Jackson Lafferty

When I speak in this House, I represent my people, as their voice. It's the community of Whati today I'm speaking of, and they are tired of the talks under way, the consultation that the Minister alluded to. There needs to be an action-oriented process. This has been a long wait, well over 20 years since we talked about the mini-hydro initiative. Now, a transmission line. We're still talking today, 20 years versus 20 hours of a power outage. I, for one, would like for this government to act on what is in the best interest of the community, and that is the power hook-up. The next question I...

Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] Today, I am going to speak on electricity in my region. Right now, Whati doesn't have electricity to their community. They only have power by diesel generator, and it has stopped so many times, for over 20 hours. The residents of Whati are very concerned. I want to make a statement regarding that. [Translation ends]

Mr. Speaker, last month, the community of Whati suffered a major power outage. It lasted an unbelievable well over 20 hours. It was a level 3 power failure, the Power Corporation's highest level of emergency. The culprit was the community's out-of...

Masi, Mr. Speaker. Obviously, the 25 percent target, that would have to be closely monitored. We have experienced in the past, whether it be with Stanton or other mega projects in the past, where it really has not been fulfilled, so I will be keeping an eye on that. Mr. Speaker, my last question is: what I would like to know is if the Minister's department has done enough to verify compliance with the local hiring targets and what enforcement measures they have taken when the targets are not met. Mr. Speaker, we still have a three-year summer project, so this is very important. I would like...

I am more focused on the targeted agreement between RTL and also Tli Cho Construction, Tlicho Government, so can the Minister of Infrastructure tell this House what the actual local employment and business targets are for the Behchoko access road project?

Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] Summer is coming up. We know that the road between Rae Junction, that road hasn't been worked on for over 30 years. Last summer, they were working on it on contract. It has been over 30 years that the road hasn't been worked on, so I would like to talk about the road contract. [Translation ends]

Summer is just around the corner, so my statement today is about the reconstruction of Behchoko access road. Mr. Speaker, it has been well over 30 years since the construction of the road from Rae Junction to Rae. Just last summer, a three-year public works project to...

Masi, Mr. Chair. I, too, would like to emphasize the importance of having translator training and accreditation for up-and-coming future governments. The committee has heard from various stakeholders, interpreters, and language specialists. Even in this House, on numerous occasions, I have raised the importance of having qualified people to be trained, similar to the language bureau that Mr. O'Reilly was referring to. It was a big machine back then. We don't have that right now, unfortunately, but as we move forward, I would like to see more interpreters qualified that we can pick from, as Mr...

Masi, Mr. Chair. [Translation] I will be speaking my language. Today, what we are talking about is that, whenever the Legislative Assembly has a meeting, we have the interpreters available when we are speaking our language. There are 11 official languages here in the Northwest Territories. One of the languages that I am speaking is Tlicho. Whenever we have a meeting, I always speak my language. That is why today, when I sit here, I would like to say thank you to the rules and procedures committee for what we talked about. Even though we sometimes may be a little upset, we show respect to each...

Since at least two summers, actually 2021, 2022, 2023, three summers, I am more interested in what the targets the Minister has alluded to and also the training apprentices components of local benefits agreement, so where is the training and apprenticeship component of the local benefits agreement within the contract itself?

Masi, Mr. Speaker. The Rae Access Road upgrade is now under way this last summer and this summer. The people of Behchoko are grateful for this long-awaited improvement on highway safety, but they are not happy with the token number of jobs and business opportunities that the project has created for the community. Mr. Speaker, the project is on Behchoko land and also uses public money, so I have questions for the Minister of Infrastructure. Could the Minister tell this House what the general policy is respecting local economic spin-offs from highway projects such as the Behchoko access road...

Masi, Mr. Speaker. I just want to thank the committee for highlighting this, a week's notice. As Members of the Legislative Assembly, there are various committee meetings. To some degree, it's expected that you speak the English language in these meetings, but there are times when an individual speaks their language. This clearly lays out the groundwork. If we give a week's notice, we can speak our language in the committee meetings, teleconference meetings. I am not sure how that is going to work, but I am just glad to see that it is part of the policy now. Masi.