Yellowknife South

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 4th Session (day 7)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve had the opportunity to visit the Mactung site this summer, along with the Member, and it was quite impressive. As the Member knows, all of the work that is being done on the Mactung site is on the Yukon side of the border. Having said that, I think there are opportunities to access that mine through the Northwest Territories, and we are well aware of the CANOL Park and we’re very prepared to work with the Sahtu to help develop that park. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 4th Session (day 7)

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce that the implementation of 20/20: A Brilliant North, NWT Public Service Strategic Plan is well underway. This plan is the first of its kind for the Department of Human Resources.

Mr. Speaker, 20/20: A Brilliant North is an important and exciting strategic plan that will guide the Government of the Northwest Territories human resource planning over the next 10 years and is being championed by all deputy ministers. The actions contained in the accompanying three-year action plan are ambitious, with year one focussing on the development of a number of...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 4th Session (day 7)

We do work with ENR and we do have a checkstop there during the summer months. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 4th Session (day 7)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand my colleague and the Minister of ENR have agreed to work very closely with people of the community to make sure that we try to reduce this activity as much as possible. When I was in Whitehorse and had the opportunity to meet with my counterpart from the Yukon government, I asked him what, if anything, were they doing to monitor the people coming into the Northwest Territories through the Yukon with ATVs and so on. He has indicated that, as far as they were concerned, it was a public highway and the public is free to enter into the Northwest Territories. I...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 4th Session (day 7)

As the Member knows, we have an electricity review underway and as part of the terms of reference, this is one of the areas the review team will be looking at and this is what we will be reviewing when we get the recommendations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 4th Session (day 7)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier this year we announced the number of actions that ITI was taking to help small business, specifically with BDIC, those of our clients that are best clients that we are making reduced loans available to them. We also are helping with working capital for those companies that would be ordering for goods that they would be selling. We’ve made arrangements for some effective rates for them to take advantage of. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 4th Session (day 7)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mining resources are owned by the federal government or else if they are negotiated through a land claim and they have subsidiary rights, as you indicated, then they’re owned by the Sahtu government. So as I said, we are prepared to make sure that Northerners benefit from development when they happen in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 4th Session (day 7)

We’ve been doing a number of things. First of all, we’ve looked at different jurisdictions that have been doing some groundbreaking work in this area. We invited the Yukon to come and describe what process they took to work in increasing the representation of people with disabilities in the workforce. We had a workshop. We have had our committees working together. We have put in place sensitivity training for senior managers. So we are looking at the process of establishing an area that would focus entirely on increasing the representation of disabled people in the workforce. As we speak, we...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 4th Session (day 7)

Perhaps that question is better directed to the federal government, but we, as I said, Mr. Yakeleya and myself visited the Mactung property. The development is all taken on the Yukon side. They are accessing the mine development site by using a public road that is available to anybody in the general public and, as such, until such time as they have done the feasibility work and until such time as they make application to make it into a fully functioning mine, they are working within the Yukon jurisdiction. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 4th Session (day 7)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have our Aboriginal Affirmative Action Committee that is helping us in reviewing the affirmative action plan and certainly we are also reviewing it with regard to the other categories that are provided for under that plan. Thank you.