Michael McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of the Public Utilities Board, Mr. McLeod. I’d like to ask the Minister if there’s any residency requirements to sit on the Public Utilities Board according to the act? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we’ve had to increase our staff requirements at the Liard River crossing from two crews that operated historically through the contract process to three crews now and we did have some shortcomings when it came to some of the engineers. The engineers that had worked for the previous contractor no longer wanted to come to work for the territorial government with some of the issues around the lack of vacation pay and issues of that nature. We did go out and seek individuals that could be recertified and we have Transport Canada coming to the North, I think...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the early '70s, not too many people knew where the Northwest Territories was. A group of skiers started travelling all over the world and people, after that, realized where the Northwest Territories was. We owe them a great deal of thanks. I believe they put the Northwest Territories on the map. With that, I would like to recognize a recent recipient of the Aboriginal Achievement Award and former resident of Inuvik, Ms. Shirley Firth-Larson. Welcome.

---Applause

Mr. Speaker, this year, at the outset of our ferry operating season, we did experience some problems acquiring the necessary engineers to operate the ferry at the Liard River crossing. We have now identified the individuals that are needed. We are in the process of recertifying some of the people that will be working in an engineering capacity for the summer, and that’s being done by Transport Canada. We have an official coming to the North to do that. We also experienced some problems with the Nduli ferry, and the contractor has indicated to us now that he has resolved that issue and we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on May 24th at 12:17 p.m., an event happened that changed my life forever. That event, Mr. Speaker, was the birth of my very first grandchild.

---Applause

My grandson was born to my daughter Kim and her husband, Raymond. What this has to do with the Legislative Assembly, that is a good question. I am glad you all asked it. As I held the boy for the first time, I had a new perspective on what I do for a living. I wondered what was in store for him. I wondered about his future and the future of the other children that were born in Inuvik. We have had a...

Mr. Speaker, this year, at the outset of our ferry operating season, we did experience some problems acquiring the necessary engineers to operate the ferry at the Liard River crossing. We have now identified the individuals that are needed. We are in the process of recertifying some of the people that will be working in an engineering capacity for the summer, and that’s being done by Transport Canada. We have an official coming to the North to do that. We also experienced some problems with the Nduli ferry, and the contractor has indicated to us now that he has resolved that issue and we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we’ve had to increase our staff requirements at the Liard River crossing from two crews that operated historically through the contract process to three crews now and we did have some shortcomings when it came to some of the engineers. The engineers that had worked for the previous contractor no longer wanted to come to work for the territorial government with some of the issues around the lack of vacation pay and issues of that nature. We did go out and seek individuals that could be recertified and we have Transport Canada coming to the North, I think...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on May 24th at 12:17 p.m., an event happened that changed my life forever. That event, Mr. Speaker, was the birth of my very first grandchild.

---Applause

My grandson was born to my daughter Kim and her husband, Raymond. What this has to do with the Legislative Assembly, that is a good question. I am glad you all asked it. As I held the boy for the first time, I had a new perspective on what I do for a living. I wondered what was in store for him. I wondered about his future and the future of the other children that were born in Inuvik. We have had a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the early '70s, not too many people knew where the Northwest Territories was. A group of skiers started travelling all over the world and people, after that, realized where the Northwest Territories was. We owe them a great deal of thanks. I believe they put the Northwest Territories on the map. With that, I would like to recognize a recent recipient of the Aboriginal Achievement Award and former resident of Inuvik, Ms. Shirley Firth-Larson. Welcome.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Minister for that. When I speak of on-the-ground transportation I’m usually referring to all of them because they all, as far as I’m concerned, are linked. So there’s 147 new positions going into the government and there’s 98 of them in Yellowknife alone. Would we not be able to allocate two of those 98 positions whose only function will be to pick up medical patients? Thank you.