David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I’m obviously in support of the amendment to the Territorial Parks Act, but I just wanted to ask of the Minister, this has been an issue in the former Department of RWED and now ITI for the past almost 15 years. I’m just wondering why it has taken so long to get this amendment brought forward. What explanation on the delays has his department got? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am going to speak about the motion here today. I really do want to start out by commending the Member for Nahendeh for bringing this forward. For all the reasons he cited, I think this is a step in the right direction. Mr. Speaker, I will be supporting the motion today, but I just wanted to be realistic about a couple of things. That is, we can’t forget for one second that the Northwest Territories and our government operates basically on a fixed budget and I think this is another example of why it’s incumbent upon this government to finally reach a deal...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I am going to discuss an issue that I have brought up in this House numerous times in the past couple of years. That is how our government is handling the amalgamation of our human resources.

Mr. Speaker, last year I had a number of constituents who were very concerned over how they were being treated by the new HR division, now the Human Resources department. Some of the stories were very alarming. The Minister knows these well, and I do thank him for helping me resolve those issues. That was last year, Mr. Speaker.

Between then and now, have the business...

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The motion is in order. To the motion.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the government.

Can Public Works and Services, after consulting with another department, authorize demolition of public infrastructure without consulting with the affected MLA(s) and standing committee? If so, does this contravene existing policies?

Who approved the publication of the tender to demolish Dene K'onia?

What was the correspondence between Public Works and Services and Health and Social Services regarding this issue?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Thank you, committee. Mr. Hawkins.

Agreed. Thank you, committee. Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if you use the same rationale the Minister just mentioned, they would have informed us and consulted with us last year when the money was transferred from Yellowknife to Hay River, and they didn’t. That’s the point I’m trying to make, Mr. Speaker. The Minister did not answer this question: Why were Regular Members of this House not advised? You’re going to demolish a piece of public infrastructure and it doesn’t matter what community it’s in, the scope of the project changed. We’re fed one story last year and had to force feed another story this year. Why...

Question has been called. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

Thank you, committee. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The motion is in order. To the motion.