Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Premier of the Northwest Territories, Joe Handley. My questions relate to the renewable resource of fish in our territory. Mr. Speaker, Minister Bell had attended in Hay River with the fisherman lately and, as I mentioned in my Member’s statement, RWED has devoted a full-time employee to assist the fishermen in what they are trying to do. I feel that we have entered into, perhaps, a new era in this government in terms of attention to our fishery, and I’m very pleased about that as a Member for Hay River. Mr. Speaker, we...

Thank you, Mr. Murray. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Ramsay. We’re on page 6-17, the Department of Health and Social Services, directorate, operations expenditure summary, $6.182 million.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, fishermen need better prices for their fish. Allowing NWT fishermen to opt out of the marketing pool and participate in the marketplace on their own may be the only way to achieve this. Fishermen have asked Minister Bell to begin exploring with his federal counterpart, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, this option. The fishermen have committed to working on this, as well.

I believe that the fishery is getting the attention it deserves from this government at this time and I look forward to working with the Minister and the...

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My questions are with respect to the comment he made about the incidence of HIV in the Northwest Territories. It’s hard to reconcile that we could have such a high rate of unwanted pregnancy, such a high rate of STDs, so many other types of behaviours that would lead to these statistics, yet we could still claim to have no presence of HIV in the Northwest Territories. I would like to know if that’s what the Minister said. If that’s the case, what would be his explanation for that, given these other indicators? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Ramsay.