Statements in Debates
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the response and thank the Premier for that. But I'm still a little bit concerned here, more than a little bit concerned, that we're not going to make progress on these legislative changes within the lifetime of the Assembly. So is the Premier prepared to work with Regular MLAs who might bring forward a private Member's Bill to make these legislative changes, which are essentially housekeeping matters, if the other side can't do it in a reasonable period of time? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
I'm disappointed that the Premier is going to talk about my track record here in working as a city councillor. I know that when I was on the city council, we always worked well with the Yellowknife MLAs, so I'll try to keep this as a fair set of questions here. But why I raise these questions to the Premier is he is responsible for intergovernmental relations. He's also responsible for mandate commitments, and so I'm just going to ask the Premier for firm commitments when it comes to changing the Cities, Towns and Villages Act to allow for local improvement charges in relation to energy...
Merci, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to recognize Mayor Mark Heyck, from the City of Yellowknife, and Sara Brown. She's the executive director with the Northwest Territories Association of Communities, and I believe she's still a constituent, but I know that there's a larger delegation here, as well, on behalf of the Northwest Territories Association of Communities. I want to welcome them to the Chamber today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to table this document entitled "100 per cent Renewable Energy in the Northwest Territories by 2050" by Alternatives North dated October 2016. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
I'd like to reassure the Premier, though, that this is not the first time these changes have been requested. Some of them date back to when I was on city council in 2007. So I'm pleased to hear that we're going to have some more research done; research is great, but I'm looking for action. Changes have been requested to the Property Assessment and Taxation Act. Is that something that's going to happen within the lifetime of this Assembly?
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I know that at least one of the diamond mines has been using some other dust suppressants. Just wondering whether there's been any conversations between the department and the diamond mines in terms of the effectiveness of these other dust suppressants? Thanks, Mr. Chair.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. That's great news because I know there's been a lot of public concerns expressed about that particular stretch of the highway and given that the hotel is operating and there's a lot of tourists that are going to cross the highway to get into the visitors centre as well. That's great news, but I'm just wondering does the Minister see the -- look I don’t want to slow this work down and I don’t think the department does either, but is there an opportunity to at least present the design to folks like the Northern Frontier Visitors Centre, the folks that have the hotel, some of...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table two documents. The first one is a Letter from the City of Yellowknife to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs regarding a Municipal request for legislative changes. The second document, Mr. Speaker, is called "The Northern Way Hybrid Micro-grids Improving Energy Security Through a Northern Alternative to Carbon Pricing.” Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
I'm sorry.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
The Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures will:
Consider the potential for existing or emerging technologies to enhance public access to information and public interaction.
Do further consultation with individual members of the Legislative Assembly, Chairs of standing committees, GNWT officials, and members of the public and organizations; to elicit input on how to enhance transparency and public engagement in the work done by the Standing Committees.
The committee recognizes that further work should be done to examine a number of issues including:
What does “public” really...