Henry Zoe

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, in his statement the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation made on the 30th anniversary of the NWT Housing Corporation he spoke of the significant strides the corporation has made in improving and supplying housing here in the Northwest Territories. I would say we have gone a long way in addressing the housing needs for northerners, but we have a long way to go yet before we can say we have made real progress and have met the housing needs of northerners.

Madam Chair, based on the figures contained in the 2004 housing needs survey and the fact...

With that, Mr. Speaker, thank you.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Premier tell us what he sees as being the next step in these discussions? I think I heard him say that they are going to try to have another future meeting. When is he anticipating that this meeting is going to take place? Thank you.

Mahsi, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, the Aboriginal Pipeline Group has made substantial gains in terms of ensuring aboriginal people of Northwest Territories will benefit from the proposed pipeline. It is a great example of how cooperation can be successful. As leaders of the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Premier has the crucial leadership role in helping the Northwest Territories work together for the benefit of our territory. Time is of essence, Mr. Speaker. If leaders across the Northwest Territories do not rise to the opportunity and come together to ensure NWT residents...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to speak about the need for strong leadership at this crucial time in the Northwest Territories’ history.

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Land claims up and down the valley are either completed or under negotiations. Self-government will soon be a reality in many regions, changing the political landscape of the Northwest Territories. Leaders of First Nations groups across the Northwest Territories are in a strong position to negotiate the terms and conditions of future resource development in the best interests of their people.

Mr. Speaker, the potential...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the principle of the bill. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak in support of this bill. I can’t tell you how happy I am to see this day. It’s been a long time coming.

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The only day I’ll be happier is when this bill and the bill that is now working its way through Parliament have both been made into law and our Tlicho agreement can finally be put into effect.

Mr. Speaker, this is the last of the three bills the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories needs to pass to do our part to bring the Tlicho agreement into force. It’s very encouraging to see...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will be supporting this motion. However, as my colleague from Frame Lake has indicated, I don’t think that this particular motion has as much teeth as it should have.

Mr. Speaker, this motion is only a portion of what we have been trying to do for the last number of years. In March, the majority of the aboriginal groups, the government and the Government of Canada signed the Lands and Resource Devolution Framework Agreement. Within that particular agreement, there are provisions there for them to negotiate resource revenue sharing. Because time is of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in reference to my Member’s statement today, I’d like to direct my question to the Premier in terms of what I said earlier on today. Can the Premier tell us when was the last time he was able to have a discussion with our northern leaders on resource revenue sharing and where do things stand today? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Mr. Chairman, I understand how the process works, but as my other colleagues have indicated, it’s the Department of Health that deals with the formula funding for the hospital for Inuvik.

Now, surely your department must have got advice from whoever is building that new section, what the costs are going to be for O and M for a year. I’m not so sure how the formula funding pertaining to power and to heating is calculated. I don’t know if it’s square footage times so much fuel per square foot equals a figure and this is what you get for a year, or…I know normally what they do is they take the...