R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm happy to provide some more information to the Member in written form about how extensive we are looking at the review. As of today, I'm not quite sure where things are in the process but I can commit to provide that to her. And some of the things that I can -- that I know will be considered are the recommendations made by the rental officer in their annual report, and those will go back a number of years. So there's many recommendations already that the department will be looking at. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like every other initiative that we would like to bring forward, it has to compete with all of the other initiatives. And so we will weigh this against the other initiatives that the Members have requested, initiatives that other stakeholders have requested, and plan as appropriate. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There's a lot unpack there. I'd probably need to think about it a bit more, understand what the programs the Member's speaking of are, and then we can go from there. Thanks.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Kam Lake, that Bill 7, Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act 2024, be read for the second time. This bill corrects inconsistencies and errors in the statutes of the Northwest Territories. This bill also helps to deal with other matters of a minor, noncontroversial, and uncomplicated nature in the statutes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Members may recall that I have already spoken on this topic, and I've stated that this is the direction that I would like to see things move. The RCMP, as has been stated, should be dealing with crimes, not with mental health issues, but they have become the default service provider in that area. And so while I know there might be hopes of 24/7 support in every community around the territory, I don't want anyone to get their hopes up that we're going to have around-the-clock services like that any time soon with, you know, three shifts in every community, 99 social...

Yes, Mr. Speaker. So this did come up in the last Assembly, as the Member mentioned. I was at that time the Minister of Justice as well. And when the topic of rent control came up when there was a motion in the House, we heard from industry, and we heard their concerns, and we heard about the uncertainty that something like rent control brings to investment. And so one of the things that I want to do in this government is bring more certainty to our policies, processes, laws and regulations, to help attract investment. And so what we need to do to lower the cost of rent is to address the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, yes, this is something that is in our business plan. The review will be done within the next 12 months. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There's plenty of things I would like to do. This is one area where I would like to see something happen as well. What that is, I'm not quite sure yet. This does take resources. But that being said, I've already had discussions with the Minister of MACA on potential future steps on what we can do. Again, that being said I can't make any promises. We are going through the budget process right now. We are really looking to get our financial house in order so that we can pursue activities like this, which falls in line with our public safety mandate. But that's work that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Absolutely.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Unfortunately, I've not had a chance to review the Member's statement. I just flew back into town this morning, so I won't have good answers to the Member's questions. I apologize. Thank you.