Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it’s fall and we’re back to work here in the Legislature. Ahead of us, lie many hours of work and meetings indoors. I’ve always been very fond of the indoors. I’ve been in the North for 30 years and, unlike many others who call the North home, I’ve never had much of a penchant for the great outdoors. I don’t think I’ve ever been camping, I hate to admit.

But whether it was sun or rain or wind or cold…

---Laughter

…or bugs, there always seemed a very good reason to stay indoors. I haven’t travelled much and I’ve never been that curious about far away places and...

Mr. Menicoche is moving that we report progress. The motion is in order and not debatable. All those in favour of the motion? Opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

I will now rise and report progress.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am glad to hear that commitment and I hope the people of the Northwest Territories are listening to that because the Premier says that we need the pipeline, and we do need the pipeline, but we do not need it under the current regime of the agreements that we have with Ottawa at this time. Is the Premier prepared to talk tough? At one time, before the application was filed, I was hearing from some people that it’s a sensitive time, we don’t want to scare them away. But this pipeline is going to do nothing but cost us money if we do not have our rightful share of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Premier for that as well. I guess I am just not as optimistic as he is, given the federal government is holding all the cards on this. I just can’t think of a reason why they would want to be nice to us. It sounds like it could proceed over our objectives anyway. I know you said they don’t want to, but the fact is it could. So I think we need to assure northerners how far we are prepared to go to protect the interest of the Northwest Territories in this scenario.

The Premier referred to an interim agreement on resource revenue sharing and also the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The question I have for the Minister then is will the GNWT Department of Justice be involved in an examination of the procedures and protocols surrounding the work of parole and probation officers in the Northwest Territories? We also have probation officers who work in a number of our communities. Will the issues around protocol and the safety of these officers be visited and revisited after the results of this investigation? Will you participate in this investigation of this incident as a government and will you revisit the protocols that are used by our probation...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Justice. Mr. Speaker, as a result of the very unfortunate and tragic events surrounding the Canada Corrections parole officer who lost her life here in Yellowknife last week, a lot of people in the public have raised questions now with respect to the federal parolees who are at large and living in our communities here in the Northwest Territories. I would like to ask the Minister of Justice what kind of communications take place between federal Corrections Canada and our government, the Department of Justice, with...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. I have a different perspective now when we sit indoors and talk about the communities and the residents that I got to know a little bit better this summer in the course of one short week, and I want to thank everyone who we encountered along the way for their kindness and hospitality. Just to name a very few: the Pellissey family in Wrigley, Fred Andrew and his children in Tulita who we stayed with, and the warm hospitality of Chief Ron Piro and the people of Fort Good Hope. Incidentally, I did run into on this trip, as well, Mr. Bell, Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Minister’s Statement 48-15(3) and would like to report progress and, Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with.

I will call Committee of the Whole to order. We have one statement that has been referred to Committee of the Whole. What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Premier is absolutely right, we do not want to wait five years. There is no sense in closing the barn door after the horses are already out and I am just afraid that there is a stampede in a certain direction here. I am not consoled or assured that we are going to capture the benefits from the resources for our people and, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Premier if he could commit to this House and to the public that getting this agreement in place as soon as possible is his number one priority as the Premier of this government; that in fact...