Bob McLeod

We will be reviewing them and we will be involving them where it will make the most sense and where we will get the best advice for the amount of money that we spend on it.

We will be responding to each of those three requests. On the first one, on the shelters, I believe we have responded in the affirmative, that as a government we will be continuing funding for the continuation of the shelter program. On the two other requests, we’re still reviewing on the training for prevention of violence for men. We are reviewing the proposed program to see if it meets the requirements of both the government and that they will be successful. On the other one, we’re also reviewing that specific request as well.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome all Members back to the continuation of the First Session of the 17th Assembly. In this sitting we will review the capital estimates for next fiscal year and begin to debate some important issues. I believe all Members of this House have a shared interest in creating an environmentally sustainable and prosperous territory for all the people we serve. Despite some significant challenges, our territory is strong and we are even stronger when we work together.

We are still a relatively new government, but we have taken our first steps towards a shared vision: a...

I believe that the coalition has provided a valuable service to the government and we will continue to involve them as we go through in reviewing these 19 recommendations.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We, too, are very grateful for the work that has been done by the Status of Women Council and also the Native Women’s Association. With regard to the 19 recommendations on the Coalition Against Family Violence, we are just starting the process of reviewing them as we begin getting ready for the business planning process.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Tom Beaulieu will be absent from the House today to attend a funeral in Fort Resolution. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. They were very good for me, first of all, because the Dehcho Grand Chief is planning to organize the community feast for me in Fort Providence at some point in November, and he wants me to visit all of the different institutions there and meet all of the people again. So I was happy with that. I’m very pleased to do so. We’re working on a date.

We had a good discussion on where the Dehcho First Nation is at, the Dehcho process and how his views are on the land use planning framework, how the different governments can interact, and we had a discussion on devolution and...

Thank you. Normally staff from Ottawa don’t really become involved until such time as we get fairly close, because we need staff from Ottawa to write the Cabinet decision papers and also when we get closer to the actual transition to have federal staff to help with implementation. So I’m not sure what the Member is leading to when he’s asking for having federal staff involved, because normally they’re involved at the negotiating table and we have our negotiating people as well. So if you’re suggesting to use federal people to reach common ground with Aboriginal governments, then we could do...

My understanding of the dates or timelines that you’re quoting is that those are just guidelines. In our discussions with the Aboriginal governments, we are not talking about those kinds of specific details at this time. We’ve been talking about how to try to find ways to find some common ground and to start working together, and we’re hoping to be able to start to do that and to follow up on the meeting in Dettah by getting together again soon, hopefully before Christmas.

I think the reality is we have 33 communities in the Northwest Territories. We always make it a part of our busy schedule to try to get to every one of our communities in the North. Some of my long-term colleagues indicate that to do the circuit of 33 communities it will take 18 months. If you take that into consideration, I think that we’re probably looking at trying to get to every community two times during the life of the 17th Assembly.