David Krutko

I will call Committee of the Whole back to order. We will consider Bills 4 and 7.

Mr. Speaker, the importance of marine operations, especially in my riding where we depend on two ferry services, and also the number of individuals we see having to be hired from southern Canada because we cannot find those individuals…. Has the Minister looked at the possibility of training and whatnot for these individuals? We're short of engineers; we're short of captains; we're short of people. Yet in order to fill those positions, we have to hire in some cases from overseas.

I'd like to ask the Minister: have you looked at the possibility — I know there's money in the budget for training...

Mr. Speaker, I’m talking about the marine equipment maintainer assistant’s position in Fort McPherson for the Abraham Francis Ferry on the Peel River. This individual has been with the organization almost 30 years. He's making $30,000 a year as his main source of income. He has a large family. Yet as a government, we're trying to say we don't need you anymore; you've been with us for 30 years, but maybe it’s time to go. Yet we think we're going to save $30,000. I think if anything we should be giving this individual a medal for hanging in there as long as he has and maybe trying to let him...

Mr. Speaker, in regard to our priorities and where we all come from, being here for 13 years, I think we have to improve our consultation, our dialogue, realizing that we all represent people in the Northwest Territories, regardless of where we’re from or what role we play. It’s important, as government, that we find ways to improve that.

The reason that I raised the issue with regard to our priorities is, you know, when you talk about safer communities, for me the basic thing for communities is they want to have policing and nursing and things like that and ensure they have security. When we...

As we know, this government has just restructured itself to have ministerial committees look at the different initiatives that the government wants to move on. Yet there seems to be a missing link there by way of inclusion of Members on this side of the House. I’d like to ask the Premier.... I know it’s been suggested or recommended to find a system and that we try to get unanimous endorsement of those initiatives by all Members of the House before we submit anything to the federal government. Is the Premier open to revisiting that and finding the system that works for all 19 Members of the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to go back to item 7, please.

Mr. Speaker, I will try to make it as simple as I can. There was a list submitted to the federal government on projects from this government. We as Ordinary Members have not had an opportunity to put items on that list, but yet, through the strategic committees that are set up on the other side, they had that discussion internally. There was a list sent to Ottawa in regard to projects they wanted to see, on that side of the House, but nowhere on that list is reference to a project that I would like to see on it.

I’d like to ask the Minister: when will the Members on this side of the House have...

Mr. Speaker, the Minister was nowhere even close to answering my question. My question was: what does the community have to do to get on the list of projects that are going to be funded through the federal government, through the Building Canada Fund, the strategic initiative investment fund?

Nowhere on this list do I see any communities that are not in Ministers’ ridings, for one thing.

Interjections.

As a Member for the 13th Assembly, we went through a similar exercise, but at least the 23 members of the 13th Assembly were involved. We knew which departments were going to be cut. We knew exactly what our situation was so we could go back to our constituents and explain it to them.

Again, Mr. Speaker, I will continue to fight with regard to the constituents of the Mackenzie Delta and the access road for Aklavik. I have to state that I’m very disappointed that there was nothing mentioned in the budget.

I’d like to call the committee to order.

Consideration in Committee of the Whole of bills and other matters. Bill 4, Bill 7, Committee Report 2-16(2), Committee Report 3-16(2). What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Hawkins.