Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Giving the word sufficient to some of the residents of the Northwest Territories saying you’re stuck with the bill, I don’t think is sufficient. Given the reported damages of almost over $2 million, and given the fact that we’ve heard that faulty equipment was to blame and that the equipment was not working properly, according to what was tabled in chronology, and given that the government has not performed any cost accounting with the recent disaster, how can the Minister sit here in the House and indicate very little to satisfy the public’s outcry for financial help...

As we indicated a month or two ago here, well, at least six weeks ago, we had millions of dollars of damage anticipated with this. Can the Minister indicate whether his office or NTPC have performed a full cost accounting on this recent power outage to evaluate the extent of the current and potentially future damage caused to residents and businesses, and if not, why?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. How is the public, specifically people trying to seek careers in the health field, supposed to understand what programs they can apply for and when, when it’s clear even the Members on this side of the House don’t even understand what the heck is going on here? Can the Minister offer some clarity, not only to us but to the people out there holding resumes for the health care sector? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It’s difficult to understand how we can recruit when we’ve got no program here. What recruitment and retention program specifically does this moratorium apply to? Does it include community health nurse development programs or does it include others? Can the Minister be a bit more specific?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This month we celebrate Aboriginal languages. Last year I had the pleasure of addressing the House in the Tlicho language. This year, Mr. Speaker, it will be my honour to pay tribute to the South Slavey language.

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Thanks. There’s more.

---Laughter

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Mr. Speaker, I would like to take a moment to thank my teacher, who is also a translator here for the House, for helping me. That’s Mr. Jim Hope. Mr. Hope, mahsi.

Once again, a big thank you to the South Slavey culture for letting me share...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to table a snapshot of the Practice North Department of Health website in reference to my Member’s statement and oral questions earlier today. Thank you.

This is clearly the point of my argument here. If we don’t know what the damage cost us, if we don’t know what the damage cost taxpayers, how do we know the severity of the situation?

Can the Minister indicate if the concept of an income-tested contingency fund for disaster relief directly associated with such things as extended power outages at extreme cold temperatures has ever been discussed by this government, and if not, why?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier in this session I brought up the issue of unresolved property damages in Yellowknife, Behchoko and Detah in the wake of an extended power outage that took place on December 29, 2013. Mr. Speaker, I brought to the floor information regarding millions of damages, which was echoed also by the media. Unfortunately, I was trying to get some more information here for the public and I was put on notice, which means I was shut down for asking more questions. So I asked the Minister to table a written response to what happened, what was the chronology of events, which...

Can the Minister inform us: Is the department in the habit of putting a halt on its public initiatives whenever it has to get its own homework done? How long has this moratorium been in place? How long is it going to be intended to be in effect?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The other day the Minister of Human Resources issued a news release announcing that the GNWT continues to develop and implement an array of recruitment and retention initiatives to strengthen the public service and create employment opportunities throughout the Northwest Territories. I fully support this approach but it will not work unless all departments are on the same page.

My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. At a time when recruitment and retention could not be more important, why is it emblazoned in red writing across the Department of...