Bob McLeod

We’re accountable on a daily basis on everything that we do. At this late stage in the 17th Assembly, those items that the Member listed, we have a transition process. We have a joint transition committee and if those could be on the transition list, then they could be dealt with by the 18th Assembly. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m very pleased to recognize my wife and to thank her for all her support, Melody McLeod, and her aunt Germaine Michel. I also would like to take this opportunity to recognize Jim Stanton, president of Stanton Associates, who was here earlier, and Paula Walsh, a senior associate with Stanton Associates. They’re both here as keynote speakers at the LGANT Professional Development Conference and they also spoke on how to communicate effectively to manage crisis and they also put on a one-day crisis management conference.

Jim is a former journalist, director of...

I’ve had the opportunity to travel to Selwyn with the Member in the 16th Assembly. Certainly, the potential there is tremendous and the largest portion is in the Territories. It’s a tremendous opportunity for not only the Sahtu but the Northwest Territories. We will have to pursue that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the Sahtu has a rich history in mining. We think that with the downturn in the oil and gas, there is certainly potential in that area.

With the mineral strategy, there are opportunities to have regional mineral approaches. Certainly, this is something that we would like to pursue and work with the Sahtu government since they have the land claim settled. I think there are opportunities there that we can work together on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

With the protocol agreements and conventions that we have in place, the Members are made aware of everything that we do. They’re provided with timelines and so on and I believe the 17th Assembly has followed it from day one. These protocols were introduced in the 16th and they’ve been reviewed and updated and we continue to update them on a regular basis to deal with issues like the Member is raising. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think we are a very transparent government. We have process conventions and protocols that we have negotiated with the committees and we’ve all signed on and we follow those processes, which lays out a process for sharing information and for making sure that we provide them on a timely basis.

Certainly, we also consult, consult and consult on all the legislation. We work with committees on legislation and we post just about everything we do. It’s posted on the website. We post the Minister’s mandate letters, we post ministerial travel reports, we post outside meeting...

Mr. Speaker, building a strong and sustainable future for the Northwest Territories by strengthening our relationships with Aboriginal governments has been one of the key priorities of the 17th Legislative Assembly. For the past four years, our government has worked to strengthen our partnerships with Aboriginal governments.

That work started even before Cabinet was selected, when all Members met with Aboriginal leadership in Detah at the beginning of our term. Cabinet continued this engagement and made it a priority to reach out to our Aboriginal government partners to look for common ground...

I know the Member was listening very closely when the Minister of Transportation was talking about our highway priorities. Certainly, the Mackenzie Valley Highway would certainly facilitate development in those areas. A highway would change the logistics of quite a number of projects, not only on the mineral side but oil and gas side. I really believe it would facilitate those projects to move into production. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We think that’s a very important initiative not only for the Sahtu but in other regions of the Northwest Territories. Despite the fact that we’re very close to election mode and we are also having to follow transitional operational guidelines, we will have our bureaucracy, so we can set the wheels in motion. They can start doing preparatory work so when the 18th Assembly is in place, we can hit the ground running or start working on it and get them to deal with it right away. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We recognize that those changes are happening and we commit, as we go forward, the 18th Assembly will review those processes and consult with the people to ensure that we are on a program which we can deal with along with other provinces and territories. A lot of the changes are national and international, so we have to make sure that we also participate in those processes as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.