Bob McLeod

The administration of the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board indicated that through job shadowing and the fact that there was a decrease in the amount of work that they will be doing next year to last, that they felt that it was within their level of resources to be able to handle the workload. Obviously, reduction in resources at this time is probably not very helpful as we go forward.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of the Northwest Territories is a proud sponsor of the 2013 Indspire awards. Formerly known as the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, Indspire promotes the development, education and professional advancement of Aboriginal people in Canadian society.

I will be attending the awards this week in Saskatoon. It gives me great pleasure to announce that two Northwest Territories residents will receive awards this year.

Gail Cyr of Yellowknife will receive the award for public service. Ms. Cyr is a long-time employee of the Government of the Northwest Territories and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we indicated many times in this House, decentralization is a priority for this government. We’re approaching it in three phases. We’re just very close to completing the first phase, which was to review all our programs and services to see what programs could be developed. We also undertook an inventory of available housing and available office space and made the commitment that we would start decentralization right away as part of a 2013-2014 business plan.

Of the 18 positions, 14 are new positions that have been created through reallocations and those will be going...

Mr. Speaker, last week I was honoured to represent the people and the potential of the Northwest Territories on the national stage at NWT Days. Since becoming Premier I have often said wouldn’t it be great if we could all go to Ottawa together and, Mr. Speaker, I can say with complete confidence, it was great.

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The Government of the Northwest Territories strengthened our presence in the nation’s capital and provided an opportunity to focus Canada’s attention on our priorities, potential and vision for the future.

The Government of the Northwest Territories Cabinet, eight Members of...

There is one position with liquor licensing and enforcement and four would be the Business Incentive Policy office. Thank you.

I will be able to confirm that hopefully in the next few days, but it’s less than what the Member has raised.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Michael Miltenberger will be absent from the House today to attend to a personal matter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The 18 are the ones that have been identified as decentralization. There are other positions that will be identified through devolution. But for the 18, I can confirm it looks like there are five positions that will be decentralized to Hay River. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Mr. Sonny Lenoir and Lee Mandeville from the Dene Nation. I also see John Hazenberg, who is here working on the sports-plex for Behchoko.

Thank you. We are a consensus government, and absolutely, we will work under that premise. Thank you.