Bob Bromley

Thanks to the Minister for that response. The other aspect of that was when. Just an alert to these people on when you might be approaching them so that they can do the prep necessary.

I guess related to that, I know there’s a midwifery program in Calgary. I know of a student there that’s from the NWT, although she moved south. Are we all over that campus, whatever it is, with the opportunities in the North to capture the opportunities to hire those graduates?

It has come to my attention that Weledeh resident Mr. Kevin Hynes is in the gallery today, president of the Yellowknife Association of Firefighters. I’d like to welcome him here.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to my colleagues, again, from Range Lake and Deh Cho for bringing this forward. It’s an important mechanism for transparency and accountability. I really appreciate their doing so.

I would like to offer, first of all, strong support for the assumption behind this motion that a lobbyist registry is clearly needed. I think that’s a given. I would also offer strong support for the motion itself, which calls for exactly how this can be done.

To reflect most comments of my colleagues, devolution has added responsibility and a need for transparency that we didn’t have...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. Once the lands are identified to be offered for lease to people wishing to build cabins, they must be allocated in a transparent and fair fashion. One method proposed is through ballot draws. Another is to auction them off to the highest bidder.

Once these lands have been identified for offer to the public for leasing, what equitable and clear process does the Minister propose to allocate them? Mahsi.

Thanks to the Minister. Many constituents are concerned that recreational leases are now being let without this vital planning tool to guide the process. The current leasing process is not seen as clear, consistent or sustainable, and they would like to see a hold on all leases until the rules are in place.

Will the Minister commit to extending the moratorium currently in place to all new recreational land use requests in the NWT, or at least to the islands in Yellowknife Bay, so valuable for public use and desirable for cabin leases, until the new policy is in place?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess that means that will be happening the year following. I appreciated the Minister’s response, although I couldn’t hear an answer to whether we’re ever going to realize some efficiencies from the massive amounts of work and investment that we put into approving our medical travel.

I saw lots of activity, I heard about lots of activity, but I didn’t hear a response to when are we going to realize some efficiency. We’ve invested hugely in putting teleconferencing into every community and training. We’ve been sure they’re being used and so on. We’ve got doctors on call...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Developing a fair recreational land leasing policy is challenging and of considerable interest to our public. The Minister of Lands is holding public meetings to gather public input, and I have heard that from constituents who attended the meetings in Yellowknife last week. They report their experience was positive, with 35 to 50 people attending each. The World Café format seemed constructive, with facilitators at five different tables guiding participants through five different questions. Thanks to the Minister for holding these meetings. I look forward to hearing the...

Thank you. I guess we’ll watch the supps. Just on the medical travel, what’s the explanation for the $3 million decrease previous year and this year and the $5 million increase between this year and the one year under discussion here?

Page 149, Department of Finance, active position summary. Questions? Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a resident of Weledeh, Tracy St-Denis.