Floyd Roland

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to advise the House that the Honourable Joe Handley will be absent from the House today to attend the Council of the Federation meeting in Edmonton, Alberta. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again because the switch has happened to be talking about the subsidy program, which right now seniors do not pay rent in public housing, if we’re going to change that, the whole subsidy situation would be Mr. Dent’s area. If we’re talking about the overall rent scale and how that’s affected, some of that responsibility still remains within the Housing Corporation. Rent scales do belong within the Housing Corporation, but for actual policy change, clarity I guess is going to have to be sought here from the Member if Mr. Krutko is going to have to deal with...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the role of Public Works in this would be one from an asset base working with a client department, this being Health and Social Services. This is in the area of coming up with a plan of what is required. In discussions with staff between Public Works and Services and Health and Social Services, Health and Social Services has deemed this facility to have an important role within their social support system. Part of the exercise we are going through is in the area of the Homelessness Strategy. Once that unfolds a little more, we will have a better...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I haven’t had too many opportunities to stand up and do a Member’s statement, or to stand up, as someone is saying. Mr. Speaker, as the snow is gone and the winter gear has been stored, and the summer gear has been pulled out, families have gone through or will go through a graduation or two, and families are busy preparing for a summer trip or a family vacation.

Mr. Speaker, I can recall many springs when I eagerly awaited the last day of school. Talking about schools, we’ve heard in this House from the Education Minister, as well as many Members of this...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As to the numbers, the paper that’s been handed out to Members now, the total space used now is 4,488 square metres. That includes government and non-government. The portion of the government usage is split out and, as I read out earlier, the amount of square footage that are occupied by GNWT users and then the square footage by non-GNWT users. There are sections of the building that was involved in a fire in the past and sections of that building have been not used since then, and it’s not our intent to renovate that portion of the building or to do the repairs to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don't have the detail as to who we actually were in discussions with. I know we monitored the situation and other CRTC hearings for those types of decisions that would have impact on the service providers in the Northwest Territories. I can get that information for the Member and provide it later. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that fact is that NorthwesTel is the only largest service provider in the Northwest Territories for our phone systems, aside from cell phones and so on. We are of the opinion that the Northwest Territories is a high cost service area, and that needs to be recognized and continue to be recognized. If it happens to be NorthwesTel operating here, they'll be the company that would benefit. If we have other companies who want to get involved in the North, we would look at that as well. Our position is that the Northwest Territories is a high cost area and...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As to the numbers, the paper that’s been handed out to Members now, the total space used now is 4,488 square metres. That includes government and non-government. The portion of the government usage is split out and, as I read out earlier, the amount of square footage that are occupied by GNWT users and then the square footage by non-GNWT users. There are sections of the building that was involved in a fire in the past and sections of that building have been not used since then, and it’s not our intent to renovate that portion of the building or to do the repairs to...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Department of Public Works and Services is the department that’s been in contact and dealing with the fire marshal’s office. The letter that was sent to one of our senior project managers was dated in January 2006. The fire marshal’s office has been involved for some time before that. It is an unfortunate situation where we are in the position we are. Ultimately, much work has been done, so the department has been dealing with this. It’s not like this is parachuted in and going to take over other projects. On an annual basis every department can put...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that fact is that NorthwesTel is the only largest service provider in the Northwest Territories for our phone systems, aside from cell phones and so on. We are of the opinion that the Northwest Territories is a high cost service area, and that needs to be recognized and continue to be recognized. If it happens to be NorthwesTel operating here, they'll be the company that would benefit. If we have other companies who want to get involved in the North, we would look at that as well. Our position is that the Northwest Territories is a high cost area and...