Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you for the opportunity to present to the Minister and his staff here today. I have to say that expanding the eHealth is one thing that caught my attention. We had talked about that, we have made some progress, but I’m wondering what are the limitations here and how are we addressing them. We have been talking about this for years now. In discussions earlier today with the Mental Health Commission of Canada, it was also raised as an important element in addressing mental health issues across the North. I know the Minister is aware of that and I will be interested in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As people struggle with the high cost of living, providing adequate, affordable and nutritious food to our families can be a challenge. We are dependent on costly southern food, so the affordability of eating right is an issue. When we rely on food from the South, we export our purchasing dollars to the South, and instead of local jobs and businesses, we support jobs and investment afar. Greenhouse gas production increases from transporting food long distances.

The affect some communities have experienced from changes to federal air mail demonstrates the problem we all...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It’s all good information. I’m learning the process here more and more. So could I just get a commitment from the Minister – I’m sure he’s doing this already, but given this is a priority – that he will continue to explore all fronts on getting the expanded and expedited programs in early childhood as we learn more and recognize the need and opportunity? Thank you.

I appreciate the comments from the Minister. That sounds great. Just backing off to a little larger scale, what’s the format and the role of the department in trying to help our professionals and our service people keep up to date with new information such as the amazing stuff that’s coming out of early childhood research now? How does that work?

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I would like to follow up on the Premier’s/Minister’s statement yesterday on devolution as well. The Premier updated us on the status and process for devolution or assumption of authority for land and resource management. This government and our public are on record for decades as serious concerns over the federal legislation now in place. But the Premier said we are considering two approaches of taking down the legislation. We have to weigh the pros and cons. Could the Premier lay out some details on the comparative advantages and disadvantages of the two approaches...

I realize that it’s a tough question and we’ll have to wait and see to some degree. Primarily this is administrative stuff. The role of the court workers, obviously, is regarded by some to be quite important. Especially in our communities. Does the Minister see that as continuing to be an important part or will he play an enhanced role under new direction?

Thanks to the Minister for those remarks. I can’t say I’m that clear yet. I understand that this is IAB land typically or that it occurs in communities which are surrounded by IAB land and that apparently, if I heard correctly, the Housing Corporation requires a BCR that provides a 99-year lease to a potential tenant. Then what? That means the tenant can’t get a mortgage? So I don’t see that as a huge challenge, a BCR, and band councils are generally willing to help their members that way. So what are we waiting for? What’s our ask of Ottawa that we’re waiting for? What’s the hiccup there...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I’m wondering if this is where the program for men who use violence is housed and also the early intervention for non-violent offenders. There is a program that I believe was being tried out last year. Are those relevant on this page? Thank you.

Madam Chair, I guess that’s good to hear. Maybe we could indicate that this is a Sahtu commitment or something like that rather than an MGP commitment, that would clarify. That’s just an administrative suggestion there. Thank you. That’s all the questions I have on this page.

Thank you. Just to add to that a little bit, Mr. Chair, the tenant is paying six cents, going to be nine cents. The government is paying an average of a buck fifty, so it seems like there is an awful lot of room for incentive there to get beyond that modest three cents or nine cents to get the tenant to conserve electrical power and still be a net gain for the government. I’ll just leave it at that. Just a comment. Thank you.