R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Madam Chair. So in this pot of money, it is subscribed. Often when we get these funds from the federal government, there's an action plan that we're required to submit and then we all sign off on it. And so that's -- that work has been done. And so in this, you know, $800,000 which might sound like a lot, there's not a lot of free money to stand up a program like the Member's talking about although I have tasked the Department of Justice and health on working together to look into figuring out how we can bring one of those programs to the territory. Thank you.

Thank you. I appreciate the Member's support, and I look forward to continuing to update committee as the work progresses. Thank you.

Court services. Thank you.

Thank you. So this is being used for a number of different initiatives. So one example would be that the department, the department of MACA, health, and along with the RCMP, contributed to bring the Odd Squad to the territories to provide 14 drug awareness presentations to youth in nine different communities. The department is looking to fill justice navigator positions to help support system navigation and case management for individuals being released from custodial sentences. And there's also funding for -- to top up some youth centres to help address -- give kids a place to go. Because...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we've had almost weekly conversations, all the Premiers and the Prime Minister. I actually had to leave the call early to come down to the House today, so we were just meeting. And I don't think there's a lot of nuance in what the President has to say about annexing Canada. I think if you read what he's saying and if you listen to what he says, it sounds like he's serious about it. And I think that people across Canada in all levels of government now realize that, and we need to do what we can to ensure that, you know, we stay united and we stay strong economically...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I listened to what Premier Ford has to say sometimes, and I wish I was able to say a lot of those same things, but the fact is we don't have that type of economy. We don't have those types of direct exports to the United States to be able to make those types of threats. We're not currently exporting any critical minerals to the United States, and so we're in a much different position. That being said, I'm confident that as Canadians we can come together, and we can both support Canadian businesses and ensure that the Americans are feeling the negative impacts of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. we have all heard the news that the President of the United States has decided to implement tariffs on Canada and Mexico. Prime Minister Trudeau has stated that he has initiated counter tariffs on our side of the border and with additional counter tariffs coming in a few weeks, depending on how things go. For our part here in the Northwest Territories, we've directed the NWT Liquor and Cannabis Commission to cease all procurement of American products. We have directed the department to refrain from procuring anything from American companies wherever possible. We're...

Thank you. So I believe we actually have an observer on the committee. We've been -- you know, and I've been in talks with the Premier of the Yukon on this and talking about how we can better collaborate, and as the three northern territories, we do collaborate on these types of initiatives. Every chance we get, we get up in front of a microphone and we talk about these security issues. You know, there's a good relationship at the official level between my deputy minister and staff in the department of defence. And I can say that I've seen that relationship -- I'll say it's improved in the...

Thank you. As shared with Members and reported widely in the press, the title is senior envoy to the Government of Canada. Thank you.

Thank you. I appreciate those comments.