Bob Bromley

So we were successful. That means the bore holes were successful. How does that relate to the $2.5 million that we are now proposing again for this year? Was it $2.5 million or $3.5 million last year? We approved $2.5 million at the last minute. I thought maybe we’d had a million dollars already approved. Some clarity there. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do want to comment briefly on these items. The $105.7 million carry-over for infrastructure, representing projects that were not done or completed, at 35 percent of our total expenditure for the last year is quite a large carry-over.

During the 16th Assembly we did have a special deputy ministers committee on infrastructure that did a lot of thinking and implementing of a new approach to deal with our challenges, which are many in the sort of whimsical northern environment that people have to deal with, problems of access and so on, and that included moving to Class C...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks again to the Minister. I know the protection orders mechanism has certainly been much appreciated and seems to be helping the situation. The 2008 survey of attitudes towards family violence shows too many people still think that family violence is a matter to be handled solely within the family. That’s the same place violence occurs. The need for a campaign of public awareness and education is a primary recommendation of both the Coalition phase 3 recommendations, as the Minister has mentioned, and of Ms. Menard, in the coroner’s report on Ms. Black’s death. The...

Thanks to the Minister for those comments and commitments. His reference to the Premier’s commitments, I think that’s very important and it’s appreciated. We need to now turn those commitments into action, and I know this side of the House will be willing to work with our Cabinet on that.

Ms. Alice Black’s death could have been prevented if there was police stationed in Gameti. Her killer was wanted on a criminal warrant at the time of the events. RCMP were unable to secure his arrest because they make only occasional visits to the community. They didn’t know it well enough, I suspect. We have...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to recognize first of all a constituent from the Weledeh riding, Master Kienan Ashton. Kienan today was visiting me in my office and he and his friend Jesper were very proud to shake the Premier’s hand. Also Jack Panayi of Ms. Parisella’s class. Also Sophie Clark and Grace Clark, twin members of the Aurora Fiddle Society Fiddlecats.

I’ll just rephrase that. The guys worked hard and well. They drilled 300 great bore holes, but we are disappointed they didn’t find the gravel they were looking for. If I’m correct, the next step is to find the gravel or to go somewhere else for it. Three hundred sounds like a lot to be disappointed with. Would we start looking elsewhere, like further afield, or is there some anticipation that we can drill another 300 and find it in the same area?

So the earlier reports of the unsuccessful 300 bore holes were false, just to clarify?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I want to follow up. I didn’t hear a response to my question in general comments, so I thought I’d follow up here on the Inuvik-Tuk Highway Project. I believe we committed $2.5 million at the last minute in the 2011-12 just before year end. I think the goal was to seek out gravel resources and I have heard that they had low success there. What was the result of that work? Did all those dollars get expended? Were the objectives achieved? How does this money relate to that money and the results? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also rise to support this motion. I want to start by thanking my colleagues Ms. Bisaro and Mr. Yakeleya for bringing this forward. There has been, indeed, perpetual interest and discussion on this, and that discussion needs to be resolved. There is an obligation of government, clearly, to provide the full opportunity for their citizens’ voices to be heard. This is a proven mechanism, and clearly across Canada there is good recognition of the need to fill this responsibility. We would certainly be consistent with them in doing that.

I know my colleagues and, certainly...

I appreciate the Minister’s comments there. I know it’s tough. Resources are tight and so on, but I’d say the evidence speaks for itself here. Increasing the number of community shelters is also a critical need. Shelters now exist in only three communities. Lack of a place of refuge frequently means that women must stay in their homes and be subjected to repeated assaults. Not only that, funding for outreach programs has been cut for communities lacking shelters. What steps is the Minister going to take to provide women and children with places of safety from abuse and assault?