R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I never -- so there's a number of different things going on here. I will address them as I kind of remember them.

So I have heard from -- I have actually heard from leaders in the Member's riding who have told me one thing. I don't think it's a point of order for me to get up here and say that. So I think that one is, you know, an easy one.

I don't speak for the Akaitcho leaders. I've never said I do. So I don't know where that one came from.

I was trying to discredit his line of questioning because I don't think it's a very credible line of questioning. I didn't accept...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, I don't accept the premise of the Member's question. We do uphold the spirit of consensus government. Ministers appear in front of committees. Committees give feedback to Ministers. Ministers go and give direction to departments informed by that feedback. Just because a Member is not getting everything they want or they make promises that the Minister can't deliver on for them, it doesn't mean that we're not fulfilling the promise of consensus government, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the department of ITI does review the socio-economic agreements when there is the sale of a mine, and those socio-economic agreements do transfer to the new owner. So, yes, we do review those. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so of course socio-economic agreements don't have enforcement clauses. There's not levers to enforce. There's not fines that can be levied on the mines for not meeting those targets. And so this is about building relationships and ensuring that we're staying on top of this. So I know the Minister of ITI has quarterly meetings with the mines where they go over these numbers, the employment numbers. When we learn about mines looking at changing their workforce, reducing the workforce, of course we ensure that they're going to follow the appropriate legislation. But we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so for quite some time we've known that the diamond sector is going through a transition and the market is not quite as robust or stable as it used to be, and so we have already, for a number of months now, had a partnership with the Tlicho government and the Yellowknives Dene to ensure that we are pooling resources, we're getting information out there, and we're supporting residents the best way that we can. So that work has already begun. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And as I mentioned, a couple of the ideas that the Member gave are reflected in the budget. The idea that the Member just gave, I mentioned that in my first answer when we increased the funding to the interim resource management assistance program, and we're also encouraging the federal government to increase their contribution to that as well. So there are tangible actions that will result in increased efficiencies and projects coming online sooner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I believe the question is what are we doing to fast track these projects by working with Indigenous governments. And so to that I will say that we have put a lot of time and energy into improving the relationships with Indigenous governments. And as I travel around the territory, that's what I hear from many Indigenous governments, that we have improved those relationships, we've done that work, we've built that trust. And by doing so, we're able to combine forces and work together on different projects. Of course, we have the Arctic Economic and Security Corridor...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We're going to stay the course because, again, I don't agree with the premise of the Member's question. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I heard the Member mention the Minister's priorities of medical travel and cultural safety. I am not sure if he mentioned the other priority of care in small communities, and so I think a focus on care in small communities, which are primarily Indigenous in the territory, is -- you know, is a direct -- you can directly point to that to say we are working to fulfill the treaties. But I will comment since I am on the subject there that we do fulfill the treaties, I would say more than any other jurisdiction in Canada. We put more effort into ensuring that we do fulfill...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so when certain companies wind down, for example up at Diavik, for years they've had a my path program where they worked with the employees there to help them transition to whatever might be next. And so as I mentioned earlier, we have formed a partnership with Yellowknives Dene and the Tlicho to look at any training opportunities that might be available, trying to figure out where, you know, those individuals are working, how we can best support them. I want to also point out that there's already a lot of different programs available in the territory. There's...