Michael McLeod

Mr. Speaker, I think it was during the last session in this House we passed the motion supporting Deline as the birthplace of hockey. We have had some discussions with the community. The community is looking at it as somewhat of a marketing or tourism, or could be viewed as a tourism attraction for the community. We are also looking at ways that we can do some promotion as a department. We have looked at working with the community to possibly purchase some jerseys that would reflect that this is the birthplace of hockey, and in some team arm patches that would also do the same. I...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to speak on an issue that affects the NWT and recently has become a major concern in Inuvik. That issue, Mr. Speaker, is the dramatic increase in crimes committed by youth. During a meeting in Inuvik we heard many cases of youth committing criminal offences in the community. Crimes range from assaults to arson to underage drinking, and a huge increase in property crimes, including break and enter and thefts. Last year alone, Mr. Speaker, in Inuvik there was 771 property crimes. Out of those reported, 617, or 80 percent, were committed by youth...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to speak on an issue that affects the NWT and recently has become a major concern in Inuvik. That issue, Mr. Speaker, is the dramatic increase in crimes committed by youth. During a meeting in Inuvik we heard many cases of youth committing criminal offences in the community. Crimes range from assaults to arson to underage drinking, and a huge increase in property crimes, including break and enter and thefts. Last year alone, Mr. Speaker, in Inuvik there was 771 property crimes. Out of those reported, 617, or 80 percent, were committed by youth...

Mr. Speaker, we will be glad to entertain any requests from the communities. We will certainly make the commitment to work with the community and involve other departments to move this important initiative forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we will be glad to entertain any requests from the communities. We will certainly make the commitment to work with the community and involve other departments to move this important initiative forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are certainly not contesting that fact. We have passed a motion in this House acknowledging that. We have not heard from the community requesting any support in the area of international recognition. We would be glad to sit down and talk to them along with maybe some of our partners and the Sports Council. Until that happens, we are not aware of what specifically is being requested. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We would be glad to share that information with the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is correct; the ferry at Fort Simpson and other locations over the years have been put on a scheduled service. The intention was to see if it would result in some savings in terms of fuel. Over the last couple of months, I directed out staff to do an analysis of whether that is the case to see if there is any positive results of having scheduled service versus on-call and on-demand service. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I’m not sure if I heard a question in there. We have certainly agreed with some of the principles that were mentioned by the honourable Member regarding prevention. We have a number of programs that are earmarked towards the youth at risk. We are also looking at ways we could encourage our youth to become good leaders, good role models. We’ve started a number of programs that encourage that and we continue to work with our youth in setting up conferences where they can speak up and have their voices heard. We’ve also embarked on setting up a Youth Ambassador Program that we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, being elected to public office is something that we should not take lightly. A lot of people think being elected to public office is a popularity contest, but I don’t agree with that. I think people now see a lot more to it than that. That being said, Mr. Speaker, when we are elected we should be held accountable to the very people that represent us. I always like to think that I am a reflection of the community that I represent. By the same token, Cabinet is a representative of this side of the House. We elect the Cabinet Members, we put them there, and...