Brendan Bell

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We talk about the context or the frame in which negotiations were undertaken with DeBeers in this matter, in developing our socioeconomic agreement. I would say that we took our guidance from past SEA agreements with BHP and with Rio Tinto, and further to that, Mr. Speaker, followed the direction as laid out in the EA process by the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board. That EA process provided the frame of reference, and laid out a number of obligations that had to be met both by the company, by DeBeers, and by our government. So we’ve used that as...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will go the Member one better. I also was a lifeguard at the beach and I hope I wasn’t frolicking on the job.

---Laughter

I recognize that it would be certainly helpful and it is important to make sure that the beach is safe. We are proposing that it be posted as unsupervised. I can’t guarantee that there will be lifeguard services at that beach, no more than the past Minister could for the past season despite the contract in place. The city was unable to provide lifeguards. So it would be misleading for me to stand here and say that I could guarantee that there would...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t have the benefit of the contract in front of me, as it seems Mr. Hawkins does. I appreciate that he will table it later today, so we have it and I can probably give him some more important answers at that point. Just a little background, Mr. Speaker, though, I believe we approached negotiations with the city this year and were looking to sign a contract, recognizing that costs had increased. It has always been on a cost-shared basis in the past. Past expenditures have been about $12,000 for our government. We went into these negotiations and offered $15,000...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled Snap Lake Diamond Project Socioeconomic Agreement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In many cases community freezers were not being well utilized anymore, and I know that the Member knows his riding well, and the Member’s insistence that Paulatuk residents do need this piece of infrastructure is one that I am listening to, but, Mr. Speaker, we think there are more cost effective options. We are truly concerned that because of the age of this piece of infrastructure that if it continues to operate in the manner it’s operating, there could be a situation where the power goes down, members of the community are not aware, food spoilage happens, and the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Dennis Marchiori, who is the Human Rights Act implementation coordinator, and also I am hoping my colleagues will join me in giving a warm welcome to Therese Boullard, who is the new director of Human Rights for the Northwest Territories. They have a lot of work to do. We know that we’re opening an office very soon and we wish them all the best. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I recognize that it is soon getting warm. I think the community has been in discussions with our department for some time. This is not something that was sprung on the community, and I do believe that if the community made the decision to run the piece of infrastructure and operate the freezer as a stopgap measure they could do so, and we can sit down then when I go up there to discuss going forward, how we deal with it, and deal with this season as well. I would be prepared to do that when I visit the community. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Let me first preface my comments by saying that this government supports and recognizes how important the harvesting of country foods are to small communities, and we're supportive of traditional lifestyles and we recognize and acknowledge in past times it was very important to have this critical piece of community infrastructure, community freezers, in our more remote communities that weren't accessible by highway, Mr. Speaker. Times are changing. We've looked at divesting ourselves of these pieces of infrastructure, and we've done that through Public Works and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS the Northwest Territories Human Rights Act received assent on October 30, 2002;

AND WHEREAS section 23.(1) of the Human Rights Act provides that the Commissioner, on the recommendation of the Legislative Assembly, shall appoint a director of human rights to carry out the responsibilities set in the act;

AND WHEREAS the Board of Management was tasked with implementing the Human Rights Act and has recommended an individual to the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Assembly is prepared to make a recommendation to the Commissioner;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We will certainly provide and have provided on an aggregate basis GDP in the Northwest Territories, and we can give an estimate of the value of the economy in the Northwest Territories. What becomes very difficult is to determine the incremental loss if one contract goes south as opposed to north. It is very difficult to then make the determination about what kind of a ripple effect that has. When people leave the Northwest Territories, what is the loss of tax? All of these types of things end up being done in the hypothetical. I think we could certainly put...