Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, every time the SPCA comes up in the context of funding and the services they provide for the community, I see an overwhelming tide of support from my constituents and from across the Northwest Territories. There was a news story just yesterday about dire funding straits for the SPCA. This is a matter that's been -- I've risen in this House, I've risen in committee. It's certainly something that's of mind to Northerners.

I'd like to ask the Premier why the SPCA is not considered a critical service as it relates to funding NGOs given the important work they do...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can't help but feel that the first day back in the House is like the first day back to school. But unlike school children, our work as Members doesn't stop for the summer, and warmer days bring more extreme weather events driven by climate change. Even though Northerners are the toughest people in the world, we are still recovering from the collective trauma of the 2023 wildfire crisis. But what isn't recovering is our constituents' trust in this government.

We were forced from our homes, separated from our families, and the emergency management system was...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, I mean, I'm going to respectfully disagree with the Premier. I mean, the findings were that the existing system proved ineffective during a large-scale disaster and that the system's not agile enough to deal with these things. And we have to take it on face value that the actions taken from then to now have actually resulted in all these improvements and we don't need anything else. Northerners want to see some movement on this. So will the Premier reverse this decision, accept the recommendation, and explore creative ways to bring a centralized response agency or...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the structure of the GNWT, including the establishment policies for departments, rests with the Premier's office, as did the after-action report that was commissioned by TSI. We've been talking about the recommendation to create an emergency -- a dedicated emergency services agency. It could also be done by way of department. We've had conversation about this. But before rejecting that recommendation, did anyone involved with this on the government side of this report do the analysis of how we could cost-effectively create a new agency from our existing...

Thank you to the Premier for the donation. I donated earlier today, and I would challenge every Member of this House to provide a contribution as well. But it shouldn't be up to members of this House or the members of the -- or the citizens of the Northwest Territories to fund veterinary care in small communities and regional centres, places where the SPCA spends a lot of their resources doing spay and neuter programming, emergency medical care, all those kind of things.

Why are those not considered critical territorial services? Because if we don't -- I mean if the Premier knows about stray...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, Mr. Speaker, this summer Yellowknife's down to one vet, which means for pet owners, there's one vet in the Northwest Territories, apart from people who fly in to do work, largely brought in by the SPCA. There's some vets who work for ECC, I believe, who do wildlife work. So is the Premier offering to use our veterinary technical experts in the department to offshore this should the SPCA fold its doors because it can't pay the bills and they have no more funding to operate these essential services? Because I'm not hearing any other solutions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize three pages from the Range Lake riding: Ava Fuentes, Hayden Purcka, and Matthew Sison. I had lunch with them and yourself, Mr. Speaker, and it was lovely. They reminded me of what the Pythagoras theorem is, which I had forgotten. So thank you for that. We don't use math as much perhaps we should, at least that complicated. But I can still read a budget.

Mr. Speaker, I'd also like to recognize Tom McLennan who is a Yellowknife city councillor. Thank you for taking an interest today, and thank you to the pages for their hard work for our sitting.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the Member for Yellowknife Centre that Bill 29, First Responders Workers' Compensation Amendment Act, be read for a second time.

This bill proposes to make amendments to the Workers' Compensation Act that expands presumptive disease coverage for firefighter cancers and heart diseases and creates new presumptive disease coverage for post-traumatic stress disorder cases affecting first responders. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd just to recognize some firefighters in the audience, Justin -- I'm going to say this wrong -- Justin Zawyrucha, Zach Landry, Foster Bartel, Mike Bessette, Catlin Moffatt, Taylor Clarke, Tyler Gould, and my very favorite firefighter of all time, my dad Terry Testart. And I'd also like to recognize my mom, Maureen Marshall. I'm not sure if I've recognized her before in the chamber, but it's always good to see you guys and thank you for coming here as well. And if I missed any other firefighters in the audience, thank you very much for your service. Thank you.

Okay, thank you. So what can the Minister do if the Minister can't commit to -- because money's what's needed here. That's the support that's being asked for. That's the thing that's hurting bottom line that's going to lead to job losses, businesses closing, all of that. So what can the Minister do to cushion the impact of tariffs? If it's not money -- or how can we get to the point where we spend money -- I'm trying to get to the point we need to help these businesses. That's an extraordinary amount of money, and I'm not hearing any solutions being offered today. Thank you.