Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The committee today wishes to deal with Bill 18, Bill 12, Bill 5, Bill 6, Committee Report 2, Committee Report 3, in that order. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

With respect to the proposed directive — it doesn’t sound like it’s been adopted yet — I was just wondering about consultation with various stakeholders on this issue and if this proposed directive met with the approval of or agreement from the French first-language school board for the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I would appreciate that

It’s a long, straight, boring road when you’re driving north. People are so glad when they get to those big blue signs as they cross over the border that say, “Twin Falls Highway” and there’s actually something to stop and look at. Escarpment Creek was always one of those places, but now there’s a big gate across there. Thanks, Mr. Speaker. That’s it. No question there.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of ITI, and they relate to the issue of campgrounds and camping services in the Northwest Territories. Summer is just around the corner. I think it’s going to arrive this weekend, and a lot of people want to use our parks and campground facilities.

I understand that the Minister may be conducting a review of the rates, and I’d like to ask if any consideration has been given to giving seniors a reduced rate to use our camping facilities. We would like our seniors who retire in the Northwest Territories to stay in the Northwest Territories...

Mr. Speaker, without going into the merits of the concerns that have been raised, I’d like to know: at what point does the Premier think it would be appropriate to step in, to at least discuss some way the government might be able to be involved to resolve this issue?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Premier this afternoon. The GNWT went out to RFP for a liquor retail contract in Hay River. The contract was awarded. The liquor store would move from the downtown to the industrial area, as per the contract. The development permit for the new location that was granted by the town was appealed. Opponents to the change of location, for various reasons that I won’t go into, appealed to the courts. This matter has been in limbo for more than a year. I’d like to ask the Premier, as the grantor of the contract for the liquor retail services in the...

Specifically to Hay River residents, how would they be made aware of their ability to comment or participate in this consultation with respect to this directive?

Mr. Speaker, after we charge employees in the Northwest Territories a 2 per cent payroll tax and then we give a rebate to people and we also pay for the administration of the tax, what do we end up netting from the payroll tax, approximately, in round figures?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Premier and relate to the issue of cost of living in the Northwest Territories. I know that perhaps we were a little critical about not enough revenue options in the budget, but we don’t want revenue options for this government that hit directly at the pocketbooks of Northerners. One thing that does that right now, which is on our books, is the payroll tax. During the election campaign — I haven’t had a chance to raise this in the House yet — I had a lot of people talk to me about that payroll tax, how it went from 1 per cent to 2 per cent...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Bill 8 has been in the works. This has been the budget session. We’ve been here for several weeks now. It’s been a long road on this budget. A budget in a year subsequent to an election is always a challenging one, because the normal cycle of the planning that goes into a budget is interrupted. There were days when it really taxed all of us and called for all of us to put our best efforts forward to arrive at something that we could support.

Mr. Speaker, I will be supporting third reading of Bill 8. I was one of the ones who did not support it at second reading. So that...