Shauna Morgan

Thank you, Mr. Speaker -- Mr. Substitute Speaker. Okay, first, I want to acknowledge that definitely this is a crisis. When people in Norman Wells are in danger of losing their housing because they can't afford to heat it this winter, we already have enough of a homelessness crisis and a housing crisis in this territory. We certainly cannot afford to make it any worse. But to avoid repetition, I just will try to focus on some points that haven't been mentioned yet by my colleagues.

So there are two different issues here. First is the issue of how we provide immediate relief to residents and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I certainly appreciate that we've been looking to the feds up until now for these kinds of programs, but we're also seeing that the costs are falling on the GNWT of the consequence of having this dependence on heating oil. So with that in mind, is the GNWT looking at opportunities to increase energy efficiency and conservation in any buildings or homes in Norman Wells that are currently relying on heating oil again to relieve some of this dependence and the high costs that that community's experiencing? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure. The NWT Association of Communities has called on the GNWT to take a greater role in securing wood pellet supply chains, perhaps in similar ways that we currently secure petroleum products through procurement, transport, storage, and other things for many communities. So is the GNWT considering how it might secure wood pellet supply chains? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my statement today is about energy security. The crisis in Norman Wells has drawn our attention to how climate change makes our fuel resupply vulnerable with the low water levels, but it also should draw our attention to how vulnerable a community is when it has no competitive market for petroleum products. Norman Wells is dependent mainly on one private fuel supplier which essentially holds a monopoly and therefore can raise prices whenever it feels it needs to with no regulator to oversee how much price increase is actually needed.

Now, our NWT energy...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so finally, with regard to energy security, will the GNWT be taking a greater role for next year's fuel supply to ensure that fuel is transported to Norman Wells over the winter road rather than taking a chance on next summer's barge? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So is the GNWT working, perhaps with Arctic Energy Alliance, to help get more subsidized wood stoves and pellet stoves into Norman Wells as soon as possible, given the crisis, to relieve some of the dependence on heating oil in that community? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm pleased to recognize a page we have with us from Yellowknife North, Greta Kohle. Thanks for your help today, Greta.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are many encouraging things in this budget that will help to set us on a better path as a government and as a territory, both things that were initially proposed by Cabinet and both budget changes and policy changes that the government has agreed to through negotiations with Regular Members. I want to give just a quick rundown of the highlights for me and flag a few key items that are left outstanding that I think need to be urgently addressed as we move forward with this work.

So I'm encouraged to see the transitional housing for addictions recovery...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I spoke today about the recommendations from the Ministers' forum on addictions and wellness and community wellness from 2013. And there were certain ideas in there that I wondered if the Minister of health could provide us insights whether the government has looked at them and addressed them.

So one was recommendation number 11, review and revise existing processes within the health and social services system for referring youth to treatment in order to ensure that addictions treatment is accessible for all youth.

I should also say that these weren't sort of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in 2013 a Ministers' forum on addictions and community wellness conducted four months of consultations in communities across the territory and produced a report with recommendations that I have been reflecting on personally this week.

It's encouraging to see that some of the recommendations from that forum are finally coming to life. The top priority identified then was community-based and operated on the land programming, and now it's a key priority in this government's mandate. The forum recommended that those coming back from residential treatment get...