Kevin A. Menicoche

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.

I would like to ask the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation some questions, most particularly on the appeal system. Also, I would just like to thank him for coming to the Nahendeh riding. We did visit a few communities there, and we look forward to a return visit.

The continued concern that I get on a daily basis when I travel in my communities is basically appealing decisions by the housing corporation board. They are wanting to follow up on issues. I’m finding that an appeals system — and it’s something that I’ve been pursuing for some time now — if it were in place, would...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to honour the passing of an elder: Madeline Villeneuve from Fort Simpson. Madeline — best known as Madeleine, as she had been called all her life — was the oldest member of our community. She was 101 years old by church records. However, other elders and community members maintain she was far older than that. She was definitely the oldest one in our community and our region. She had lived a long and formidable life: from bows and arrows through to the moon landing, as it was said in her eulogy. This is significant, Mr. Speaker, because I read recently that the...

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to waive Rule 93(4) and that Committee Report 3-16(2) be moved into Committee of the Whole today.

Unanimous consent granted.

Committee Report 3-16(2) referred to Committee of the Whole for consideration today.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to provide a report from the Standing Committee on Government Operations on the 2006–2007 Annual Report from the Official Languages Commissioner of the Northwest Territories.

The Standing Committee on Government Operations met on April 9, 2008, to review the 2006–2007 Annual Report of the Languages Commissioner. The committee would like to thank Ms. Shannon Gullberg for appearing before us.

The committee is glad to see that the commission’s web site is now operational and information about the complaints process is available in all official languages. The committee...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Committee Report 2-16(2) be received by the Assembly and moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration.

Will the process include any public consultations? Mahsi.