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Mr. Speaker, today, Northwest Territories residents will come together to march through the streets of Yellowknife to honour the 215 Indigenous children found at the Kamloops Indian Residential School last week.

This is an important opportunity for all of us as residents of the NWT to come together and show our support for people during this difficult time. It has brought to the surface painful memories for many, and with the strength of the community, we will get through this, together.

Premier Caroline Cochrane, Health and Social Services Minister, Julie Green and Education, Culture and Employment Minister, R.J. Simpson issued the  following statement on the recent COVID-19 outbreak at N.J. Macpherson and the Government of the Northwest Territories’ response:

Today, Premier Caroline Cochrane and Paulie Chinna, Minister Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA), announced two senior management officials have been assigned as Pathfinders to support flood impacted communities.

These Pathfinders have been assigned to travel to impacted communities and work with community leadership to confirm needs and preferred approaches. They will provide immediate assistance in answering questions about the process around flooding, to provide further information where and as needed.

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Mr. Speaker, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenging time for all of us. Like all jurisdictions, our initial response was focused on public health measures.

To date, we have been successful in protecting the health and safety of our residents thanks to the actions we took early, and the commitment from residents to follow the public health orders and recommendations in order to limit the spread of COVID-19.

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Mr. Speaker, before I begin my statement today I want to acknowledge that many people, including those that work in and around this Legislative Assembly and government, are being retraumatized by the confirmation of the mass grave of Indigenous children at the Kamloops Indian Residential School.  I am providing this notice so that those who are hurting may choose not to listen if they will be triggered by what I say.

Premier Caroline Cochrane and Municipal and Community Affairs Minister, Paulie Chinna issued the below statement on the flooding situation in Aklavik and the Government of the Northwest Territories response:

“The community of Aklavik declared a State of Local Emergency in the early hours of May 30^th and began an official evacuation of 141 residents earlier this morning in addition to 25 residents evacuated earlier as a result of flood waters breaching the banks of the Mackenzie River.

Premier Cochrane's Itinerary for the week of May 30, 2021

Issued May 28, 2021. If there are any changes, an updated version of the itinerary will be provided on June 2, 2021.

Public Events and Meetings

No public events or meetings are scheduled.

Closed Events and Meetings

The following events are closed to the media

May 31

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Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by welcoming all my colleagues back to the Chamber for this sitting of the 19^th Legislative Assembly. I look forward to providing updates on key issues, and mandate priorities, as well as hearing from Regular Members on issues important to residents over the course of the next seven sitting days.

Premier Cochrane's Itinerary for the week of May 23, 2021

Issued May 21, 2021. If there are any changes, an updated version of the itinerary will be provided on May 26, 2021.

Public Events and Meetings

No public events or meetings are scheduled.

Closed Events and Meetings

The following events are closed to the media

May 24

• Regular Business

May 25

Issued May 14, 2021. If there are any changes, an updated version of the itinerary will be provided on May 19, 2021.

Public Events and Meetings

No public events or meetings are scheduled.

Closed Events and Meetings

The following events are closed to the media

May 17

• The Premier will be chairing a COVID-19 Committee of Cabinet meeting.
• Internal meetings

May 18