Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to leave a message for the government on two telephone issues. First and most pressing is the obvious need for introduction of 911 emergency telephone service beginning in our major communities. The Minister’s position on this can only be described as stubborn and illogical. The arguments for realizing the clear advantages of 911 service are overwhelming.

A well researched and documented feasibility study shows the service can be cost effectively introduced on a phased-in basis. Today’s media reports confirm that NorthwesTel, after 10 years of study and investment...

That’s good to know about. Given that the electricity review report, when it comes out, and the one on the ATCO proposal will all be relevant, will there be a stage planned where we take a comprehensive look at all these before we act on any one individual part and put all this together? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier and it’s with regard to the NTPC review report. The last update I recall is there had been a delay from August to September, but we are now going into November. I am wondering when will we see the report. There is a lot of fundamental issues to be dealt with that will take a lot of effort, so what date can we expect this report?

Again, I appreciate those comments and the update. Mr. Speaker, I feel strongly that this is the same issue. The other aspect of regulatory reform was the appropriate level of funding provided to our regulatory agencies. It was acknowledged that that was insufficient. What progress is being made on that front? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Environment and Natural Resources Minister about the environmental regulatory reform issues that I raised in the previous session. The point was that we could improve the regulatory processes by ensuring that board appointments are not allowed to lapse. The Minister replied to my request for information on which of our appointed seats were vacant and his information shows we have been diligent. I then asked what efforts are being made to see that our federal and First Nations partners are keeping their appointments up to date. Part of my previous...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I see a proportion of the projects proposed here have been approved by Canada. I am wondering if more have been approved since I was last updated on that. Also, perhaps just for some perspective, have projects just generally been approved in the past? We’ve got a little bit of experience now on this. I am wondering if most of our projects or all of our projects in the past have eventually been approved by Canada. Thank you.

Of course, there’s probably nothing I could do to prevent the Minister from sticking to his guns. It’s just, you know, a very irresponsible position to take, decision to make.

The best example I can think of is the youth centres, for example, that we are training our youth to have absolutely no respect for the natural world and their future when we build youth centres that you can see daylight under the doors, and don’t have porches and some of the very basic principles of energy conservation, not to mention the high costs associated with that and the lack of ability to pursue other options...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to mention again the issue of building codes and our lack of requiring such codes when we transfer this funding to communities. It’s perhaps a sensitive situation in a way, but we have these high standards for ourselves and with that we enjoy the returns and the benefits that that brings. Our operational costs are going down, we’re now saving millions of dollars per year and yet we’re not providing our communities with that same opportunity by requiring that level of building standard.

Now, I recognize that we are, in the longer term, requiring communities to come...

I appreciate those comments from the Minister. I didn’t want to ignore completely, either, the efforts we are making in another division here, asset management, which we approved, but during which we’re making significant investments with very reasonable payback times, and I think those are good investments. Those are showing the payback times and whatnot. I think we had some 40 projects in that area. I’m very supportive of getting that work done. There’s at least another 400 of those that we could all come up with, should the resources permit. So I’m very supportive of that approach. Thank...