Richard Edjericon

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too would like to recognize Michael McLeod, our MP from the Northwest Territories. I'd like to say welcome. Also I'd like to welcome Jackson Lafferty, the grand chief of the Tlicho region. Mahsi for being here. Also I want to recognize Brad Enge; I think he's in the back. And also, I'd like to recognize Sholto Douglas, and thank you for being here. And also, I want to say thank you to, again, all the translators out of here as well, including Mary Rose Sundberg, Jonas Lafferty, Tommy Unka, Marg Casaway, and our friends who have a Happy Birthday to them. Mahsi, Mr...

Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you, Minister. My next question will be is that in regards to contract services for $844,000, can you maybe just elaborate a little bit on that, on the breakdown of that because I don't see it in here. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Maybe if I just had another question. Can the Minister explain to me about the on page 190, in terms of chargebacks. Can you just maybe just touch a little bit on that and so I understand it. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Minister. So I guess I look forward to meeting with you and the Minister and to have that discussion as well. And I think that at the starting point, you know, at the bare minimum, based on inflation costs, you know, we're looking at probably maybe $500 a day for honorarium. But, again, it's something that we need to talk about and review. So I guess the Minister would be able to respond to this. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Does the GNWT recognize the value of traditional knowledge of Indigenous people in creating public policy because it's not very clear to me based on this policy. The question to the Minister. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, some would say you can't put a price on Indigenous knowledge that has been passed down since time immemorial. But that's exactly what the GNWT has done with their honorarium policy. It is a pittance. The knowledge passed down since time immemorial when Indigenous elders is the foundation of our northern society. Indigenous knowledge is a set of complex knowledge system based on our world views, it reflects the unique culture, language, values, histories, governance and legal system of Indigenous people. It is based on cumulative and dynamic First Nation...

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Minister, for your response. You know, those are the comments that I hear from my constituents in the community where there are different types of care when we have these healthcare cards. So what I hear is that the military is treated with that same healthcare card like everybody else, but they're treated a little bit different because of maybe because they're with the military here in Canada. And then you got the other one that is the GNWT employees that, you know, they pay into a better healthcare system. And then you got the you know, the basic...

Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. And those are the questions I have for now. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you, Minister, for your answer. I'm just thinking about the deficit again, but I'm just thinking the budget overall is you know, we got a pretty big budget here of $610 million plus. I'm just thinking about the three P initiatives in terms of commitments. Going forward, I know that we're building that new hospital and then the renovation of the old hospital, etcetera. I just want to know, I guess overall, is that going to the binding of this budget the government's those projects long term, what are the I don't know if you could speak to it or not but I...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to come back to the deficit that was mentioned by my colleagues earlier. Going forward, though, this next fiscal year we're going to be you said the 189. But overall, I just want to know, like how do we what are your management plans to deal with this deficit, I guess, going forward? Thank you.