Statements in Debates
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I totally agree with the Minister that this is another good argument for getting resource royalty, but that’s something that’s still in the works and this is something that we need to do right away. My colleague from Kam Lake spoke to $32 million going into corrections, $4.5 million into childcare. I mean, there’s something wrong with this picture, Mr. Speaker. Why, besides money, is this government so reluctant to consider putting the childhood development centre as part of the new school in Inuvik? The budget is big enough. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would have to take that question as notice. I am not familiar right now. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we certainly all have to take responsibility when it comes to air quality and environmental issues across the board. At this point, we have shared responsibility with the federal government. We are looking at more than just our lands. We want to ensure that all lands in the NWT are covered. That is my position on where we are going with this. I will continue to monitor the situation. We have regulatory bodies out there that are in charge of ensuring that this happens. We will look to see if there are any areas that are not covered and certainly...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it’s not very often I get to recognize visitors from my riding into the House. I would like to welcome a number of people from the Hay River Reserve; Phillip Fabian, Robert McKay, Angus McKay, Harriet McKay, Brendan McKay and there are also a couple of people who are here who live on the reserve but are formally from my home town of Fort Providence. I would like to say welcome to them. Margaret Elleze is here and also Cecile Bonnetrouge. They are both from Fort Providence. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the honourable Member from Hay River South has raised this issue on a number of occasions before and given the response of government we have undertaken a review of this whole situation and looked and talked to the different municipalities about how the concerns were in those communities and a review was undertaken. It was incorporated into a larger assessment that is being done and headed up by ECE. That process is in its final stages. We’re expecting to see some of the recommendations and options coming forward along with some of the costing associated...
The units are getting older and older and the maintenance crews are asked to do more and more, like I said, with a lot less. Is Novel the answer? I don’t know. I wonder about that. We are talking about a huge investment here. Maybe it’s time we went and asked the communities and listened to what the communities have to say.
Let’s start making some of the decisions based on what the community wants, not what the Housing Corporation and government thinks is best for the community because what is good for one community in this region may not be good for another community in that region. So I would...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, surveys of barren ground caribou herds conducted this summer by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources confirms these herds are declining.
This is a very serious matter that affects many residents in the Northwest Territories. Last winter, few communities were able to access caribou and the harvest was greatly reduced.
A number of actions based on survey results from the Cape Bathurst, Bluenose-East and Bluenose-West barren ground caribou herds were taken this past year to address the decline. This included closing caribou management areas in...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given that question, I take it the grace period for this new portfolio is over. Mr. Speaker, I've taken a look at the number of issues across the board, I listened to the Member as he spoke the other day about the concerns for the environment, for the air, for the water, for a number of different things that are affecting our wildlife, and I also heard very clearly today when the Member mentioned there are issues that don't recognize boundaries. I've been having discussions with our staff in the last couple hours about how do we approach this, and I'm going to take...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is an issue that’s come forward as something that we need to deal with. The initial draft was done I think in 1988. It’s been some time since the act has been replaced and it requires a review. We’ve done that and there are recommendations coming forward recognizing there are discrepancies between the general taxation area and municipal taxation. So there are a number of issues that we have to deal with, and the Member has highlighted some of them here, and we’re hoping to be able to rectify the situation then and maybe look at something that if we’re...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to take the opportunity to thank all of those involved in helping making this a successful week for two Pages from Fort Providence. I wanted to say thank you to Laitha Nadli and Dori-Ann Lafoin, who are with us, who have worked as Pages since Monday.
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Today is their last day. I hope it was an enjoyable and educational experience for both of them. I hope that they will have some great stories to tell and share with their teachers at the Deh Gah School and also for their families when they get back home. I also wanted to take the opportunity to...