Shauna Morgan

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think it's important that both we and officials within municipal and community affairs take the time to better understand the detailed rationale behind this recommendation in the after-action review, and reflect on how we can accomplish the intent of the recommendation in the most cost effective way.

What I'm hearing so far from municipal and community affairs is good news, our internal system is working great, and all it took was some additional training and better efforts at communication. And, anyways, 2023 was a long time ago and we went ahead and...

Thank you, Mr. Chair; I appreciate that.

I know that many members of the public are eager to see the costs in the business case and the sooner we can do that, then the sooner we can have an informed public discussion about a cost benefit analysis, which I'm certainly eager to engage in.

Second, regarding the Slave Geological Province All-Weather Highway, can the Minister tell us has -- so keeping in mind that this project is slated for the next two years, the planning process. Can the Minister tell us whether a route has been set or decided yet for this project? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I apologize for getting lost in the proceedings earlier.

Just to conclude, I just wanted to highlight Recommendation 7 in that committee has asked the government to initiate a comprehensive review of the entire emergency protection order and protection order system using section 16.1 of the Act, because we certainly heard from people that the effectiveness of EPOs really depends on how the system is functioning in practice. And what we heard is that there are many ways that, in practice, the system is not serving people as well as it could and as well as it needs to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Elements related to the retention and remuneration of panel lawyers was also brought to committee's attention.

Section 22 of the act authorizes the Commissioner, on recommendation of the Minister, to make regulations under the act with respect to the remuneration and reimbursement of lawyers, the way remuneration is paid, and prescribing legal aid services that may be provided, etc. Hale focused on discussing with committee four areas with respect to the legal aid regulations, including suggesting improvements to hourly and daily rates of pay for panel lawyers, noting...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So we certainly hear from, for example, some of the Yellowknife school boards that we have schools with, say, leaking roofs, and they certainly want to have them assessed and feel that it could be risking the integrity of the building if there's water leaking in and it can be obviously spreading, water damage, and we don't want that. And what we hear is confusion as to when does it become urgent enough, when does it become an emergency in the department's view. Because people are confused as to why this isn't getting prioritized for funding. Can the Minister or his staff...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know that one of the big challenges around staffing these kinds of operations is being able to pay staff an equivalent wage to, say, government-run operations such as the day shelter and sobering centre. Has housing considered or put in the budget for the RFP considerations of having the wages come close to or match some of the other opportunities in town for similar work to ensure that we can really attract the right people and get it staffed up as soon as possible? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. And does the department currently have the resources to complete all of those facility assessments on a five-year basis, or do we have a backlog of facilities waiting, you know, longer than five years to be able to get their assessments? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I wanted to ask questions of the Minister of housing. I appreciated today's update on the homelessness strategy and the news that they expect to be opening up the transitional housing complex out near the airport, near the Folk on the Rocks site outside Yellowknife before Christmas. I wonder if the Minister has any updates she can give the House in terms of any of the regulatory approvals or logistics that they've been trying to get sorted out to get this project underway. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Okay, thank you for that explanation. Next, I just wanted to ask about the deferred maintenance. And so that is to cover maintenance of projects where there is a life safety issue or a need to protect the asset. How much in total is budgeted for deferred maintenance projects? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I noted in my statement, and it was also one of the recommendations that the standing committee made in its review of the Mental Health Act, that the lack of a pediatric psychiatry unit at Stanton is a serious gap that needs to be addressed. Can the Minister tell us how she'll be addressing this gap in pediatric psychiatric care? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.