R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize our former colleague and Tlicho Grand Chief Jackson Lafferty. As well, I want to recognize the individuals that my colleague from Hay River South recognized and all of the mentors, apprentices, and language champions that we're lucky enough to have with us in the gallery today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I was in Cabinet four years prior to becoming Premier, and during that time I had a lot of questions about the expenditures in the healthcare system, and despite repeated requests for information I had trouble receiving it. And, Mr. Speaker, you were there. You probably shared some of those same frustrations. And so when we started this government, I said we need to get a handle on where our money is going, what we're spending it on and put some structure around that. Because for many years, the health authority had a deficit budget, they were allowed to spend money...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the healthcare system sustainability unit is looking at different areas in the healthcare system and doing an analysis. It's going to provide that analysis to Cabinet to help us make determinations about future budgeting and future structure of the healthcare system.

The work is ongoing. It is a little behind schedule, but we're going to have hopefully all of the information we need and if not, we'll have the vast majority of the information we need prior to the upcoming budget cycle, so that for next year's main estimates we'll be able to factor in that analysis...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to present to the House Bill 42, Tlego'hli Got'ine Final Self-Government Agreement Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so just to correct the record, I know that we don't do a lot of correcting of misinformation in this House, but the unit is not going to make a determination about what core services are. So the way that government works is that public servants will provide advice to decision-makers, the Ministers, and then those Ministers will make decisions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I think the work with the Council of Leaders is very important to distinguish ourselves from what's happening in the provinces where there was a sense that the provincial governments were offloading their responsibility to the school board -- or to Jordan's Principle. So it's a much different situation here in the territory. We advocate jointly with Indigenous leaders. I believe there's opportunities for Indigenous governments to actually apply for Jordan's Principle and then help support students and other families that way. That type of work, I understand, is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the Member raising this early on in the process so that as we look to design some sort of a structure, we have that type of input. I agree that Yellowknife is a long way from the Beaufort Delta. We need to ensure we know what's going on on the ground there. But that being said, I don't want to commit to something here on the floor of the House without some careful examination and some further discussions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The investments that the Government of Canada has announced towards our national security in the Northwest Territories are significant, and we recognize that they present a significant opportunity for the people of the territory. We want to ensure that we capture any opportunities that come with these investments, whether that's construction or ongoing O and M contracts that we might be able to get, and we need to ensure that we're all working together and we're all coordinated. And to date, I personally have actually found it difficult to get coordinated because so...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And yes, those things go hand-in-hand. Integrating services doesn't just mean integrating the GNWT services; it means integrating with our partners and those are often NGOs who deliver services across the territory that are vital to many of our residents. The Member mentioned transitional housing in her statement earlier, and I was just over at the transitional housing site by the Folk on the Rocks here and speaking with the Yellowknife Women's Society staff about how they are integrating their services and working with the GNWT, EIA, and other partners to deliver...

Thank you. I didn't quite get the question, I didn't quite understand, But I am advocating to Ottawa to uphold the ruling that requires them to fund Jordan's Principle. I try to educate federal Ministers about the history of the territory, how we came about, the responsibilities that the federal government has to the territory, how we're different from provinces, how we're different from reserves. So I do my best to provide the overall context so that Ministers can understand how this fits into the support the federal government has pledged to provide to Indigenous peoples and how Jordan's...