David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled “Northwest Territories Coroner Service 2014 Annual Report.” Thank you.

I thought it was quite clear what we’re talking about and that’s the safety and well-being of the staff that we have in the rentals office. This type of security and finish, the equipment will be similar to other departmental office space with similar clientele such as maintenance enforcement and also the probation offices. Again, it’s very important that we understand what we’re up against, and that is a clientele who can be unpredictable. They are well known to other social agencies in Yellowknife. We’ve had experiences with these folks at other offices, including legal aid, so we can’t be...

Mr. Chairman, that is the going price for a vehicle of that nature. In fact, it might be a little bit on the low side when you look at vehicles in that class that have to carry up to eight people. Also, the court party would have their documents and other necessary equipment with them when they travel, so it is necessary to have a vehicle of this size.

As far as whether the vehicle would be specially outfitted, no, it wouldn’t. It would need to have towing capacity for potential seizures and also a radio would be installed in the vehicle. But other than that, there are no special adjustments to...

We’ve got a number of programs that we have in place to help fishermen on Great Slave Lake. We have a Fish Harvesters Support Program, Commercial Fish Harvesters Support Program, Fish Harvesters Expansion Program, Fish Harvesters New Entrance Support Program and also some core funding that’s available to fishermen on Great Slave Lake. Our intent is to see this funding and support carried forward so we can continue to move toward getting that export grade fish facility constructed and in operation in Hay River. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission has regulations regarding employees who have to work alone, and as we’ve mentioned, the departmental occupational health and safety specialist identified the current set-up of the rental office as a health and safety risk for the employee that is staffed there.

It becomes incumbent upon us to address that health and safety risk, and as my deputy minister has stated, there was an incident there and we need to ensure that we can protect the employee that we have there. There have been incidents in other offices in...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m pleased to introduce the witnesses who I have with me today. To my left is Sylvia Haener, deputy minister, Department of Justice; to my right is Leanne Hannah. She’s the acting director of finance with the Department of Justice.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A vitalization strategy and business plan have been developed to help ensure the longevity and the health of the fishery, the commercial fishery on Great Slave Lake. The Member highlighted a number of areas where the government has worked very hard at the revitalization of the commercial fishery. We continue to push forward. There’s a new fishing cooperative in Hay River. We’ve approached the federal government on a number of occasions, both the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Ms. Shea, and also CanNor. We haven’t had any success on getting a response from the federal...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It’s the safety of the staff in the office. Thank you.

No, we don’t have any large scale projects planned.

I agree with the Member that this is a very important sector of our economy. I do take issue with some of the Member’s overtures that we are just paying lip service and that we are taking our time. Mr. Speaker, this is important to us. As I mentioned, we are going to come forward with the What We Heard report. We initially formed the basis of a draft Agriculture Strategy for the Northwest Territories.

This is too important to be rushed through. We are taking our time. We are listening to people and stakeholders around the Northwest Territories to ensure that we get this right because it is such...