David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I find it a little hard to believe that MACA doesn’t know the capacity in each and every one of our communities. That is their mandate. They have to know what’s going on there. I know the government, years ago, used to publish community profiles, a booklet, when the Northwest Territories included Nunavut. It published a yearly book on community profiles and it was quite detailed. I am not sure if we are still doing that type of work. From time to time, when we look at communities, somebody gives us something. It’s called community profile and it’s got some...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I had a few questions regarding funding for two regional resource development impact advisors. It was a few years back where the two positions came in and I believe they came in through supplementary appropriation as well. They were to be sunset after two years. I guess we are reaching the end of the two-year period. We had hired these two individuals to work in the regions on resource development impacts. We don’t have a pipeline yet. So the first question I would have is what did these two individuals do for the past two years and how do we measure performance for...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I thank the Minister for that. I’m not here today to demoralize anybody. What I’m here to do is my job and ask questions. I hear also from the front-line workers where there’s not enough money and resources, especially for the NGOs. So if we are going to spend $75,000 on a survey and then we’ve got other NGOs saying we’re not doing enough for them, there has to be a balance somewhere and I think we do have to ask some questions. The list of organizations that the Premier had mentioned that were going to be part of this survey, I’m wondering if there’s going to be any...

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair. I thank the Minister of Finance for that explanation. The conference on family violence, I guess it’s nice to give the providers of that service from around the territory an opportunity to get together to share information and coordinate efforts and things like that. It is $120,000. That’s something I can live with, Madam Chair.

The survey, though, is another story. I know the Premier mentioned earlier about baseline data. I mean I’m not an expert in this field by any stretch, Madam Chair, but if you want baseline data, I don’t think you need to look any further...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, too, will be voting in favour of the motion that is before us today. I think that the program itself needs to be reviewed. I also think, and I’ve made mention of this in the House, that not all communities are paying the same power rates. Those served by NUL are paying lower rates than those serviced by the Power Corporation. We need to get a better understanding of how we can get the best possible power rates into the communities as we can. That should be the onus of any review, how do we give our residents the best value on their power rates? Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’m always impressed with the Minister’s responses, especially when we’re talking about something as important as this. I think it’s important that it starts somewhere. I hear the Minister and I hear the Minister say communities and establishing it throughout the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, $26 million, that’s not going to happen right away. What needs to happen right away is this service needs to get started in Yellowknife, Hay River and Fort Smith just for starters. I’d like the Minister to make a commitment today to get his officials at MACA to...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That sounds like a great deal of work to get conducted for $50,000. I wish the Minister and his staff the best of luck with that. I am not sure they have other resources to draw upon inside the department, but it sounds like they have some room there because it sounds like a big piece of work, Mr. Chairman. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, $26 million to look at a 911 service territory-wide is a tremendous amount of money, but given the fact that 911 is the North American standard for emergency numbers and it is something that children who live in the Northwest Territories are much more likely to remember when faced with an emergency, why aren’t we looking at establishing this service in Yellowknife, Hay River and Fort Smith to start with and what would that cost? Has the Minister got that information? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Minister is obviously much more aware of what the capacity is inside the department to carry out the work that needs to get done. Judging by his comments, there is more work than there are people or whatever. This $50,000, I know he said it’s to support. Does that mean you are looking at a new PY, somebody coming in to do the job, or what does he mean in terms of support? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In September of 2001, the chief coroner of the Northwest Territories issued a recommendation that the City of Yellowknife, the RCMP, and Municipal and Community Affairs implement the 911 service in Yellowknife and then expand those services to other communities in the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, here we are six years after that recommendation to move forward on 911 service, and still the government is dragging its heels and not moving this much needed emergency response issue forward.

Mr. Speaker, I was a city councillor back in 2001 and remember quite clearly...