R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned earlier, our Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs had to step out so on his behalf, I would like to -- I announced that earlier for those Members who were in the House, that they probably remember that.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to recognize Their Worships, Frank Pope and Peter Clarkson, and welcome them to the capital for the NWTAC AGM as well as to this House. So thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And as I stated earlier, a lot of that work has already started. Public Safety Canada has gone into the community. I've gone into the community, met with leadership, along with my deputy minister. The RCMP, as I mentioned, I have -- I've made one of their priorities to strengthen relationships with Indigenous governments. So ensuring that those touch points are actually happening, that those conversations are happening, is important.

And one of the most important things that the community can do is report things to the RCMP. And I understand that there's times when...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the 20th Legislative Assembly has made the safety of the residents and communities of the Northwest Territories one of its priorities. Many of us have witnessed and been affected by an increase in criminal activities, particularly the drug trade. Successful public safety efforts rely on trusting relationships between the RCMP and our residents.

In November 2024, Northwest Territories RCMP officers began wearing body worn cameras. By the end of March 2025, officers in 17 of 21 detachments will be equipped with this technology. The remaining four detachments...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so there's been conversations over the last number of years about the Mackenzie Delta LNG project concept. And, of course, IRC has been busy advancing its Inuvialuit energy security project in the meantime. The opportunity remains for IRC to pursue larger scale LNG project opportunities in the Beaufort Delta; for example, that could result in exportation to Asian Pacific markets where the LNG demand is growing as we know. That being said, this is all happening in the Inuvialuit settlement region so we are following their lead. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm here today to present Bill 12, Business Day Statute Law Amendment Act. The purpose of Bill 12 is to fix an error that was made in 2017 when amendments to the Interpretation Act resulted in some government offices technically being required to be open on Sundays. This was not the intent of the changes in 2017.

Bill 12 will amend four pieces of legislation to deal with this problem and to ensure Sundays are not interpreted as business days, including

Subsection 150(5) of the Business Corporations Act;

Section 59 of the Consumer Protection Act;

Section 62 of the Judicature...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wouldn't say that the human resource allocations were part of the divisional drug strategy, but there have been increases to the RCMP numbers in the Member's riding. K'atlodeeche First Nation had two positions added, one this year, one last year. The detachment in Fort Providence has also had positions added. And that's in addition to the new crime reduction unit and the emergency response team that are getting staffed up that also work territorially. So there's more assets available in the communities, and there's more territorial assets available to respond to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so, of course, Nutrition North is a federal program and it has its own criteria and it's related to accessibility, road access. That being said, we obviously have higher costs of living in the Northwest Territories, and that's an appropriate thing to bring forward to our discussions with the federal government and the ministerial special adviser, and I think it's important to also highlight Indigenous businesses and how we can better support them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last year Minister Vandal, who was at the time the Minister responsible for Nutrition North, announced that there would be -- they'd be undertaking their five-year review of the program and that that review is expected to be completed this year. And so we are waiting that and are engaging at every opportunity that we can.

As well, we have -- or the Minister last year also announced that there would be a -- let me just find this position -- a ministerial special representative independent of the federal public service appointed to review the Nutrition North program. That...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There will be no change in the cost of this position. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair.