Jane Groenewegen

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. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Finance today in follow-up to his budget address. Mr. Speaker, whenever we talk about the fiscal situation in our government, whenever we talk about resource revenue sharing, we talk about royalties and devolution. As a territorial government, this can never be done in the absence of talking about the aspirations and the cooperation of aboriginal governments in the Northwest Territories, as well. I know that the budget address was somewhat abbreviated today, but I noticed almost right away -- and I actually mentioned to my...

Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the end that we want to see progress on this file, can we do more? Is there something new or different? Is there anything new we can add to the process that will assure success on this area? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What are the plans that are on the agenda at this time on the part of this government to ensure that, when we do go, that deal that we want to make is not going to be anything less than what the aboriginal governments are looking for as well, and, therefore, not derailed at some future time because we did not have buy in? What’s the agenda? Thank you.