My Commitment to Range Lake

We can do more to support our healthcare professionals with the higher wages, training, and the recognition they need to deliver high-quality patient care. Through improved working conditions, shift flexibility, professional autonomy, access to advanced technology, ongoing training, and more mental health support, we can help healthcare workers provide better services and enhance the overall healthcare system.

We can improve patient care by providing state-of-the-art equipment, technology, and infrastructure to healthcare institutions throughout the Northwest Territories. By investing in modern healthcare facilities, we can enhance the quality of healthcare services, increase access to cutting-edge treatments, and improve patient outcomes. Such investments are essential to meet the evolving healthcare needs of all communities and ensure the efficient delivery of medical care.

Mental health support needs to be readily available to all Northerners. By reducing barriers to access, such as cost and stigma, and promoting early intervention, we can provide inclusive and timely mental health care.  We can also ensure young people are heard in the conversation about mental health and suicide through the establishment of a Youth Mental Health Advisory Committee made up of young people from around the territory to support the delivery of youth mental health services in the NWT.

We can address the shortage of Territorial Doctors and Nurses with a new plan for recruitment and training including, providing funding between $500 to $10,000 per student per year to cover application, MCAT and interview travel cost reimbursement; improving clinical educational opportunities by allowing students to “job shadow” physicians and nurses any time in their medical program, and introduce return-for-service agreements to alleviate cost burdens for medical education and encourage the return of medical professionals to the NWT. We can also fast-track recruiting healthcare workers with foreign credentials by waiving the requirement for Canadian Practice Hours.

 Northerners have long understood addictions and homelessness cannot be solved without approaches that tackle the root causes of these serious issues. We must be committed to strengthening local addictions treatment by increasing funding, expanding access to evidence-based programs such as Managed Alcohol (MAP), and fostering a compassionate, community-oriented approach to help individuals struggling with addiction on their path to recovery. This includes creating more local treatment options for those struggling with addictions as both holistic land-based programs in smaller communities and a government backed treatment centre in Yellowknife. 

It's time to prioritize transparency, responsibility, and efficiency in our healthcare system. We must shift the focus from purely measuring healthcare outcomes and cost-cutting to emphasizing accountability for how resources are used. This will encourage healthcare authorities to be more responsible in their decision-making, financial stewardship, and patient care. This ensures that healthcare resources are allocated wisely, without compromising the quality of care, and that healthcare officials are held accountable for their actions and decisions in order to provide better, more cost-effective healthcare services.

We've been through enough climate emergencies to know Northerners want a government committed to enhancing the NWT's capacity to prepare for and respond to disasters. Through expanding emergency training, early warning systems, community participation, seamless communications and streamlined emergency responses, we can create a safer and more resilient society, where timely and effective responses to emergencies protect lives and livelihoods.

We can't wait for another disaster caused by climate change. It's time for proactive measures to safeguard lives and property, and reduce the severity of extreme climate events.  We will invest in resilient infrastructure fortified against floods, wildfires and coastal erosion. We will implement sustainable land and water management practices to reduce the risk of climate-related disasters. We will train and equip specialized teams to respond swiftly and effectively to climate-related emergencies.

These are unpreceded times and our first responders are called on now more than ever. We need to ensure our public safety departments are well-equipped, well-trained, and able to protect our communities. We can help bolster police and fire services through increased funding to improve response times and capabilities, effective equipment and training, mental health and wellness support. We will also ensure that accountability and oversight remain priorities for law enforcement and firefighters by allocating resources to foster positive relations with the communities they serve and to develop transparent systems for oversight to build on public trust.

Northerners know that to have safe streets in our communities we need the right resources in place. We can ensure more resilient communities by addressing the underlying causes of crime and fostering cooperation between law enforcement and the people they serve. This means more funding for community policing given directly to municipalities and First Nations that will allow them to foster strong partnerships between law enforcement and residents, promoting collaboration and trust-building. We can enhance these efforts by providing funding for local substance abuse prevention initiatives to address the root causes of addiction and related crimes. We will also provide funding to invest in programs and activities that support young people to deter them from engaging in criminal activities. 

No one should ever become a victim of crime, but when it happens Northerners deserve a compassionate and effective response from their government. We're committed to providing support and justice for victims of crime through working with other governments to expand victim support services, strengthening legal protections for crime victims and ensuring their voices are heard through the judicial process.

