Jackson Lafferty

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, the committee is appreciative that one of the results of the passage of Bill 5 will be the inclusion of a new clause in the preamble of the Child and Family Services Act that states “And whereas a child’s extended family can often provide important supports in meeting the best interests of the child;”.

A preamble to an act is important in that the preamble sets out the principles that will guide the application of the act.

Recognizing the role of the extended family in child protection matters is an important step and now we need to take the next steps to ensure...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise in this House today to raise a point of personal privilege. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I just highlighted the whole purpose of this motion that was brought forward was due to the fact that we consulted with the communities. The community elders, mostly elders, have told us that with the apprehension process, most of the kids are transferred to Yellowknife. That is the whole idea behind this motion where we always stress the importance of having the child with an extended family member. I do agree with Mrs. Groenewegen from Hay River South, that there has to be a fit home as well in the community with the extended family. Is it a safe home? It...

Mahsi, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the committee wishes to consider Committee Report 3-15(6), Child and Family Services Act. Mahsi, Madam Chair.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a signed letter from Chief Gon from Gameti on a concern on the school extension for Gameti School. Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I move to report progress.

My question is for the Minister of Transportation:

Can I request a detailed cost to repair and service the Highway No. 3 access roads, specifically to the Charlo’s camp on a monthly basis?

Can I also request for copies of meeting minutes or documentations on the previous contractual discussion? Specifically the community/local private contractor’s complaints.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, too, offer the same invitation to the Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation to consider travelling on Highway No. 3 to visit these cabins. I would like to ask the Minister, Mr. Speaker, as a follow-up from my previous question in a different format. As Mr. Menicoche outlined, there was a disagreement on the private contractor. Is the Minister willing to sit down and talk about the potential contractor again, because that contractor he was referring to was before August, 2005, with a new Tlicho agreement? Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. So what the department is saying, the Minister is saying, is no, we're not going to support our elders to continue their way of life. Mr. Speaker, we are talking about people who lived along the highway before the department changed its route, even before this department existed. Mr. Speaker, can we come to a consensus on which cabins and homes might be considered for nominal access roads in respect to their traditional usage, like a grandfather clause? Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, before the new highway was built, it was a public highway and we accessed those cabins by the old highway. Now we're saying no to these traditional trappers and hunters. We, as GNWT, have always stressed to retain and maintain our way of life. By importance of highlighting that in this House, on numerous occasions I have raised that issue. With that, Mr. Speaker, when I asked the Minister last fall, I do believe it was, that he was referring to opening up to other camp owners. At the same time, we're not talking about just plain old squatters. We're...