Nahendeh

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 43)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be speaking today on the devolution agreement-in-principle, specifically on the way in which it was signed by the Premier and the INAC Minister. I raised this at the start of this session.

Although the Premier points out that the AIP has been years in the making, from the perspective of the Dehcho leadership, the signing of the AIP was still done too quickly and without adequate consultation. The Dehcho and other Dene leaders feel it is the great big giveaway by the feds and a great big land grab by the GNWT.

Leaderships do not feel that their concerns were heard...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 43)

That is what I expected. It is a little bit more technical in nature and I will be glad to provide a written internal memorandum to the Ministers’ office. Thank you.

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 43)

I’d like to thank Mr. Aumond for that response. I think if there’s a way to work with the Village of Fort Simpson and to work with MACA to go to the bank and say there’s a contribution here that won’t impact their budget too much, I’d certainly like to see that kind of dialogue and I’d certainly like to facilitate that kind of dialogue as well. I’ll take that into consideration. I do have a trip planned to Fort Simpson by the week’s end. I’ll certainly raise it with Mr. Mayor and his council and see if they’ve had any more thinking around this. The other fact is, is that opportunity still...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 43)

I see that the amount stays the same for 2011-12, which is good to see. Just in terms of the Extraordinary Funding Policy, what are some of the guidelines that surround that policy?

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 43)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I just wanted this opportunity to comment on a few of the initiatives and a few of the issues in my communities that were raised with me during the course of my community tours. I think the biggest one is that as I tour all the smaller communities, they continue to raise the issues with the New Deal and capacity. They still really do not find that there’s enough money there to run their communities. One of the communities, the cost of street lighting alone far exceeds what was budgeted by the New Deal formula system. I think it was, like, $10,000 or $12,000 a...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 43)

I think the Aboriginal groups are looking at what they want is the resources to have a real good look at the agreement-in-principle to see if it’s something that’s consistent with their priorities and principles, yet they have to sign on board to access those resources. Has the Premier given any thought of any other way of assisting our Aboriginal governments to review the agreement-in-principle other than by signing on board?

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 43)

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Premier with some questions related to my Member’s statement. I know the AIP agreement on devolution, there are some firm agreements in place, but I think without getting on board, there is still some distrust by Aboriginal organizations. They do want to review it but they cannot get access to the resources to assist them unless they actually sign on board. Has the Premier or Cabinet discussed this and what is the best way to address their concerns?

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 43)

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The other thing I did a statement in the House about was supporting our youth drummers. I would like to ask the Minister. Is it somewhere in one of these contribution programs that a proposal may fit in there, Mr. Chairman? Thank you.

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 43)

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have got more of a technical thing for the Minister and his deputy; hopefully they can answer it for me. During the last constituency visit to Fort Liard, I had a couple of constituents who do get land taxes, they get land taxes on the land they are on but they don’t know if they actually own the land. Anywhere else in the world you pay taxes on land that you own, so they ask me to raise the issue, so I thought it was a good opportunity. Perhaps the Minister can answer that. I know that people that lease land, that actually have the deed to the lease of the land...

Debates of , 16th Assembly, 5th Session (day 43)

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Just with the grants and contributions for ground ambulance and highway rescue, the Village of Fort Simpson has been asking about this line item for some time now and of course the concern is that if there is an incident on the highway system, then the fire department has to leave the community with the only fire truck that is available, leaving the community at risk for a little while there. That’s a concern. I think the Minister is on the working group for the ground ambulance and highway rescue and did indicate it would be in the millions of dollars...