik and Fort Simpson this year. Hopefully that is still on track. But my question is about functional zero goals which EIA has noted will be established with integrated teams by the -- almost the end of this Assembly, March 2027. So my question is do we have a targeted timeline for which communities we're working...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that answer. It says here that as of printing, the terms of reference for this committee is completed, there are letters to IGEs being distributed to invite folks to join the advisory committee. Can the Minister or his staff please explain the current status of the committee. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Nothing further on this item.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That's cautiously good news, I think, personally. But I do want to commend the Minister and his staff for listening to communication staff across the government. They do a lot of good work, and supports are definitely needed for them. So actually, yeah, pretty good to hear.

What I would like to know, if the Minister can elaborate on if there is a new approach being considered and if there is any sort of metrics or benchmarks that we were hoping to reach in terms of how we're showing that we're giving those folks good support. I'd love to hear it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that. I think that would go a long way for folks to understand the new lay of the land.

There is an outstanding issue that I am not aware of the answer to yet, but it was raised in this House in the 19th Assembly, which is northern residents tax deduction which is a related by separate issue. Can the Minister tell me if indexing of that residency amount has been raised since 2023? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you for that, and I'm sorry if I misstated my intent. It's not that I am wanting the Minister to cajole private industry but rather to cajole CRA, as always, as her counterpart in the federal government. I will have questions for the Minister of Finance next. Thanks, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that; I thought you forgot about me. Mr. Speaker, I wish to echo the sentiments made by the Minister for MACA yesterday and expand on them just slightly.

Mr. Speaker, our territory runs on the sweat equity of volunteers. Many of those volunteers are well-known figures in our community, and some were recognized formally yesterday. I applaud all nominees and recipients of the Outstanding Volunteer Awards this year and each year.

Mr. Speaker, we should always applaud exceptional individuals, but I also want to take a moment to applaud everyone who sits behind a...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you for that detailed answer. That's good information. So building on the deputy minister's answer, then -- and I'm very glad to hear that he mentioned that working with Indigenous governments is key and crucial. Is there work in this envelope between EIA and the Council of Leaders of how we are seeking more dollars for these issues that are being addressed under A Way Home? Thank you, Mr. Chair.