Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For my Member’s statement today, we had the power outages in Ranger Point subdivision of Tuk. Will the NWT Power Corporation compensate private homeowners for the damages it has done, not only the private homeowners but the NWT Housing Corporation for the 20 units that are frozen up and that need repair because of the power outage? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do myself, too, want to thank all the Housing people in Tuk that are working so hard to get these units back up and running for the people. There are a few lessons following that incident with the wind that we could learn from across the Territory. We should be, through the Minister’s office, through community preparedness, going through tabletop exercises and stuff like that. Is the Minister willing to speak with the Minister of MACA if we could do that this summer so we could be more prepared for the next go around of the weather? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am pretty sure I counted nine houses in Tuk, private homeowners. Would the CMHC funding still affect the amount of income that they make per year even though, under the CMHC funding, or could it be just because the Power Corporation Premier set precedents in Inuvik when the power surges of paying for the property damage? Now is it going to happen with the housing units? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. People in my riding are used to harsh weather but it seems that that are some still very difficult times like these last few days. Situation at Reindeer Point, seven kilometres outside of Tuk, still a part of Tuk, is still having a tough time. The power went out there February 27th and it took 24 hours to restore the power. The power line problem, once the lineman was there it only took an hour to repair. It had been broken in high winds of 90 kilometres. Twenty housing units froze up. Many have broken pipes. Once the tenants ran out of white gas for their primer stoves...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will start off, again, on air charters. I still see and I know the Minister told me last year that the court circuit, when they are travelling to the communities, it is up to the judge whether he is going to hold his aircraft or he could let the plane go for the day or stay in the community. I think, if the Minister could see if he could talk to the judges, I guess, to see if he could stop doing that in holding the aircraft in the communities, because they are tying up a lot of aircraft. I don’t think that is right.

In regards to the next one is the court workers. It...

Mr. Speaker, why is it we are getting so much frost on the runway? I heard reports. It is not only the condensation. Are there any chemicals that were put on there by the Canadian military regarding the CF-18s? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today it was regarding the trouble that we have been having in Inuvik at the airport with the aircraft not being able to land due to high winds and the friction. Mr. Speaker, will the government allocate resources to enhance the airports to develop operating systems that will lead the world in Arctic aviation in regards to airport runways? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Recently planes were unable to land in Inuvik for a number of reasons, notably that runway did not have enough friction for the airplanes to land properly. Our region and our communities rely heavily on the airports, especially Inuvik. The reliability of infrastructure, wherever there is a telecommunications system at our airports, the airport systems are a critical process to the economic development projects and the people’s safety. It is a critical time to provide a certain standard of living for our residents in the Beaufort-Delta and the more northerly communities...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know that having that airport open 24 hours a day is a main key to the Beaufort-Delta in regards to the communities of Inuvik and all the surrounding communities because of the air medevacs and the jet service and that not having any flights per day causes havoc. We had over 200 people stranded in Inuvik. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister commit to me today to talking to the department regional superintendent in Inuvik to see what we can do if they have to start early, and is he willing to do that in regards to getting a commitment from him? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, is the Minister able to get us some starting staff and paying maybe a little bit of overtime to start getting the sweepers out at seven o’clock in the morning instead of eight, to make sure that runway is open so the planes could land? It wasn’t only the high winds and the cross-winds. The friction on the aircraft, the weight and balance issues, Mr. Speaker. Is it possible to get the Minister to let the department in Inuvik at the airport start at an earlier time? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.