Frieda Martselos

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is an expression of gratitude to clerk Tim Mercer for dedicated and exemplary service.

WHEREAS Tim Mercer was appointed Clerk of the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly in August, 2003;

AND WHEREAS Mr. Mercer has provided devoted and outstanding public service to the Legislative Assembly and its Members for 20 years;

AND WHEREAS during Mr. Mercer’s tenure as Clerk of the Legislative Assembly he was a strong advocate for Indigenous peoples, languages, and culture;

AND WHEREAS during Mr. Mercer’s tenure as Clerk, the Legislative Assembly has undergone rapid and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, of the many things I've discovered as a Member of this House, there's one thing that sticks out to me all the time, which is the slow pace of conducting government business. It takes so much time to simply make a decision about anything and to get things done in this building, which can be frustrating at times because I'm a very busy MLA and I'm used to getting things done at a faster pace. But regardless, I persevere, and I continue to press forward because I know that the work we do here is important and it does impact the people of the NWT, whom we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when I first got elected to the Legislative Assembly and came here, I found a situation where, you know, like I explained earlier today, that, you know, the slow pace of government and being in private sector for 50 years, I was a bit puzzled at all the processes that we had to follow to get one piece of paper or one little thing. And so after a couple weeks, I paid a visit to the clerk's office and I sat down with Tim. And I didn't really know him that well yet. And the conversation we had was incredible. And, you know, he says, Frieda, just concentrate on...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too would like to recognize Minister Vandal to the House. And just to acknowledge that the two oldest federal day schools that are left standing in the Northwest Territories are both from my riding. One is 64 years old and the other one is 60 years old. And they were connected to the residential school situation. But just for acknowledgement that, you know, we talk about all these things, but I always do it through process. You know, I want to there's processes that we have to follow here, and I adhere to that, and I want to just thank him for coming to visit...

Mr. Speaker, I move, second by the honourable Member for Nahendeh, that Bill 73, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, No. 4, be read for the third time. And, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I'm going to make a short comment. In my previous role, I saw a lot of abuse that occurred to men also. And I think that this is a really important motion. It's there's also the reverse, okay. It's not only women that are abused within society in a home life. I saw both sides of the abuse that could happen, and sometimes it could be pretty, pretty awful. And so I really support this particular motion. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Speaker, could the Premier tell us if she considers the centralization of government services and jobs as a problem, and does she consider it as a threat to small communities or regional centres? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, can the Premier provide some concrete examples on what efforts the executive has done throughout the 19th Assembly to support the decentralization of public service jobs away from the capital? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about government decentralization. This is something that I have spoken about several times throughout this term and something that nearly all members have spoken about at one point or another.

Mr. Speaker, decentralization of government jobs and services is a priority of this Assembly. It is a concept and practice that is vital to strengthening small communities and regional centres. For far too long, the Government of the Northwest Territories has normalized and made it standard policy across all departments to centralize all or most...

Mr. Speaker, I move, second by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that Bill 76, An Act to Amend the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act, be read for the third time. And, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.