Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again referring to the positive signals that the Premier refers to, the referencing of the Throne speech, the appointment of our federal MP as the Minister of Northern Development, the appointment of Anne McLellan as the chair of a special committee of parliamentarians on the pipeline, when the Premier goes to Ottawa this time, would he endeavour to have a commitment from people like Anne McLellan, our MP and other people who sit on that committee, to come to the Northwest Territories? I know it’s a signal he speaks of, but we have literally not met with or...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to hear that the Premier still feels encouraged by the signals that we receive from Ottawa. I think the Premier is well aware of the fact that I don’t feel as encouraged and I don’t feel as confident and I need to see some concrete evidence of their support for our agenda.

On the subject of leadership again, Mr. Speaker, I don’t want to see us lose anything by default. Again, a Member today referred to the divide-and-conquer approach. When the Premier goes to Ottawa I think very clearly, from today and from other communications, he will know the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was going to recognize the folks who are visiting with us here in the Northwest Territories from the CPAC channel that are interviewing a number of Members and northerners to put together a documentary about us. Thank you and good luck.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about the real and lasting benefits that need to be realized from resource development in the Northwest Territories.

Everyone knows that economic activity associated with a project of the magnitude of the Mackenzie gas pipeline is enormous. It would be the envy of any jurisdiction to experience the contracts, the jobs and the boom of such a development. Mr. Speaker, we, as northern leaders, representing the interests of our constituents, cannot be nearsighted. We cannot succumb to the temptation to support development that in the short...

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The motion is in order, it's not debatable. All those in favour of the motion? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

I will now rise and report progress.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today was a good day in the Legislative Assembly in that I believe we, as elected Members, sit on committees and sit through briefings and at conferences all the time on the subject of the Mackenzie gas pipeline, and quite often we begin to assume that everyone in the public has access to the same kind of information and the same kind of debate that we do. So I think we accomplished something good here today in the fact that we have provided a strong message for our Premier and our Deputy Premier as they go off to Ottawa. As the Premier said, people will be...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS the 15th Legislative Assembly vision and goals document states that the people of the Northwest Territories should be the primary beneficiaries of the development of our resources;

AND WHEREAS there is no agreement at this time providing for Northwest Territories governments to benefit from a share of resource royalties;

AND WHEREAS it has been estimated, based on a natural gas price of $4 U.S. per thousand cubic feet, the return over the next 30 years on a Mackenzie gas project, in the absence of a resource revenue sharing agreement, would be $900 million for the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So if there are fewer young offenders being incarcerated, then it follows that there are other options and alternatives that are contemplated when these young people do run into trouble with the law. I would like to know what those alternatives are at the community level. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I made reference to gaps in the system. All right, let’s go down to a younger age of a child. The child is not a ward of the GNWT, a major incident occurs. What resources do Social Services have at their disposal to deal with a child who is in virtually the custody of no one on a temporary basis until such time as court cases can be arranged for and applications can be made? What do we do in the emergency-type situations? Does he know? Are there foster placements? Are there group homes? Are there treatment facilities available with spaces, with...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, quite often, as the Minister knows, because I know that in his former life prior to being an elected official he had much experience in the area of children at risk and children who needed to be in care, as did I as well, Mr. Speaker. But, Mr. Speaker, in the cases of emergencies when he talks about community resources in the cases of emergencies and the incidents are occurring with younger and younger children all the time, the two drug busts that have been referred to in Hay River were two 17 year olds from British Columbia who were making crack cocaine...