Brendan Bell

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, June 1, 2006, I will move that Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, June 1, 2006, I will move that Bill 4, An Act to Amend the Supplementary Retiring Allowances Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In addition to those who have already been recognized, I would like to recognize some of the RCMP leadership who continue to keep our community safe. Yellowknife Detachment Commander Roch Fortin; Superintendent Rick Roy; Inspector Jim Cunningham; and, Chief Superintendent Pat McCloskey.

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Mr. Speaker, in addition, on behalf of my colleague, Michael McLeod, I would also like to recognize his big brother Bob. Thank you.

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Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, June 1, 2006, I will move that Bill 4, An Act to Amend the Supplementary Retiring Allowances Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last day of session today, I wanted to take this opportunity to recognize all of the athletes, coaches and chaperones from my constituency but not only my constituency, right across the North who will be attending the Arctic Winter Games in Alaska this year. There are a number of AWG participants. I think that is great that they have been chosen. I know they are going to do us proud. We are very proud of them, but we should extend congratulations. We are very proud of those who participated in all the regionals and territorials. Not everybody was successful and...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that Bill 15, Court Security Act , be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know that my departmental officials have been in discussions with both parties. We are going to work to set up a meeting so that we can sit down and go through the myriad of issues. As I’ve said, it’s very nuance. I can't get into what this government will do if and when we start going through some hypothetical scenarios. We think and we are optimistic that we can arrive at an agreeable solution. We think both parties recognize the interest that the GNWT has in seeing this resolved, and we do think there is a commitment on the part of both parties to make this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The dispute between one of the mines and one of the cutting and polishing operations has been ongoing for some time now. I do know that, in Antwerp, the two parties met to try to work through these issues and resolve them. I don’t have a full briefing in terms of exactly what was determined at that meeting. I do know from one of the sides that part of the ask raised some concerns about being able to, or the desire of the factory, to take some of the rough that wasn’t economic to polish in the Northwest Territories and move it offshore. Obviously, our policy as a...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that Bill 12, An Act to Amend the Territorial Court Act, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we are going to bring the two parties together to try to work to some resolution. It is difficult for me to get into the nuances here and the intricacies of the disagreement, but I have, from the mine at least, the assertion that what was being asked for at the meeting in Antwerp was the ability to take some of the rough they weren’t able to cut and polish here, what they deemed uneconomic, and move it offshore to a lower-cost cutting centre. That has always, from a policy perspective, been a problem for our government because today, what is uneconomic, tomorrow may be twice...