Bill Braden

Consultation is an enormous need and an expectation that we have and that we’re going to be able to do our job over here. But this was, among many, the greatest example, the worst example, Mr. Speaker, of how this government has failed to consult with the Members on this side.

There is a major policy position at stake here -- huge -- potentially affecting millions of dollars in future revenues. Why did the Premier and the Cabinet not consult with MLAs until hours before they released that letter?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to address my questions to Premier Handley. This is in respect of communication with proponents of the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline. Mr. Speaker, we have been seeking a fair share of our resource royalties for years in the NWT. There was a golden opportunity to really get somewhere; that is to bargain with the gas producers’ need for certainty on tax and royalty regimes, to translate that into certainty for our own need here in the NWT for fiscal fairness from Ottawa. Mr. Speaker, why didn’t the Premier and the Finance Minister stand up and fight for the...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Achieving devolution and a fair share of resources revenue sharing must continue to be the top priorities of this government, but in last November, Mr. Speaker, that priority, in my opinion, took a major setback when Premier Handley and Finance Minister Roland delivered a letter -- no ordinary letter, Mr. Speaker -- to the four major producer groups in the Mackenzie Valley pipeline and TransCanada Pipelines. It was a so-called letter of comfort demanded by these stakeholders before they would proceed with the regulatory hearings now underway. The letter offered strong...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Friday, February 3, 2006, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Frame Lake, that "designated budget days" be implemented on a provisional basis; and further that Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of each week be "designated budget days;" and further that the House shall commence sitting at 11:00 a.m. on "designated budget days;" and further that the time of adjournment on "designated budget days" shall be 6:00 p.m.; and further that notwithstanding Rule 34(6), the time allotted for...

Yes, going to be wearing out lots of running shoes here, Mr. Speaker. Is it now official GNWT policy to give letters of comfort and certainty to all resource related projects that might come up in the future before having to talk with his colleagues on the other side here? Is this going to be the way we will continue now to develop letters of comfort, letters of certainty?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister’s caution on this. I have looked into the same point in raising these questions, and the information I have is the process has actually been concluded and is something that can be looked at in this House. So I would like to continue with my questions on this point.

Mr. Speaker, some of these appeals tribunal processes are now four years old. Workers continue to be stymied by this. While the WCB Act is not specific in allowing employment insurance earnings, and it gives the board, or the tribunal, the discretion to rule on these kinds of...

I, too, would like to welcome all the youth who are here today. It is great to see people, that generation, paying attention to what is going on in here. I would very much like to welcome the folks from the other spectrum of the generation…

---Laughter

…our seniors. It is just a great pleasure to welcome my mother, Esther Braden.

---Applause

Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome Mr. Dent back to the Assembly, after doing battle with his colleagues on the federal front. I would like to ask him questions in his capacity as the Minister responsible for the Workers’ Compensation Board. In my statement earlier today, I explained the dilemma that injured workers find themselves in, because the WCB has not accepted that it should include EI remunerations in the calculation of an injured worker’s pension. Mr. Speaker, why has the WCB refused to accept multiple rulings from the independent appeals tribunal process, to include employment...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Good morning, Mr. Speaker. The issue of unresolved workers’ compensation claims of injured workers has been the subject of many of my statements and questions. For some injured workers, Mr. Speaker, through our process, it has become a never-ending treadmill of appeals and systemic process. For a number of these workers, when they think they are getting ahead, wouldn’t you know it, but along comes some rule changes.

Mr. Speaker, just to explain briefly, if a worker is injured on the job, they expect to receive a disability pension, or allowance, depending on their injury...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask some more questions of Mr. Krutko, Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation. It concerns an initiative that is now in its second year, the market housing initiative. Mr. Speaker, this was something that this Assembly initially supported because it was designed to assist those communities that were having trouble attracting and keeping essential employees for GNWT services, especially Health and Education. We are now into the second and final year of delivering a total of 42 units to communities. What is the status on the...