Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m not really a big general comment kind of person in Committee of the Whole, but I just wanted to make a few comments on Health and Social Services. It’s a big department, it’s a tough department and I have to say that I am pleased with the general direction that the leadership and the department are taking things. I see some innovative things. I wish there was more that we could do to inspire people to be more caring about and taking personal responsibility for some of the challenges that we face. As a government, we try to fix things and sometimes I think we have...

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Does committee agree?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are at an exciting time in the evolution of the Northwest Territories on the eve of devolution and taking on more power, and for those of us that are out there somewhere, we need to bring our people home to help us build and continue to evolve as a territory and build this territory.

I don’t really have anything else to say, but thanks for the opportunity for this rant and I thank the Premier for his answers. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up to my colleague, Mr. Hawkins from Yellowknife Centre, his questions to the Premier today on direct appointments. Recently I put in a request to research asking for a department-by-department count of recent, in the last year, direct appointments. We talk about the loss of the population in the Northwest Territories, about our students who are born and raised, educated in and after they’ve lived here, going south. We have medical doctors who have gone from the Northwest Territories, been trained, and could not beat their way through the bureaucratic...

I think we have a very lively and competent organization here in Yellowknife: Yellowknife Association of Citizens Concerned for Seniors. I’m not getting their name exactly right, but it’s YACCS, I believe. They have set up Aven Manor, Aven Cottages. They have set up a number of institutions for seniors in Yellowknife. They probably even attract people on a regional basis.

I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services, does that society receive funding from this government?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up on my line of questioning yesterday that we had for the Minister of Health and Social Services in what must have seemed like a mini theme day for Minister Abernethy, but when we talk about people leaving the Northwest Territories, the outward migration of residents of the North, we need to look at all aspects of that.

Yesterday I spoke about some of the challenges for seniors living in the North: the cost of living, the cost of living independently in their own homes. Today I’d like to talk about another segment of population who we often hear...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think Members of this House will agree that Hay River is nothing if it is not home to some very interesting people, some very innovative, entrepreneurial and very successful people.

Just briefly, I want to recognize a few of those people today. We have here in the gallery today Brad Mapes, who most of you know is doing a very cutting edge, leading edge entrepreneurial endeavour in Hay River, which we wish him well with and are honoured to witness a signing today, an historic signing today.

You don’t have to talk to very many people outside of Hay River, Northwest...

We will resume after a short break. I might remind Members that we are going to a reception in the Great Hall. Thank you.

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I’d like to call Committee of the Whole to order. There are a number of items before us today in Committee of the Whole. What is the wish of the committee? Ms. Bisaro.

I think we need to be unapologetic and absolutely unabashed about getting northern people, priority 1 and priority 2 candidates to work in our public service, and just to confirm, for the record, I’d like to ask the Premier to confirm for the public that this is a process which is vetted by more than one person. If people are worried about people picking, as Mr. Hawkins said, you know, family members or… Hey, you know what? What’s wrong with family members, you know? I mean, as a parent, as a grandparent, do you think I don’t speak for a whole lot of people in the Northwest Territories who...