Bob Bromley

Madam Speaker, I would like to mention that, of course, this all started with motions in the 16th Assembly. There has been a lot of time for the government to react to those requests. We started discussions, I would say, within two weeks of being elected, so this has been going on since October. Every time that I meet, there are promises made of when they are going to… Now we are talking the end of August for plan at the end of this fiscal year.

Does the Minister find this satisfactory? How does he see it in terms of the timing of the consequences of this crime bill and the implementation of...

Thanks to the Minister for those comments, many of which I agree with. I, too, look for the time when we will have access to royalties that will fund some of our other priorities and so on. Being a bit longer in the tooth perhaps, or maybe for some other reason I found that generally one thing is not the answer to everything and I don’t think devolution or MGP is the answer to everything. I agree with balance. I think we are out of balance now in terms of our ongoing commitment, both apparent and real, in terms of participating in international meetings and travel and advertising, as well as...

That’s great. I appreciate the Minister’s and the deputy minister’s remarks there. I think there might be a need for some coordination with ENR, which I would appreciate if the Minister would take that on.

Just in terms of the mentorship, it’s so important, I think, to get young people exposed to these opportunities at a time when they can get turned on to different industries. If there was a possibility, I would appreciate if the Minister would keep his eye open for a potential to support some sort of mentorship program to get young people exposed to that possibility. That’s all I had, just a...

I know the caribou population surveys are very expensive and we’re surveying all the major herds, so we’re talking about millions of dollars. I’m wondering are we giving up programs. We must be giving up programs if our budget is actually shrinking slightly – perhaps not significantly, but shrinking – when in fact we are taking on major additional tasks, and cumulatively because we’re surveying all these herds at one point in time. I’m wondering how that can be, what we’re giving up, or if those dollars are coming from elsewhere, where are they coming from?

I did express my appreciation and support for that amount earlier in my general remarks. However, would the Minister agree that we were less than candid in our interactions with the outfitters, given the caribou situation, and they ended up getting out on a limb because of that poor communication?

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Justice.

In December I asked the question to the Minister of Justice regarding the establishment of mental health diversion courts. This mechanism is commonly used to more effectively deal with the high numbers of offenders suffering from mental illnesses and addictions. It also avoids the administrative cost burdens that will result from the new Bill C-10 provisions that we discussed earlier.

I’ve since met with the Ministers of Justice and Health and Social Services to discuss mental health diversion courts and wellness courts...

No further questions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On page 34 the agricultural development infrastructure. I think this is a very important contribution and I’m wondering what sort of monitoring the department is doing in terms of our food security and progress on this initiative. I think we’re starting to realize that this is an important industry and needs our support and has a lot of potential for meeting our needs in a way that also provides northern jobs and so on. If I could just get some idea of how we keep our finger on the agricultural pulse.

Can I get a little more information than that? What are our commitments under the biophysical whatever it was? What specifically would the extra $600,000 do?

Just again for clarity, does the Minister propose new energy initiatives to committee or to the Ministerial Energy and Climate Change Coordinating Committee?