The rates of family and intimate partner violence remain far too high  in the NWT. We need a government dedicated to preventing domestic violence and abuse to create a society where everyone can live free from fear and violence. We can do this through continuing awareness and education campaigns, supporting survivors with safe shelters, counseling and legal assistance, and establishing preventive services targeting at-risk individuals and families to break the cycle of abuse.

In keeping with spirit of Indigenous reconciliation and Northern solidarity, we need a justice system that is focusing on rehabilitation and accountability for offenders. We need to expand alternative approaches to offences that emphasize the needs of victims and involve the community to facilitate healing and reintegration. We also need to fund community repatriation programs that allow offenders to return to their home communities on conditions that emphasizes reconciliation, rehabilitation, and reparation.

Northerners deserve their fair share of the rich resources that fuel our economy. With the creation of a Resource Dividend worth up to $100 a month, we can directly benefit you and your family with no-strings attached cash in your pocket. This is a real step towards tackling our high cost of living, while working to reduce poverty and attract new residents to the NWT. This is a proven measure that has worked in other remote Northern jurisdictions, and it's time to try something different that provides much-needed financial support while we work towards a healthier community.

 The NWT has made good progress towards accessible, affordable, and high-quality childcare services for all families. We can still do more to create a childcare system that supports families, enhances child development, and eases the burden of working parents. This starts by creating more dayhome spaces and by supporting dayhome operators who play a vital role in providing flexible and family-oriented childcare options. We can simplify and clarify regulatory requirements for dayhomes to make it easier for new ones to open and existing ones to expand. We can provide training and professional opportunities to enhance their caregiving skills and early childhood education. We can provide financial incentives and subsidies, allowing dayhome operators to offer competitive rates to parents while maintaining a sustainable business. And we can establish networks and resources for dayhome operators to share best practices and access materials for a stimulating childcare environment. This approach not only meets the diverse needs of families but also bolsters local economies and community well-being.

The NWT power system needs to expand to offer lower power rates to our residents. We can build on our clean energy future through fast-tracking the Taltson Hydro expansion through engaging private sector partnerships, negotiating supply agreements with Saskatchewan and Alberta, and prioritizing the expansion in all federal funding applications. Southern customers will take the pressure off Northerners and stabilize energy bills, while we work towards cheaper and cleaner power.

Take action against poverty by developing a Universal Basic Income (UBI) pilot program within 120 days. UBI will lower the cost to administer social support programs while empowering individuals to achieve financial independence. The proven success of UBI will be tested in select NWT communities and the results will inform an expanded program that will benefit more Northerners and meaningfully reduce poverty in our communities.

We need to ensure all Northerners have access to nutritious and affordable food. Through supporting healthy local food supply we can improve the well-being of our residents and lower the cost of food. This will take strengthening and expanding community-based food production, such as community gardens, development of nutrition assistance programs to alleviate food insecurity, providing funding for new sustainable Northern agriculture projects, such as reindeer herding, and working with federal regulators to expand access to country food.

The NWT has to do its part to show climate leadership and be dedicated to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 while safeguarding Northern Canada's unique interests. This entails establishing a dedicated Cabinet portfolio to oversee our progress, adopting a whole-of-government approach to carbon reductions, and negotiating ongoing exemptions from the carbon tax for Northern communities until viable low-carbon alternatives are available. We can invest more in Northern-specific innovation, engage with Indigenous communities, ensure transparent reporting, support sustainable infrastructure, provide education and workforce development, and prioritize the transition to a low-carbon economy. Our goal must be to create a sustainable and prosperous future for the NWT, considering both environmental and economic objectives.

We can foster the continued investment in clean growth and renewable energy with an additional $1.2 million towards energy retrofit programs accessible to businesses and the public.

We can strengthen Indigenous co-management bodies through a more responsive system of appointment for board vacancies, increased participant funding for regulatory hearings and the adoption of co- management models for all natural resources regulations.

We can improve responsiveness to environmental remediation by making all environmental liabilities held by the GNWT publicly accessible with full-cost accounting and introduce new natural resources transparency legislation to provide clarity to the benefits of the minerals industry and other natural resources sectors in the NWT.

We can encourage more Northerners to invest in solar energy by ensuring that rebates are made more generous and effective by streamlining the Net Metering Application process for homeowners, eliminating the 15kW capacity cap and replacing the credit system with a reimbursement rate equal to $0.21 per kilowatt-hour in Hydro communities and $0.30 in Thermal communities.

