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Statements in Debates

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 44)

I appreciate the response from the Government House Leader, but we're almost three years into devolution and our government has not changed one word of the mirror legislation that was passed with virtually no public input.

Can the Government House Leader or the Premier tell this House and the residents of the Northwest Territories when we can expect to have any legislative changes to reflect the promises that were made around devolve and then evolve?

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 44)

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Premier.

Earlier today I spoke of the legislative inertia of Cabinet. We are about a third of the way through our term, and only six bills, of limited consequences, have come forward. Can the Premier explain what is going on with the ambitious Cabinet legislative agenda? Merci, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 44)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My second written question is Cabinet's November trip to Ottawa. My questions are for the Premier. Members of Cabinet and their support staff travelled to Ottawa during the week of November 21, 2017 for intergovernmental meetings and parliamentary presentations.

Can the Premier provide a list of all GNWT Ministers and staff who travelled to Ottawa for the meetings and,

total costs of travel, including transportation showing air travel by executive versus economy class, accommodation expense and associated allowances;

any related contract costs for the trip, particularly...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 44)

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the response from the Government House Leader, but I've been waiting for about a third of my term now for some of this important legislation to come forward. Really, waiting to see these legislative proposals that are going to come forward from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

I think what's happening here, Mr. Speaker, is that our government is spending an inordinate amount of time on cost reductions to meet Cabinet's fiscal reductions, slashing public services to fund ill-defined infrastructure projects including department amalgamations...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 44)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I had hoped to hear from the Premier as the leader of Cabinet on this, but I'm happy to hear from the House Leader. I would have preferred the Premier.

I'm just not talking about a planning document, Mr. Speaker. I'm talking about the mandate that this House agreed to at the beginning of our term, and, in that mandate document, there's a number of legislative and regulatory changes that were outlined, one new Act, 13 amended laws, and at least two new regulations. None of these have come forward to date.

Can the Premier  I guess I'm going to hear now from the...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 44)

Merci, Monsieur le President. We are now about a third of the way through our term. On December 15, when he became the Premier, he said ''This will be an Assembly of change and better government." This Member and the public are still waiting for the promised changes. To date, there have been a total of 14 bills, eight of which were appropriations. Yes, Mr. Speaker, this Cabinet has introduced an amazing total of six bills in one third of our term.

We may go down in history as the most legislatively lethargic Assembly in history. Those six bills, outside of appropriations, dealt with pithy...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 42)

Merci, Monsieur le President. Earlier today, I spoke of how the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources sees his new authority over water licences as one of determining procedural fairness. The implication is that perhaps we don't believe the land and water boards have procedurally fair processes already. Does the Minister believe that the land and water boards have procedurally fair processes for water licences, and what changes would he like to see? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 42)

Thanks, Mr. Chair. This was an issue that I raised in the review of the public accounts. Somewhere buried in those three or four volumes is a list of all of the students whose loans have been remitted and how much is outstanding, and they actually have the individual names of the students, which I found to be an invasion of their privacy. So I think that's what this is aimed at, trying to find a way to disclose what those amounts are without invading people's privacy. So I do support this and look forward to the other side responding in an appropriate manner. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 42)

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Government Operations for their work on this report. I am not a member of the committee, but I sat in on the review of the public accounts. That was a very thorough review with the assistance of the staff of the Auditor General's office from Ottawa. I agree with the recommendations that have been brought forward.

I want to thank the committee. This one is a good one as my colleague, the Member for Yellowknife Centre, mentioned. First time going through it, it was difficult to understand a lot of what was there. With the...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 42)

My questions are for the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Intergovernmental Relations. Regarding the co-management boards governing the Mackenzie Valley and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, what steps have been taken to track and publicly report on the status of co-management board appointments and vacancies, and:

What measures have been put in place to forewarn of co-management board vacancies;

What measures have been put in place to avoid the occurrence of co-management board vacancies resulting in the loss of board quorum;

What discussions have taken place with the federal Minister of...