Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Standing Committee on Governance and Economic Development met on January 18, 2006, to review Bill 14, Public Airports Act. The committee received a written submission from Mr. James Pokiak of Tuktoyaktuk, asking that the rules restricting public access to the apron be made less restrictive in smaller communities. The committee also received a letter from the Tuktoyaktuk Community Corporation in support of Mr. Pokiak’s submission.

Mr. Pokiak gave the examples of family members needing to unload coffins and people wanting to access aircraft that they have chartered...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that Committee Report 6-15(4) be received by the Assembly and moved into Committee of the Whole. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We will certainly look forward to that report and the folks in Hay River mostly affected by it. Five positions were going to be by attrition. I understand that only one of those positions has actually been vacated. But the folks who were most affected by this were the casual staff who were called in on a frequent basis to monitor the remand unit. I understand that a number of them are still in Hay River. They would be very interested in hearing the response. When the report comes out and it proves that there were no $400,000 cost savings, what measure will the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I realize it's not always possible to give a yes or no answer on this particular day, but I perceive a positive response there, so that's good news. We're hoping that we would use such a plan even to perhaps leverage some money from industry, as well. Hay River is not often mentioned when we talk about affected communities for the pipeline. But when you look at the presence of industry that's going to be in the community, we feel a document like this could perhaps even alleviate some of the costs on this government for supporting of all it. Obviously, it's cheaper...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the past few months, it’s become quite clear that there is a lack of a comprehensive and consistent policy in place to deal with the provision of fire emergency and ambulance services to NWT communities and surrounding regions. This was very recently raised by myself in the context of liability and appropriate levels of funding to the volunteer ambulance and fire services in Hay River. I have been informed that an interdepartmental response on this issue is in the stage of being developed.

Hay River emergency services received a record number of calls...

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Any further general comments? General comments on Bill 14. I’ll turn the chair to Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mr. Braden.