Kate Reid

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And, yeah, just correct me if my understanding is incorrect, but it's my understanding that the city of Yellowknife is really the only public library in the Northwest Territories -- has the only public library in the Northwest Territories that is not funded by this line item. So every other public library is funded in this line item, is that correct? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I guess I'm misunderstanding or misstating my question. The item on page 218 is listed as an HSS expenditure but then on page 219, it looks like it's shifting to the health authorities, so the -- to my mind, this $8.8 million is moving from the department to the authorities to deliver, or am I misunderstanding? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And, yeah, I appreciate that. It's important to know where we're starting so we can know where we're going.

When does the Minister feel that she might have that baseline a little bit more on firm ground? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So my questions to start are about medical travel benefits. I am looking here at the line item on page 218 of the mains, and I can see that the actuals in 2023-2024 were just below $30 million, and then the revised for 2024-2025 slightly over $24 million, and now we're estimating for 2025-2026 going ahead at $8.8 million. So my question is if this is another one of those items that we have a base amount and then we adjust as necessary, or are we restricting benefits? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yes, thank you. If the Minister has maybe high level data around the percentage of students that are accessing this program, that would be great. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So with the revitalization of public health that the Member for Yellowknife North was asking about earlier, will there be a contemplation of adequate staffing levels throughout the system so that surge maybe doesn't have such a strong impact on various regional centres when required? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Earlier the Minister highlighted that the wellness counsellor is -- the wellness program for school-based mental health and wellness counsellors is captured in this activity. Could she tell me which line item that would be? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And thank you to the Minister for that. When it comes to outbreaks, which of course we don't want to see but, you know, have seen as recently as last year with the TB outbreaks as the Minister mentioned, how are we addressing surge capacity for public health to go out and address outbreaks as they arise? That's an area of concern I'm hearing about. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So identifying surplus land, does that mean there's no inventory prior to this business plan commitment of surplus land of ECE? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, the building shelter capacity funding for the $100,000 that we're talking about today was not used to develop the training that the Minister talked about earlier. That's separate funding that the YWCA secured through Women's Shelter Canada.

But my question to the Minister would be that, you know, since the NWT has the second highest rate of family-based violence in the country, families turn to shelters and safe homes more than we want them to, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister commit to working with the Minister to reinstate this funding? Thank you, Mr...