Brendan Bell

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that Bill 6, Engineering and Geoscience Profession Act, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill replaces the Engineering, Geological and Geophysical Professions Act, and continues the existing Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of the Northwest Territories as the new Northwest Territories Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists. The association is responsible for the regulation of the professions of professional engineering and professional geoscience in the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I met with Jim Prentice -- it must be about a month ago now -- to discuss this specific issue, the need for a long-term, permanent EDA, Economic Development Agreement, in the Northwest Territories. I made him very much aware that we would have preferred the SINED funds be handled by either the territorial government or northern interests and see the decisions made here at home, but we had accepted that the existing SINED funds were going to be rolled out, DIAND making the decisions. As long as there was some consideration of our priorities, we could live with that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member has mentioned, one of the first tasks for us after the division of the department was to work with the newly created Business Development Investment Corporation. Essentially, that pulled together the various arms of our government that had been lending money, providing business programming, whether it was, at the time, RWED proper or BCC or the Development Corporation. We pulled them together under one roof and created what we feel is enabling legislation that allows for more flexibility and lending. It will allow us to be better able to partner with...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that Bill 4, An Act to Amend the Supplementary Retiring Allowances Act, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that Bill 12, Garnishment Remedies Statutes Amendment Act, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill amends the Creditors Relief Act to provide that the wages or salary or a debtor may be garnished for a period of one year. Other incidental amendments are made to the act in respect of this amendment. The Exemptions Act is amended to exempt 70 percent of a judgment debtor's wages or salary from garnishment, subject to a minimum amount that may be prescribed. The Territorial Court Act is amended to revise the...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that Bill 8, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2006, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill corrects inconsistencies and errors in the statutes of the Northwest Territories. The bill deals with other matters of a minor, non-controversial and uncomplicated nature in the statutes, and also repealed provisions that have ceased to have effect. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are a number of regional economic development conferences that have either been hosted or are in the planning stages and not necessarily headed up by our department, but our department has participated in and will continue to participate in these. It is something that I am certainly prepared to discuss. I think, as this business program review comes forward and we talk about improvements, there is some merit to pulling business interests and stakeholders together to discuss what we are thinking needs to be done. So that is something that we can certainly...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The design was for 154 beds. I believe that’s the number of beds that are there now. My understanding, the latest numbers are in the neighbourhood of 128 and 130. I don’t have today’s numbers, but that’s fairly recent. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

With me is Tim Mercer, Clerk of the Assembly; and Mark Aitken, legislative counsel, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is National Tourism Awareness Week in Canada, a week aimed at raising awareness of the tremendous economic, cultural and social benefits provided by this sector to all Canadians.

In the Northwest Territories, tourism is a $100 million industry. That is the amount spent by the over 61,000 visitors to our territory every year.

Mr. Speaker, tourism dollars are new dollars to our economy and flow into our communities through our many valued tourism operators and outfitters. Along the way, this benefits NWT residents and businesses working in areas such as...