Kevin A. Menicoche

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated in my Member’s statement, as well, I’m pleased that our cancer rates aren’t increasing, and I’m also pleased that we’ve undertaken a program called the cancer sharing circles. The report only spoke about three communities. I am supportive of it.

What is the ministry going to do about increasing the number of cancer sharing circles and the frequency of it in all our communities? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Certainly, I know that we do have a Cancer Strategy and it’s well on track, but at the same time, when the Minister says go see your health professionals, we’ve got communities like Wrigley, Colville Lake, Tsiigehtchic, all my other communities, Nahanni Butte, we’ve got no nurses there, and people have not been tracked. They’ve gotten lost in the system and there are cases where follow-up was not done.

How is the Minister and how is our health system going to address this?

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It certainly impacts the well-touted Corridors for Canada III plan of the Department of Transportation. I’m just wondering: What does the department have? Will the department come back for a Corridors for Canada III divided by half proposal? How is the department going to manage all those initiatives? I know we had great discussion in committee and it seemed like a great plan, but now with the reduced amount the Minister has already said he doesn’t know how much he’s actually getting because there are still discussions happening.

I guess the other question, too...

That’s the exact amount of money I need to reconstruct Highway No. 7.

---Laughter

That’s great news. Maybe the Minister can detail how that $258 million will be broken up – he did indicate I think it was municipalities and transportation – maybe what kind of dialogue and is it $258 million over 10 years. How is that $258 million allocated for the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This six-week budget session would not be complete without me repeating my two favourite words: Highway 7.

The recent federal budget just gave this topic further mileage. The federal government has renewed funding with the new Building Canada Plan in this year’s budget and the Department of Transportation’s Corridors for Canada III plan is part of the new Building Canada Plan, this country’s longest and largest infrastructure plan ever. The Northwest Territories will be getting a small fraction of the $53 billion, and we need a plan to repair the fractured highways of...

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I thought we had dealt with this or the House had dealt with this before and the results were clear; the majority did not support 21 seats, and here we are debating it again and all for the same reasons.

I just want to say that I continue to be consistent that I don’t support 21 Members. We have a 19 MLA solution. It’s not the perfect solution, but it’s a solution now. I think this can be revisited in the 18th Assembly. Some Members spoke about Yellowknife close to but at the upper limit, but they’re not over at this point. I believe that it can be revisited in...

I know that Transportation had an excellent Corridors for Canada III proposal, Building for Prosperity. That was $600 million over a 10-year period and it addressed many of the concerns in each of our constituencies and, in fact, for the whole of the Northwest Territories.

How does that funding impact our ability to follow through with Corridors for Canada III: Building for Prosperity in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to follow up with questions to the Minister of Transportation about my initial concern for my riding and the residents of Fort Liard and reconstruction of Highway No. 7. I know that in this year’s federal budget they have indicated a new Building Canada Plan. It’s $53 billion. I don’t know that they had time to talk with the departments, talk with their federal counterparts, and see just how much of that money will be available for our Northwest Territories government in building infrastructure for our Northwest Territories.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Once again, for new employees, entry-level jobs are often overqualified and they don’t get attention for the years of experience and training that the individuals we have.

Does the plan address this fact? Are they reviewing those entry-level jobs and lowering the qualifications because people cannot get in. When you want a new employee, it’s about just getting them in there. They’ll learn the system; they’ll learn the organization and become long-term and valuable employees. Can the Minister look into that?

One of the issues raised was when they created a new financial shared services division, a long-term employee with many years of experience and training applied for a management job and yet that person wasn’t qualified. Once again, I question the government’s ability to over-qualify jobs and not giving enough attention to many, many years of service. How is this plan addressing that? Thank you.