Kieron Testart

Thank you to the Minister for that. I am appreciating the collaboration on this.

Now just so that the public's aware, this could be worth as much as 7 to $8 million of additional revenue for basically turning on a switch, a regulatory or legislative switch, with no cost to the taxpayer. And that's revenue, again, that could be used to deal with any matter of things. Of course, there are some social issues related to gambling in any jurisdiction, and these revenues could be used to address some of that in addition to providing much needed supports to other programs. In the Minister's...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I too will stand in support of this motion. Last year in October, we put aside the business of this House to have an emergency debate, which is not common practice for us, about this very issue, the humanitarian crisis in the Sahtu. It is with some regret that I support this motion because I would hope we wouldn't need to bring forward -- the Member wouldn't need to bring forward yet another call for a state of emergency in his riding and in a regional centre of the Northwest Territories. We have to do a better job of caring for the people of Norman Wells.

I...

I'll conclude my saying I would support any of those costs, even if it means shifting other priorities or making adjustments to infrastructure for whatever, whatever it takes, because this emergency management system, you know, needs the resources it needs to be effective. We know that things are going to get more difficult in future years with the ongoing climate emergencies that we are experiencing as a territory and, of course, an increasingly hostile geopolitical environment. So we need to be prepared for any outcome. So this is my blank cheque to the Minister to support anything his...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker -- Mr. Speaker, the privileges of the House -- or of Members -- sorry, of individual Members to freedom of speech are defined in the House of Commons procedure -- procedural guide as the privilege of freedom of speech in parliamentary proceedings is generally regarded as the most important of the privileges enjoyed by Members of Parliament. This right is protected by the Constitution Act, the Parliament of Canada Act, and extends to our legislature as well. Freedom of speech from its Members to speak freely in the conduct of proceedings of Parliament, such...

Thank you. So -- and I do know that, and it is volunteer driven, and I want to commend the volunteers who do this work in our communities and recognizing the award that was given today. That's great to the recognition from the department as well so I commend the Minister and his department for that. But I have been in contact with the Yellowknife Ground Search and Rescue Team, and there are some concerns here that are concerning, to say the least.

Right off the bat, I mean, they had funding for training, around $5,000 -- which isn't very much money -- that was cut, and I'm wondering if that...

Thank you. Nothing further, Mr. Chair.

Thank you. So you've -- so the -- is this part of the sustainability exercises? Thank you.

Thank you. And is this a defined contribution, or is it a -- is it something more like core funding? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hope the Premier does because this is life and death stuff, Mr. Speaker. Can we -- can the Minister -- the Premier establish regions at least to organize ground search and rescue efforts with part-time staff responsible for their administration? These meetings could be done via Zoom. They don't have to be expensive things where we fly everyone in, but can we start to see some of those changes where we could get administrative regions in place so we can ensure there's more than just one team in Yellowknife doing work and we have teams in every region of the Northwest...

It's the best one. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier today I talked about ground search and rescue in the Northwest Territories. Can the Department of Justice indicate when they're going to provide an action plan to start implementing the recommendations provided in the review of ground search and rescue services that they commissioned themselves? Can we get a timeline and a costing -- a cost of plan so we could get these recommendations in place and improve ground search and rescue in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.