Kevin A. Menicoche

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I would like to present a petition dealing with the matter of the Wrigley ferry crossing.

The petition contains 66 signatures of Nahendeh residents. The petitioners request that the Department of Transportation work to have the Wrigley ferry in service at the end of May so that the students of the Chief Julian Yendo School can participate in the track and field event in Hay River from June 4 to 6, 2008.

Well, the next logical question. They’ve been telling me: “Our trip’s been interrupted. We’ve done our planning; the department didn’t. Is the department willing to contribute to some of the costs of getting us across the river, getting us to our sporting event?” Indeed, constituents are also asking for assistance to get out, because it’s not their fault, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Transportation. I’ve been getting numerous phone calls from the community of Wrigley. As well, I’ve received a petition with regard to the N’Dulee ferry not being operated, and they’re very concerned about it being delayed a week already. They do not know how much longer it’ll be delayed. If the Minister can answer that question. Mahsi.

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Mr. Speaker, I'd like to speak to you today about the shortage of housing for our teachers in our small and remote communities.

On two occasions this year and every fall in my riding I have at least one or two teachers who are affected by the shortage of housing, by issues with housing.

Our North, our communities really do welcome the professionals willing to come up to our small, remote communities and into the North. I know government has been working on solutions, and they have indicated there's a program to assist businesses to build and provide these homes...

Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition dealing with the matter of regional position reductions in the sports, recreation and youth area. The petition contains 37 signatures of young people from the Deh Cho region. The petitioners request that the Members of the Legislative Assembly reconsider proposed regional positions and reduction to the sports, recreation and youth area.

The NWT has an Environmental Protection Act. Under this act, we also have a consolidation of spill contingency planning and reporting regulations. Anyone who stores more than 20,000 litres of contaminants above ground needs to file a spill contingency plan with the department. Can the Minister confirm that Northland Utilities had filed a spill contingency plan for the Trout Lake power station operation that accounts sufficiently for the circumstances and remoteness of that community? Mahsi.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Earlier in my Member’s statement, I talked about the diesel fuel spill in Trout Lake. In my opinion, this contamination was avoidable. Northland Utilities knew that the tank was sitting on unstable ground. Why was there no berm in place and why wasn’t a flexible feeding pipe used from the beginning? The community of Trout Lake is most concerned about avoiding anything similar happening again.

My question to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources concerns the planning and preparedness of such emergency situations, where the goal is to prevent situations like...

Mr. Speaker, the Deh Cho Drum took the recent contamination of the Trout Lake oil spill so seriously that they called it the Exxon Valdez of Trout Lake.

Trout Lake is a small, fly-in-only community in the Nahendeh riding. People take pride in their traditions, their pristine surroundings and still live off the land. They use the lake for drinking water and to fish and to provide sustenance. They have protected their environment for a long time and are proud for the food it provides to them.

At this time people in my constituency are still very concerned about what was allowed to happen: 9,500...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Just with regard to the bill and the budget that’s before us, I’ve given it lots of thought. I’ve read the budget documents. I’ve given them lots of thought, as I have as well to all the requests that I’ve been working with Cabinet for the past seven months. It’s been my experience as a previous Member in the 15th Assembly that often when we’re lobbying Cabinet and the Ministers on the floor of the House here, we’re talking about our issues. We’re talking about our roads, our housing issues, our health issues, our lack of teacher housing. It’s been my...

Mr. Speaker, I would like to present a petition dealing with the matter of Fort Simpson Airport maintenance services. Mr. Speaker, the petition contains 309 signatures of Nahendeh residents. The petitioners request that the Legislative Assembly represent Nahendeh residents by opposing plans to privatize Fort Simpson Airport maintenance services.