Jane Groenewegen

Good afternoon, or is it still morning? I’d like to call Committee of the Whole to order. Yesterday when we left off, we were on general comments on Tabled Document 107-17(4), and that’s where we left off. I’d like to ask, what is the wish of committee. Ms. Bisaro.

Mr. Speaker, people of Hay River will be very glad to hear that. That does seem like that is a fairly prudent direction to take, a good choice.

Another issue that has been raised in this House before, which I would also like an update on, was a request for a functional review of the existing H.H. Williams Memorial Hospital, to determine whether or not that building would be suitable to be re-profiled for some other use and to be kept as a piece of infrastructure in our community as something other than a health facility. I would like to ask the Minister if he has an update on where that request...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. I’m happy to report that the new Hay River health facility is well underway. There’s a nice tall structure standing there, and the contractors continue to work, and the weather has been on our side, so it’s been a good fall for construction.

The few outstanding items – well, there are many outstanding items, but there are a couple I want to ask about today as a result of the new health care facility – I’d just like an update on, if we could here in the House, because it’s something of a popular topic...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. What we have been hearing here this afternoon are, truly, general comments, not specific to this particular capital budget but very general. That’s a good discussion to have and I think it’s a good discussion to have in public, so that people can really kind of hear where we are coming from.

A few things I want to touch on, we talk about our infrastructure deficit here in the North and we talk about putting a few more millions of dollars, $50 million extra into the infrastructure capital budget. I don’t know how we compare to other jurisdictions, but might I be so bold...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am pleased to advise the House that the newly created Northern Farm Training Institute, short form NFTI, in Hay River celebrated a successful year on September 22nd with its first ever graduating class, and I had the pleasure of attending that graduation at the Hay River Golf Course and partaking in a delectable array of locally grown and prepared food.

This innovative program was developed in response to numerous requests received from across the Northwest Territories to the Territorial Farmers’ Association that conducts sustainable gardening workshops and seminars.

Th...

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Moses. Premier McLeod.

I would like to ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to escort the witnesses to the table.

Premier McLeod, for the record, please introduce your witness.

I would like to call Committee of the Whole back to order. I would like to ask Premier Bob McLeod if he would like to bring witnesses to the table and join us at the witness table for general comments.

Committee agreed?