Michael McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement I spoke to the concerns of the Slow-pitch Association in Inuvik. I would like to direct my questions today to the Minister of Public Works and Services. I would like to ask him what his department is doing to consult with stakeholders in Inuvik just to ensure that all their issues are taken care of. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that commitment. I look forward to the ride. I would like to ask the Minister, before I asked him, how does the department determine how much highway to dust control? Now I would like to ask the Minister, who decides how much of that highway we can apply dust control to? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Highway No. 8 is always a difficult highway to drive sometimes. There is a lot of dust and a lot of potholes. I would like to ask the Minister of Transportation how the Department of Transportation determines the amount of dust control they are going to apply onto a road in a year if there is a 152-kilometre stretch from Inuvik to Fort McPherson that needs it? How do they determine that? I would like to know if it is cost or safety. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Slow-pitch Association in the Town of Inuvik knows how important a new school is and the Slow-pitch Association had no problems giving up their ball field. Who would have the authority to enter into an agreement with the Slow-pitch Association to replace their existing ball field? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in a little while, the construction of a new school is going to be starting up in Inuvik. On the proposed site where this new school is going to be built, there is a ball field, Mr. Speaker. That is what I would like to speak to today.

The Slow-pitch Association put a lot of money into this new ball field. My understanding is they raised close to $150,000 and put it into this field. That is not including the in-kind donations they had for equipment and manpower. They have been told that, when they start building the school, they will build them a new...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It was interesting listening to all of the discussion going around the room here. Had I known that the deletion of these two positions was going to bring the pipeline to a halt, the government to a standstill, then I wouldn’t have moved it. What I have been hearing is things won’t happen unless we get these two positions. I don’t agree with that. Two hundred ninety-one thousand dollars can go towards a couple of nurses in the communities. Two hundred ninety-one thousand dollars could go to a dialysis machine in the Beaufort-Delta which is going to need one soon. We...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a common theme we heard in our travels across the Northwest Territories in the last year or so, other than elder abuse, was the fact that a lot of people want to see an Aftercare Program for alcohol and people who are seeking treatment have a couple of options. They can go to southern NWT or they can go to the South. One of the big concerns I know from my region is, again, the Aftercare Program. When they do come back, there really is no programs in place for them.

Mr. Speaker, alcohol is a big part of the Northwest Territories and it’s probably one of the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to move this motion because I feel that we have some positions already dedicated to resource development and with everything slowing down, I don’t see the need, to be quite honest with you, to have two more regional development impact advisory positions in the regions. I am concerned as to where they would go. I have no idea if they are going to be going to Yellowknife, Hay River or Inuvik.

I just feel, Mr. Chair, that we continue to come up with all these titles and put money into it and that money could be better spent, in my opinion, on programs. We have some...

I firmly believe that. I would not stand up and support this if I didn’t practise it. I’m proud of the fact that I can come down to Yellowknife, meet with my colleagues and we don’t go running off to the bar after a hard day of debating Bill No. 8. That’s the type of leadership we need. We shouldn’t be up here saying do as I say not as I do. We have to practise what we preach because you can say all the words that you want, you can talk until you’re blue in the face, but people will see you and they’ll judge you by the way you carry yourself and the kind of lifestyle you lead. So that’s...

My question is for the Minister of Health and Social Services.

Please provide information on the numbers of clients from the Beaufort-Delta region who attended alcohol and drug treatment centres outside of the region.

Please provide information on the amount of money spent on these clients to travel outside of the region to receive alcohol and drug treatment.

Thank you.