Kevin A. Menicoche

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On Friday, May 23, 2008, the Standing Committee on Government Operations presented its Report on the Review of the Report of the Auditor General on the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation Public Housing and Homeownership programs.

Mr. Chair, I would suggest we deal with any general comments members of this committee might have on the report before dealing with the seven recommendations it includes.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and thank you very much, colleagues. I just wanted to say a special thanks to the pages who come from Fort Liard, Ms. Blair Kotchea and Ms. Tina Klondike. They had a nice long travel over here, and I hope they have good, safe travel home.

If the Minister can provide any of the details he’s talking about, or any documentation, that would be helpful to me and my constituents. Certainly, he’ll have my support in moving this forward too.

Thank you very much. I’m very glad to hear they’re seeking not only that but other alternatives. I’d just like to know once again: how soon are they looking at implementing such a program? And do interlock devices require separate legislation, or will they be including that in any amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Drinking and driving remains a serious problem in the NWT. Despite the introduction of new rules and harsher penalties in 2004, impaired driving is still the number one cause of death or injury on our roads.

We do have a useful tool to deal with the NWT’s worst drunk drivers. It is called the ignition interlock device and prevents drivers from using their vehicles if they are not sober. This device requires the driver to provide a breath sample before the engine can be started. It also demands random breath samples while the vehicle is being driven. If the driver does...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I was very happy to hear that our government took the initiative to comment on the events that occurred last week with the apology to residential school victims and survivors that was given by the Prime Minister of Canada. It was very timely, and the feedback over the last ten days of so has led me to believe that…. It was something that was long overdue. It was something that was needed to be heard by all the people who went to residential schools.

I, too, spent many, many years in the residential school system. When I gave my Member’s statement last week, I...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommend the Government of the Northwest Territories conduct a review of its Web site policies and report back on whether the Web site policies comply with the Official Languages policies, guidelines and legislation.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommend that the Housing Corporation include a risk-management component and a strategic plan that identifies and analyzes the risk for the NWT Housing Corporation’s plan for specific actions with details addressing the identified risks, include measures to report on the success of the action plan, and evaluate how the risks are mitigated in a timely fashion.

The committee also recommends that a program evaluation of home ownership programs be carried out to verify how much existing programs can contribute toward the goal of self-reliance and...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I think the course of action here is that there were up to seven recommendations, and they will become committee motions. I will begin with the first one here, Mr. Chair.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I will be voting in favour of this motion.

Constituents and businesses in my communities have indicated over and over again that the BIP provides an advantage to those in the communities. It supports businesses in our communities, and it supports the fact that outside businesses are not moving in and taking away opportunities and even jobs from the communities. It does assist our communities. Just once again, I’ll be voting in favour of the motion.