Northern storytellers have been preserving our shared culture and heritage since time immemorial. Our pristine natural beauty is the envy of the world. We should be empowering our storytellers in the film sector with an expanded film rebate program to cover more production costs, enhancing available funding and targeted tax breaks for local film production.

Northerners produce some of the most unique and highly sought after artworks in the world. We can invest in the arts and creative industries with a new costed Territorial Arts Strategy that includes: touring grants for Northern Performers, infrastructure funding for new cultural and performing arts facilities, new media and graphic design programs at Aurora College and enhanced funding for grants through the NWT Arts Council.

We love welcoming the world to our spectacular NWT. Let's grow the tourism industry with an additional $500,000 in Tourism Infrastructure and $150,000 in Tourism Training grants.

I am committed to actively preserving and ensuring accessibility to recreational land leases for all community members, irrespective of age, race, ability, or socio-economic status. I will push to implement clarity and consistency in recreational lease applications to set a new standard of 90 day issuance or denial for all applications. We will also need to work on identifying and safeguarding key areas of land through effectively planning to ensure sustainability for current and future generations. To get this done we need to provide more funding to land use planning partnerships with communities and Indigenous Governments. Additionally, I will collaborate with governmental agencies, non-profits, and private entities to maximize the impact of recreational land policies, seeking partnerships to secure funding for development, maintenance, and improvement of these spaces. We can also make educational investments into traditional knowledge and Indigenous cultural practices will further raise awareness about the benefits of recreational land and promote responsible use, with a focus on all youth.

We must ensure that languages of the NWT's first peoples are preserved for generations to come. It's time to appoint a dedicated Minister of Official Languages to oversee language policy and promote linguistic diversity. This new post will ensure investment in programs and initiatives to preserve and revitalize indigenous languages, acknowledging their cultural significance. We also need to ensure all Indigenous languages are protected by officially recognizing  Wılı̀ı̀deh yatı.

Northerners have a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent, yet we have a budget process designed for the boardroom table instead of the kitchen table. We can open the Legislative Assembly’s budget planning to the public by scrapping the secretive business planning process and combing the capital and operations and maintenance budgets into a single, transparent process. We can make additional improvement by conducting all financial reviews in public meetings or in formal session, and release a draft citizen’s budget in plain language to the public before budget discussions begin.

Northerners expect results from their government and that their elected leaders will follow through on their promises. When so much depends on the machinery of the GNWT, it can be hard to ensure that political mandates are being fulfilled in a meaningful way for NWT residents. We can make this better through prioritizing results and delivery to Cabinet and the Legislative Assembly by realigning the public service towards goals chosen by MLAs. This will change departments to better reflect ministerial mandates and provide more support to Ministers to ensure oversight and direction of the GNWT.

The Public Service is a critical part of our communities. We can support the NWT public service by modernizing the Public Service Act, establishing a Public Service Commission, introducing whistleblower protection, easing restrictions on outside activities and changing internal policies to break down silos between departments, other governments and the public at large.

We can build on the proven success of Government Service Workers (GSO) by creating a new frontline agency called Service NWT that access as a single point of entry for access to government services with a mandate to make GNWT systems easier to understand and access for the public.

Northern businesses need to be protected to ensure NWT residents are leading growth in our communities. We need to ensure transparency around public procurement by establishing a permeant Procurement Advisory Panel made up of local business owners and procurement experts to provide oversight of government procurement policies. We can also strengthen the Business Incentive Program (BIP) by ending the practice of grandfathering companies in the program and establishing new requirements to file taxes in the NWT.

We can improve the accessibility of government services by updating all relevant NWT legislation to allow for the submission of documentation via electronic methods.

If elected as MLA for Range Lake, I will make all my voting decisions public for laws and public expenditures. I also pledge full transparency over the selection of the next Premier and Cabinet.

The number one job of an MLA is taking care of the residents of their riding. Range Lake deserves efficient and accessible constituency services to help you navigate government programs and services. I promise that dedicated, full-time constituency staff will always be there to meet your needs. 

We can ensure that decision makers in government are held accountable to external influencers by introducing legislation for a public Lobbying Registry and Commission.

We can improve public awareness of MLA spending by changing the rules of the Legislative Assembly to require the proactive disclosure of MLA expenses in an open and searchable database.

Trust over who gets appointed to government boards and agencies is important to Northerners. We can ensure that public appointments are merit-based and transparent through establishing a new appointment process for all public boards and agencies that ensures transparency, input from the public and fairness in the appointment process.