Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Premier for that response. I don't think that committees are going to cut it. There has been one new committee established. The standing committee that reviewed the Climate Change Strategic Framework asked for a climate change act, some real action. That is not what we have.

While we have the students here in the gallery, we need some new leadership, vision, and action to deal with the climate change crisis. What would the Premier like to say to our youth to instil hope and confidence that the NWT is doing its part to meet the climate change...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that information. I mentioned that there is no notice of the extra time for check-in on the Yellowknife Airport Authority website, and there does not seem to be much collaboration with airline partners as there is no information that I can find on their websites about the need for an early check-in. Can the Minister tell us how the department would improve its communications next time around regarding planned construction delays at the Yellowknife airport?

I want to thank the Minister for that. The funding came through in December, and the news release from the department went out on May the 10th, 10 days after the work was already started. I think the Minister would agree that it's a pretty big deal missing your flight because you arrived too late at the airport, and I understand the Minister has some personal experience with this, so I hope that we would all agree that a comprehensive multimedia awareness campaign alerting the public to these facts is very important to convey to air travellers in Yellowknife. Can the Minister explain why there...

Merci, Monsieur le President. On May 1st, CBC ran a story about how renovations to the main baggage screening area at the Yellowknife airport would cause delays in passenger boarding. The Department of Infrastructure was quoted as saying passengers needed to arrive at check-in 90 minutes before flight time instead of the usual 60. There was no GNWT media release, and no other media outlets carried the story that day.

Two days later, in the May 3rd Yellowknifer, there was a two-inch story, and the Yellowknife Airport Authority ran an ad telling people to arrive at the airport 30 minutes earlier...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I wish to table the following document. It's a letter dated April 25, 2019, from the Giant Mine Oversight Board to Crown Indigenous Relations, Northern Affairs Canada, regarding Observations on Measure 6: Evaluation of Long-Term Funding Options. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

I want to thank the Minister for that detailed information. I guess I missed the ad on April 24th, but the news release from the department, not everybody tweets, not everybody has access to the Internet. The news release only went out on May 10th, 10 days after the work was already started. Can the Minister tell us when this work is going to be completed at the airport and how many people have missed their flights as a result of this work?

Merci, Monsieur le President. My statement earlier today outlined the sequence of providing airline passengers with crucial information regarding flight check-in times at the Yellowknife Airport. I have given the Minister advance warning of questions today, so I wonder if he could first tell me: how far in advance did the Yellowknife managers know about the renovations in the baggage area, and how long were they told the renovations would take to complete? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Just to be clear, I support the chair of Caucus' position that we vote against the recommendation, which is what this motion is all about. Right now, these allowances are treated as taxable income. We are now paying taxes on them effective January the 1st. We don't have any choice in that matter. That decision was made for us by Revenue Canada. What the recommendation from the commission was and the motion is is that those allowances now become accountable. I think I've heard from all of the speakers that we don't think that that's a good way to proceed. If that's what you...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I'd like to thank the commission for bringing this to our attention. I didn't know about it as a Regular MLA that there were two tiers of healthcare insurance between Regular MLAs and our Cabinet and the Speaker. I thank them for bringing this to our attention. As I understand, the information that we've been provided, the cost of doing this for the 11 Regular MLAs, the additional premiums would be about $9,500 a year. I think that it's only fair that all MLAs should be treated equally. I do support this. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Unlike the previous speaker, I will be supporting this. I think most good employers do actually provide some assistance with pension and retirement planning, and I don't know why the Legislative Assembly would be any different. I think we should be doing this for the Members who are not returning, so I will support the motion. Thanks, Mr. Chair.