Bob McLeod

As Members of this House are aware, the Government of the Northwest Territories will host the 32nd Annual Meeting of Federal-Provincial/Territorial Ministers responsible for the Status of Women on June 19 and 20, 2014, in Detah. I look forward to co-chairing this important meeting with the Honourable Kellie Leitch, the federal Minister for the Status of Women.

My colleagues and I will discuss a number of key priorities shared by federal, provincial and territorial Ministers. One issue that has been a long-standing priority of Ministers is ending violence against women and girls. This is an...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to protecting the health of our people and the environment in creating prosperity for our residents by responsibly and sustainably developing our natural resource potential. We support the use of recognized best practices in making decisions about protecting human health, wildlife, land, air and water in the Northwest Territories. We share a vision of a strong, prosperous and environmentally sustainable Northwest Territories that provides opportunities for all our people, communities and regions. We cannot have...

That’s something we should all aspire to. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member has made it very simple, suggesting that there’s a silver bullet that would resolve this complex issue. Suggesting a mock parliament, we were raising the issue to raise dialogue and debate and to help identify the barriers that women face in getting involved in politics. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. It’s good to know that Mr. Bromley has all the answers on this issue.

We want to encourage women to run for politics. We’ve been trying to work through the Status of Women Council. I don’t think it’s only the purview of the Status of Women Council. I think this Legislative Assembly could do more in that regard. I think other groups in society could do more. To put the tail on the donkey and blame it just on an organization that is doing its best to further the advances of women, I think, is not very helpful. I think we will do whatever we can to do, as we have in the past, to put on...

We should be welcoming any opportunity to focus on women’s participation in politics in a very direct and high profile manner. We’re not trying to shut it down. We need to come together as a society and have a constructive discussion on this issue and what we can do to solve it together, not just trying to score political points, Mr. Speaker.

I am sure the Member would be pleased to hear that that work is well underway. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We do work with all Members in this Assembly. We brief them on all of the different energy plans. We take all of their input and come up with a plan that’s acceptable to all of us. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m very pleased to recognize a constituent of Yellowknife South, Lona Hegeman. With her is Dr. Neal Hegeman and his wife, Sandy, and daughters Melinda and Katrina. Welcome to our Legislative Assembly. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following letter from Prime Minister Stephen Harper, dated May 16, 2014, regarding the extension of the term of the 17th Legislative Assembly.