Bob McLeod

Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I rise today to advise Members of the passing of Mr. George Braden this past Monday in Ottawa.

Mr. Braden was a long-time Northerner who graduated from Sir John Franklin Territorial High School before studying political science at the University of Alberta and Dalhousie University.

From 1977 to 1979 Mr. Braden was an advisor to the Honourable Bud Drury, the Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Constitutional Development in the Northwest Territories. In 1979 he was elected to the 9th Legislative Assembly as the Member for Yellowknife North.

The...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize members from the Braden family in the gallery: Carmen Braden and her partner, Eli Purchase; Laurie Nowakowski and her partner, Andrew Robinson. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome Members back to the continuation of the Fifth Session of the 17th Legislative Assembly. We have been working together for almost four years now on our vision of strong individuals, families and communities sharing the benefits and responsibilities of a unified, environmentally sustainable and prosperous Northwest Territories.

We have made progress on that vision in our time together, and I thank Members for their support and guidance on the many projects and initiatives we have successfully introduced.

As a government, we are committed to what is best for the...

We have a number of plans. We have laid out our Economic Opportunities Strategy. Certainly part of the plan will be, as I said, investing in alternative and renewable forms of energy, as was pointed out at the Energy Charrette. Unfortunately, we will have to continue to rely on diesel at least as backup or to provide for redundancy. Certainly, we are promoting development of our local economies and that was quite welcome, but we expect we will have to take more aggressive action to develop what the Member refers to as a plan B. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased to recognize today some members involved with the United Way. Tracy St. Denis is the chair; David Connelly, the past chair; Deb Ross, board member and GNWT campaign coordinator; and Craig Yeo, board member representing labour on the United Way NWT Campaign. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to openness and transparency in conducting its business on behalf of the people of the Northwest Territories. In support of this, I am publishing a list of all meetings and teleconferences I have had with external parties, including my participation at intergovernmental meetings and conferences as well as public events.

These reports will provide more information than would typically be on a lobbyist registry. They identify all meetings with external parties not just those with paid lobbyists, of which there are very few in the Northwest...

Today in the Deh Cho Drum, the grand chief is quoted as saying, “I’ve been in this business for a long time. Any time the Dehcho has taken these kind of extreme actions, we always come out ahead.” Extreme positions are not helpful or productive. All of this is unfortunate, and the people that are losing out because of this are the people of the Deh Cho.

The Dehcho Framework Agreement provides facilitation may be requested should the parties come to an impasse. We have, of course, been working on the impasse related to land for a long time. While facilitation might be an option to consider, it...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Dehcho First Nations has written, through legal counsel, to inform the Government of the Northwest Territories and Canada that the Dehcho First Nations is pursuing litigation against both governments. The correspondence accuses the Government of the Northwest Territories of negotiating in bad faith. The Government of the Northwest Territories does not negotiate in bad faith. The Government of the Northwest Territories understands that it is not bad faith to have officials work collaboratively for almost two years exploring creative solutions to land questions. It is...

I believe there is some exaggeration there. I look around the Northwest Territories and I don’t see any drilling, I don’t see any oil and gas activities. I’m not sure what the Member is referring to when he’s talking about millions of dollars being invested in plan A. As a government, we have to keep the buildings heated, we have to make sure the lights stay on, and we will continue to do so while, at the same time, investing in alternative and renewable forms of energy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member has pre-empted us. As we indicated at the second Energy Charrette, that is exactly what our intentions are – to invest in renewable and alternative forms of energy – and we will be rolling that out when our government responds to the recommendations of the second Energy Charrette. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.