Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will be happy to provide you many examples, many of which you will be very familiar, of exactly this situation in which the Member was allowed to have that question to the Minister during his general comments. With that, I will continue, Mr. Chair.

I wanted to note that the department did come forward with a communications plan, which we had asked for and were very happy to see. I think there’s a lot of good material in that. The Minister does note in that that he will be working with the Students Against Distracted Driving, and he also has commented that he will be...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’d like to continue my general comments that were wrongly cut off by the Chair earlier today. That’s correct. I would like to note...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate this opportunity to comment on this legislation. I want to start by saying that I’m pleased to see this legislation come forward. This legislation does begin to address the many, many constituent concerns that have been raised from my Weledeh constituents who have had near misses as they’re walking along the road, some in vehicles. This is a real concern and I believe this is a sincere effort on the side of the department to address this.

Unfortunately, however -- and I cite largely the material provided by the department here -- this doesn’t go far enough...

Of course, I didn’t ask for those categories. It’s obvious, as we’ve heard, that we’re paying the biggest fine, so we’re clearly in the worst category. I asked for rates, statistics, and I’m hoping the Minister will provide those to us. Examples of good safety practices are available at most mines and industrial workplaces. Safety is usually right in your face. Even when I attended a meeting at the Explorer Hotel, we started with safety protocols simply identifying where the fire exits are and other important facts. So I know these workplaces have vibrant health and safety committees up and...

Thanks for that response from the Minister. That is this year. So we expect to see that in the next few months. Good to hear.

As I said, also I’m confused by the apparent contradiction between the increasing fines and penalties that we’re experiencing as an employer and increasingly good survey scores on return-to-work practices and safety. Can the Minister explain how our scores could be improving at the same time our penalties and claims costs are actually mounting into the millions of dollars?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to also recognize a couple of constituents from Weledeh, and we have Ben Nind, who was the inductee for the Minister’s Cultural Circle this morning in the individual category. Congratulations to Ben. I’d also like to recognize Chief Edward Sangris of Dettah, and drummer extraordinaire. I heard him performing this morning. Mahsi.

Mr. Chair, I would like to withdraw that comment. At the same time, I would like to note that it is my right to do general comments. I was cut off after three minutes on the clock.

Excuse me, Mr. Chair. I’d like an answer to that question.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I do have similar concerns about how we are ensuring that opportunities continue to be explored and we’re active on working towards a collaborative relationship that will actually bring all our Aboriginal partners to the table. I’ve spoken out on this repeatedly through the lead-up to the signing of the AIP and during the signing. I appreciate the Premier’s comments that we perhaps have met the legal requirements, but there are moral and political responsibilities that demand that this government include a focus on continuing collaboration and a focused outreach to...

Very well. Mr. Miltenberger.