Kevin A. Menicoche

Mr. Speaker, I wish to report to the Assembly that the Standing Committee on Government Operations has reviewed Bill 14, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act; Bill 16, Write-off of Debts Act, 2008–2009; and Bill 17, Forgiveness of Debts Act, 2008–2009. I wish to report that Bills 14, 16 and 17 are now ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole.

Mr. Speaker, the herd in Fort Liard is classified as free roaming. That only means that there isn’t a bison management plan, which is what I expect the Minister is referencing. Once again, how much consultation has he been doing with the community and with the community leadership with regard to coming up with an agreeable bison management plan?

Mr. Speaker, today I rise to raise my continued displeasure with the free-roaming herd in the community of Fort Liard and also to extend a welcome to the Minister of ENR to come to Fort Liard to continue his tour. I have raised this issue before on the promises of a bison management plan. My main concern is the safety of children, as the herd does freely roam through the town.

I would like to reiterate the concerns. A huge concern for the residents is damage that occurs to personal property such as fencing, gardens, automobiles and all terrain vehicles. As well, there’s the issue of...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I’m glad to be reviewing the capital estimates of 2009–2010. As we had deliberated on the document and the different challenges, I, of course, have a regional perspective, more particularly from my riding. Roads and highways and our winter roads are of prime importance. There’s not a day that goes by that we’re not affected by the roads and the ability to travel on the roads. Particularly this spring, for instance, on Highway No. 7 there was actually a major failure in the base of that road, and they actually shut the highway down. That created a lot of...

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to know the government’s position on property damage. There’s a lady that had her vehicle damaged, and one fellow lost all his propane, because the propane line was broken as a result of the bison. I’d just like to know the government’s stand on reimbursement for damages by the bison.

Mr. Speaker, just following up on my Member’s statement with regard to the bison issue in Fort Liard, I’d like to ask the Minister of Natural Resources: what steps have been taken in Fort Liard since May of this year when I raised the bison management issue?

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Once again I would like to invite the Minister to continue the tour of the Nahendeh riding to address this issue and many others with regard to his department. Mahsi.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The Minister put her finger on it exactly: having that dependable, reliable service in the community makes people more relaxed and, I believe, more healthy.

Once again, I would like the Minister to comment on working towards having full time nursing. If it is working towards 2011, I would be very happy to work with her, along with the community, toward more frequent, consistent visits. Thank you.

Absolutely, I’m glad that the Minister wants to follow through this commitment of restoring nursing services to Wrigley. Just with respect to Dehcho Health and Social Services, they are a very efficient and effective board for our region. I, too, commend them for that.

I also know Wrigley’s got a facility. The nursing position is within their budget, and all they’ve got to do now is allocate that person year and move them to Wrigley. I’m not too sure what the difficulty there is now that there’s going to be some safety there.

I still do not know what the possible reason is for not following...

[Statement delivered in aboriginal language and then in English.]

Mr. Speaker, one long standing issue facing the community of Wrigley has been a lack of permanent nursing and policing services. The government’s position has been that until there are police stationed in Wrigley, Health and Social Services would not station a permanent nurse there.

The situation has changed, Mr. Speaker. There is now a guarantee that there will soon be policing services in that community, and I want to thank the Minister of Justice and the Government of the Northwest Territories for that.

On the same note, I do...