Kevin A. Menicoche

Honourable colleagues, mahsi cho for allowing me to conclude my Member’s statement. I just want to point out that the North was born on hunting and trapping, and the land provided for us. The animals provided for us and the furs provided us cash. In this modern day and age, the land is still giving us an opportunity to take care of us through the gas, oil and all the resources that are in the North. Here is our opportunity for the land to continue to take care of us, but today we call it resource revenue sharing. I believe firmly that our government has to urge the federal government to...

Mr. Chairman, we wish to consider Bill 14, Bill 13 and Minister’s Statement 54-15(3) in that order.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Friday, October 22, 2004, I will move the following motion:

I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that the following persons be recommended to the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories for appointment as members of the Human Rights Adjudication Panel for the terms indicated:

Jamie Posynick, chair, for four years;

Ms. Shannon Gullberg, member, for three years; and,

Ms. Joan Mercredi, member, for three years.

Mr. Speaker, certainly this issue, as the Minister inferred, will turn out to be a good news story or a bad news story. The contention of myself and the residents of the Nahendeh riding is that we are the losers, Mr. Speaker. The reduction of service level will certainly impact us. Will the Minister speak to the RCMP on our behalf and lobby to change this? Will the Minister speak to the RCMP and not reduce staffing levels, but rather not fill this position as a cost-saving measure? Mahsi cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Justice. Last week in this House, I raised the issue of the RCMP cutting one staff position at the Fort Simpson detachment. Since then, new information has been brought to my attention that has some bearing on the situation.

For several years up until now, the Fort Simpson RCMP detachment had been consistently manned by seven police officers. However, during the years 2001-02 and 2002-03, the RCMP received special funding from the Treasury Board to add an extra staff member. This was done in recognition of the fact that federal...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With our winter season upon us, I wish to speak to the issue of power rates in the NWT. There continues to be great disparity in the rates charged to northerners for electricity. At the extreme, we have some residents paying 22 times the amount other people are asked to pay. That is 2,200 percent more. I would like to think, Mr. Speaker, that any democratically-elected government with a mandate to treat all of its citizens equally would be concerned with addressing such glaring inequalities. However, that does not seem to be the case with this government. I am...

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Friday, October 22, 2004, I will move the following motion:

Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that the government direct the Northwest Territories Power Corporation to submit a one rate zone proposal as part of its next general rate application to the Public Utilities Board so that public consideration and discussion of this issue can take place. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I decline tabling of documents.

Mr. Speaker, in effect, by not hiring an extra member at that time, the RCMP effectively cut one position already. Now we are being told that we are losing another officer and it is because of low crime statistics and other indicators. Is it just a coincidence that we are losing a second RCMP now that the RCMP has lost this special funding they never spent at the Fort Simpson detachment in the first place? Will the Minister speak with the RCMP on our behalf and see how it is that we not only lost one member, but apparently we lost two members at the Fort Simpson detachment?

I would like to thank my honourable colleagues for allowing me time to conclude my Member’s statement. I would like to remind you all that our current hydro-electric infrastructure was paid for by all the NWT residents with across-the-board rate increases. And yet, now, people in smaller communities who were asked to help people in the larger centres are being told you are on your own. It is too bad. Do we ask people in smaller remote communities to pay more for health care because it costs more to deliver? No, we do not. We understand such things to be a fundamental matter of fairness...