Bob McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I want to say that I'm very concerned about the Auditor General's findings that there are serious deficiencies in the delivery of child and family services, but that's not news to me. I have been involved at a national level working with the Council of Federation with the premiers, and every jurisdiction in Canada has serious deficiencies in delivery of child and family services.

I also chair the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group where Minister Abernethy and I led a review of best practices in childcare in all of the provinces and territories and we tabled a...

Certainly I will endeavour to do that, and the deputy iron fist, perhaps that was the good old days, but certainly I will continue to work very closely with the Ministers to continue to work to deliver on behalf of all of the Members and also to serve the people of the Northwest Territories. We always aspire to get better. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We knew when we got into the situation of operating a barging company that there would be some serious issues. It is a very challenging environment to operate in, and we recognized that there would be situations where we would not be able to make deliveries.

We have put in place a revolving fund, which allows us to try to make the three communities as whole as possible, even the communities that are not in the Northwest Territories, and we are spending approximately $3- to $4-million to try to deliver all of the fuel that the community needs. Of course, that is a top priority. We also will be...

Mr. Speaker, the employees of the Government of the Northwest Territories are dedicated to the work that they do and are committed to the success of their communities. Hundreds of employees spend countless hours giving back to their communities through volunteer work during their personal time.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this moment to recognize all of the employees who volunteer in their communities. How we take care of one another is what shapes the character of our communities and what makes the North unique and special.

In addition to their volunteer time, every year, employees have...

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to recognize representatives of United Way NWT that are here in the gallery. In attendance today, the chair of the United Way NWT, Tracy St. Denis; United Way NWT board member, Matt Spence; also Gayla Thunstrom, the first vice president of the Union of Northern Workers; Frank Walsh; and Jennifer Wright with the Union of Northern Workers, who are partners in United Way NWT.

Also, I would like to recognize three Pages from Yellowknife South who have been here for the four weeks of this session, Ayush Bhanot, Nigel Curtis, Tyson Clarke, and also recognize all of the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize two students from Yellowknife South, Julie Loomis and Shania Clark, and also Jordan McLeod. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The federal government has used a co-development approach to develop the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework. It has not been without challenges, but the Government of the Northwest Territories appreciates the opportunity to work collaboratively with the federal government and the Members of the intergovernmental secretariat to develop the federal document.

The Government of the Northwest Territories is pleased with the progress that has been achieved by the new federal Minister of Northern Affairs on our priority files to date. We will continue to work with the federal government to advance...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Arctic and Northern Policy Framework will be a federal document with the federal government making the financial decision on what is in it. With that said, Government of Northwest Territories officials have been actively engaged in the development of the framework document, working to ensure that territorial priorities are included.

We have also been sharing drafts with our partners on the intergovernmental council to seek their views. Their feedback has been very helpful, and, as agreed to by the IGC, GNWT officials have provided these views to Canada. Thank you, Mr...

As we have committed previously, we are committed to providing a Northwest Territories chapter once it is in a suitable format that can be shared. At this time, we are still yet to achieve that because the chapter keeps changing almost on a weekly basis. We are still committed to sharing that information as soon as we reach that point.

I guess the biggest outstanding issue is the fact that the original timelines proposed by Canada would have had the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework completed by now. However, there have been a number of delays in the process.

The current schedule presented by Canada has the overarching part of the framework being released first, and then provincial, territorial, and Indigenous chapters will be developed following the initial release. Canada is also proposing that a governance framework and investment strategy will be released at the same time as these chapters.