Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am honoured today to recognize my wife, Judy, up in the gallery…

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…and my sister-in-law, Debbie. Welcome.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have titled my Member’s statement today, What do I Tell Them? Sometimes in our duties as MLAs we receive many questions from constituents on the way our government does business. What do I tell them, Mr. Speaker, when the decisions in attitude puzzles even me? What do I tell family when they want to know why their mother and grandmother didn’t return home? Do I tell them she was improperly transported when she came to Yellowknife for a medical appointment? What are we supposed to tell frontline workers and people needing treatment that a consultant...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I stated when I opened my questioning, that I wasn’t looking for anyone to blame, I was just looking for some answers so we can come up with some type of solution. In speaking to the family members of the lady that had the trouble, you know, they’re also looking for answers. So I’d like to ask the Minister, has he asked for an inquiry or an internal investigation into the incident to be sure that further incidents like this don’t happen again? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for the past few days I’ve been speaking on the travel with medical travel and I’ve paid particular interest to the case of a lady from Inuvik who had experienced some difficulty while being transported in a taxi. My intent, Mr. Speaker, is not to blame anybody. It’s to see if we can find the problem and find solutions. That’s why I’ve been questioning Mr. Miltenberger. Providing on-the-ground transportation should be an essential service. It should not be a business and a lot of people give him business then they will tend to cut a few corners so...

Mr. Speaker, each airport facility operates under federal legislation and is required to have an emergency plan. There are only four communities, I believe, that have backup generators and that’s Yellowknife, Hay River, Inuvik, and Norman Wells. In the case of the smaller communities, the flare pots are the acceptable process and fall within the legislation that we are required to follow and that’s what we use in the case of an emergency. We don’t have a plan to put in emergency generators in any of these communities. In fact, the communities that had the emergency generators, in the case of...

Mr. Speaker, in the case of the communities where they don’t have emergency backup generators for their airports, we expect the communities to use the flare pots that are available. In the event that there is a power outage or an emergency, that is the process that’s in place and that is acceptable for the federal legislation in the airports act. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I wasn’t aware the Member had a hybrid vehicle that he could plug in.

Mr. Speaker, we have taken the opportunity to review a number of initiatives across the government to see how we could incorporate better use of our facilities, our vehicles, and ways we can save on energy. This is one of them. This is something we thought might be of use. We’ve looked at it. We’ve looked at what’s happening in other jurisdictions. We’re not satisfied it’s going to work all that well, so we are moving away from it. So it’s not going to happen April 1st. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a list here of people that are taking the governance course through MACA. I recognize a number of them from various communities across the North. There is a large delegation from Deline: Albertine Ayha, Greg Bahya, Jane Modeste-Goulet, Michael Neyelle, Christine Takazo, Charlotte Tetso, and Raymond Tutcho. From Wrigley, Gaylene Oskenekisses.

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Also from Fort McPherson, Leslie Blake.

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From Fort Resolution, Rabbit, Wilfred Simon.

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And someone that is close to Mr. Yakeleya’s heart, originally from Fort Providence...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Spring has always been an important time in the North with our long and dark winters. Northerners, more than most people, are ready to celebrate the arrival of spring.

Historically, springtime festivities in the North have been an important social occasion when families, friends and neighbours join together, renew their ties and celebrate the return of the warm spring sun and the weather. That tradition continues today with spring carnivals being held in communities across the Northwest Territories. An important part of that tradition is the Kamba Carnival hosted by...

Mr. Minister, I wish to table the following documents entitled Corridors for Canada II: Building on our Success, and Connecting Canada: Coast to Coast to Coast. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.