Lesa Semmler

During the public briefing that we had in September, I did ask the Minister if they could review the restrictions around funerals, and I'm just wondering if the Minister can tell me if the CPHO, if you know that they are reviewing this rule?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand that the Chief Public Health Officer has the power to make all of the rules that have been in place and is not to be politically influenced, and we have heard this from the Premier and the past Minister. When this Emerging Wisely document was created, I would just like to know if this document was run by Cabinet before it was released to the public? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First, I'd like to express my condolences to the families in my community and the surrounding communities in the loss of their family members over the last few months. Since I left this House in June, just in our region alone, we have lost a lot of elders, younger people in our region. We just lost another person yesterday.

During this time of loss, families are under extreme stress. In addition to this, they are mourning, they are trying to arrange for funerals, and they are trying to do it in their ways, in their beliefs, in their burial ceremonies that bring them...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Sitting here after I have written my notes, it has become abundantly clear that we have a Premier, Cabinet, and MLAs, including myself, who have lost confidence in Minister Nokleby and that we are now in a position where we have a sitting Minister without a portfolio, without leading a department. This is not what I had intended when I cast the ballot in the fall for Cabinet, nor do I think it’s what the constituents for Inuvik Twin Lakes or the rest of the NWT would have approved of. I will, however, state that there have been numerous performance issues raised, and I...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister commit that she will continue to fight for more money so that our highway can be done from Inuvik to Tsiigehtchic? We have the nurse who goes out there. Sometimes we have RCMP. We have medical buses that travel down that road. We need more money, and we need to have that road done before 30 years. Can the Minister commit that she is going to go out and look for more money to get working on this highway, starting on the Inuvik side? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Would the Minister commit to widening the Dempster Highway from Inuvik this year?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Dempster Highway plays an important role for Inuvik. In fact, it's the lifeline to the Beaufort-Delta. Over the years, we have seen many upgrades and improvements to the Dempster, and most of the hazardous sections have been corrected or widened. Mr. Speaker, you are aware that the widening of the highway usually consists of four kilometres per year and started at the NWT border and is working its way north to Inuvik. Mr. Speaker, residents in my community also use the Dempster Highway from Inuvik south to access fishing, camping, recreation sites south of Inuvik...

Well, since she won't commit to it this year, would she commit to separating and starting from both ends this year?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure. Would the Minister commit to looking into whether it is possible to adjust the Dempster Highway widening plans to include starting the widening on the Inuvik side? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Can the Minister maybe have her homecare staff or some other staff within the community that really work with a lot of the elders and boots-to-the-ground frontline staff to gather more lists of names, especially if we do go into the second wave of this pandemic? This is just to make sure there is someone checking on them, even though now they may not have that need, but during that, they may need that.