Weledeh

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 6th Session (day 18)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Politics were new to me and I want to offer some brief and random comments on the experience of the past four years.

People ask me, so, Bob, do you enjoy it? I always reply that I am not sure “enjoy” is the right word, but the job is fully engaging, it uses whatever you can bring to the table.

Another motivating aspect is that being at the table, your voice must be heard. People can choose to ignore your input or disagree with it or use it to modify their own thoughts, but fundamentally the electorate has provided you with a voice and this must be fully valued.

First, as...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 6th Session (day 18)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Very briefly, the Minister of Justice and the department have shown very progressive leadership on diversion programs that support early intervention and prevention of correctional court and health costs. Secondly, the current review and reorganization of the mental health services underway is extending into the next Assembly. This coincidental and overlapping initiative is a good time to bring a mental health court forward.

I want to point out that in the experience to date in Canadian jurisdictions they have enjoyed very healthy savings. In fact, they found that 90...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 6th Session (day 18)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I very much appreciate all that information. It’s very good to get that out. It sounds like a lot of subjects were covered in a very short period of time, and I’m sure there was strong commonality amongst our Premiers.

I’m wondering, just following up on the discussions we had yesterday and the day before, I know the water monitoring stations are being shut down across the North, both transboundary and 21 out of 23 in the Northwest Territories, completely devastating our Water Quality Monitoring Program. Did the Premier have a chance to raise that with the Prime Minister...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 6th Session (day 18)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Premier today, and I’m just wondering if the Premier was able to get word out to the Dene chiefs and Aboriginal leaders across the Northwest Territories about the Prime Minister’s visit this morning and the opportunity for them to attend. Mahsi.

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 6th Session (day 18)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The government’s attempts to modify and expand supplementary health benefits resulted in only minor policy changes, but the Supplementary Health Benefits Policy was rescinded, with program delivery falling back under Extended Health Benefits and Metis Health Benefits. The government deferred including residents who lacked coverage through their employer or other programs. A plan for accomplishing this has not yet been presented.

The Department of Health and Social Services is also developing a Pharmaceutical Strategy to include generic drugs, drug pricing and efficiencies...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 6th Session (day 17)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank my colleagues for their efforts to bring this motion forward. I did indicate to them during the early discussions some of the difficulties I did have with the motion. Unfortunately, I don’t see changes to reflect that.

I do want to refer to my statement today and my record of speaking out clearly, loudly, consistently, often lonely, on the absolute need to get our Aboriginal partners to the table participating in our Devolution Agreement-in-Principle. This is not a time, really, to be creating new structures. I think of a couple of reasons for that. One...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 6th Session (day 17)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Minister for the most recent remarks and follow up on his advice and ask the Premier if indeed this issue will be brought forcefully to the Prime Minister’s attention when he has the opportunity to meet with him this week.

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 6th Session (day 17)

I appreciate the Minister’s remarks. The recent Hill Times I think was the 8th of August item quotes a federal spokesman as saying that the department will ensure the department is spending its resources on priorities like improving air quality and cleaner water. Those are nice words. Our Minister of Environment, though modest in stature, clearly throws a big shadow. Will the Minister be holding the federal government to task if their gutting of the department doesn’t live up to this dialogue?

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 6th Session (day 17)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The recent news has been replete with stories detailing federal plans to cut 776 Environment Canada jobs and slash the department’s budget from $1.1 billion to $883 million by 2014. This was preceded by years of declining support for Environment Canada, and Minister Flaherty assures us this is just the beginning of the cuts. I’d like to ask the Minister of the Environment how these cuts will affect Environment Canada’s operations in the Northwest Territories.

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 6th Session (day 17)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We should not be downloading an inadequate regulatory regime under the proposed Devolution Agreement-in-Principle. An April 13th Canadian Press Report indicates a loophole in environmental rules is allowing a growing number of unregulated waste incinerators to release extremely toxic chemicals into the land and water. Citing a federal report, CP says levels of highly carcinogenic dioxins and furans up to 10 times higher than those from an uncontaminated lake were detected near the Ekati mine. The reason? Air emissions from incinerators aren’t controlled due to...