Bill Braden

Thank you, Madam Chair. The timing was indeed the topic that committee spent the most time exploring. In listening to Mr. Zoe’s point about more public consultation, I think that, with the efforts that were made, I don’t know that we would generate a lot more. I think there is a very broad acceptance of a fixed election date. Now, I think people are expecting us to work out the one that is the best for the most situations. Madam Chair, I would speak in favour of the motion, personally.

As Mr. Roland and I have had two elections now in the front end of winter, I don’t relish the thought of...

I am very confident, Mr. Speaker, that what we will find out through the investigation here will only benefit workers from Nunavut.

The Minister does make a very valid point in that we do have a hard-won agreement with our sister territory, Nunavut, to share the resources and the responsibilities of running this WCB that we can share. I think that is a good arrangement. He also made the point that when we proceed on legislation, we have to be careful to proceed in tandem so that both territories can accommodate the legislative process and the changes that we see as required. But, Mr. Speaker...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The initiative that I have proposed, and my colleague from Nunakput is seconding, is not a small or a lightly undertaken initiative. The function of the WCB is one that is essential to the success and the stability of our workers and our workforce in virtually every endeavour here in the NWT, in our communities, in our governments, in our small businesses and big businesses too. Mr. Speaker, over my time here as a Member of this Legislative Assembly, I have had frequent traffic with a number of workers who have come to me with what really is a common story of in some...

Mr. Speaker, the on-line chat sites and dialogues that go on serve a certain purpose. I am wondering, in light of the fact that His Excellency Mr. Cellucci is, I understand, soon going to be retiring as the ambassador to Canada, we will have a new American ambassador. Would the Premier consider being among the first in Canada to extend an invitation for the new American ambassador to visit the Northwest Territories in person? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Premier’s inclusion of a number of areas of international concern and interest that we share. I wanted to ask the Premier if he would undertake to create a dialogue that we could have directly, as people of the Northwest Territories, with the American people and their officials on these significant associations. Certainly I would put caribou, missile defence and, in the not-too-distant future, Mr. Speaker, what will be a contentious issue; that of fresh water. Can the Premier help us get together with the Americans and talk about these issues?...

Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to welcome all of the judges, especially a friend from my days in the Yukon, Justice Ron Veale. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to recognize a constituent, an injured worker and a great advocate on behalf of injured workers, Mr. John Huffman.

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Mr. Speaker, Trailers for sale or rent...

Mr. Speaker, it should be very clear that we are about to prorogue, and approval of this motion would take it off the order paper. It would die, we would have to begin the process all over again, and I do not see at all the benefit of that. So I will be voting against this motion.

I think Ms. Lee captured what we should be looking at here, and the objections are to process, and not in this venue, Mr. Speaker, to the substance of it.

Standing committee chose to allow all of those amendments, those five amendments that the Member for Nahendeh talked about. By the way, I think three of them were...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today is indeed, or hopefully will be, the last day of this session.

Thank you, Madam Chair. That’s a good question. As recommended to us in the report of the CEO, the problem is that young people are participating in elections in increasingly shrinking numbers. Like Canada’s federal Chief Electoral Officer, Mr. Kingsley, in the last federal election quite an extensive nation-wide program was launched aimed at the young people. So while the program here is suggesting web-based for schools, educational institutions, it would have a big platform to jump elsewhere. So that was the focus, Madam Chair. Thank you.