R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I expected this to be the second question, so I didn't want to answer it right off the top. But I will work with the other Ministers to put together a package, a more detailed package with specific requests and suggestions to the federal government as the Minister is -- or sorry, as the Member is recommending. I won't say it will be part of the, you know, federal engagement strategy necessarily, but it will be how we -- how a number of us do engage with the federal government. I think a handy reference chart that we can say, you know, these are the changes that we need...

Thank you. So I believe he wanted to make sure that I'm honouring the treaties. You know, I do my best to honour the treaties. I don't do anything that I think is dishonouring the treaties or not aligned with the treaties. So in every decision I make, I do my best to ensure you are that we are aligned with the treaties. They are foundational documents, not just for the Northwest Territories but for Canada, and we can't have a functioning system in the Northwest Territories if we're not honouring the treaties. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a bit of a loaded question there. I will say this. For the members of the public who want some insight into how things work around here, the Premier does not direct the Ministers to do things like that. That is a money decision, so those types of decisions are made by the financial management board. That is how that $14 million that was allocated came about. It was a decision of all of the group of Ministers here. So I don't -- from the technical standpoint, I don't have the power to tell the Minister to fund this. From a fiscal standpoint, the Minister...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll do my best to answer it. I might hand it to the education Minister at some point. But I will say that Jordan's Principle has been at the forefront of our discussions with the federal government since this announcement was made to change the program. I've spoken about it to the Prime Minister. I was very direct with him about the impacts on the territory.

When we went to Ottawa as the Council of Leaders, we collectively spoke to the federal Ministers - Minister Chartrand, Minister Gull-Masty, Minister Alty - about Jordan's Principle. Indigenous leaders and GNWT...

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, October 30th, 2025, I will present Bill 34, Trespass to Property Act, to be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have our federal engagement strategy that really focuses on some of the big-ticket items that we need from the federal government, whether it's transportation, infrastructure, or housing or firefighting equipment, but we also have the day-to-day business of working with the federal government, engaging with them, letting them know what our needs in the territory are. And through that process, we do have a lot of engagement. We explain to the federal government, you know, these are the areas where we need some support, these are areas that could change. And then as...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have been working with the Finance Minister and the Minister of education and all of Cabinet and the Council of Leaders to try and bring in more money for education specifically related to Jordan's Principle and the reductions -- or the change of the program by the federal government. We'll continue to advocate. And my hope is that we'll see some success hopefully in the near future. If not, then we have to look at, you know, how we're operating and what that means. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT is a public government, so we fund public education. Most of the people in the territory are Indigenous, so we provide education to Indigenous students with the general public government funding. So I'm not quite sure what dispute the Member is referencing, but we understand that we are a public government and that we provide education to all members of the public. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd also like to recognize an honoured guest in the gallery today, Grand Chief Sonny Blake from the Gwich'in Tribal Council, also, of course, former Speaker of this House and a colleague of ours for eight years. So it's always good to have him back in the House here. It feels complete now. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize a resident of Hay River, Ms. Bette Lyons, who somehow has managed to sit through much of this week's proceedings, so I commend her for that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.