Michael McLeod

Mr. Speaker, I have a return to oral question asked by Mr. Yakeleya on October 20, 2005, regarding the Food Mail Program pilot project.

In order to reduce the cost of nutritious food and promote healthy eating, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, INAC, with funding from Health Canada carried out a series of Food Mail Program pilot projects in three isolated northern communities: Fort Severn, Ontario; Kangiqsujuaq, Nunavik; and Kugaaruk, Nunavut. The GNWT did not participate.

The pilot projects will be reviewed in the near future to evaluate the impact of reducing the cost of priority...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to recognize three well-known and respected northerners who are recent recipients of the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards. It is said, Mr. Speaker, that laughter is the best medicine, and with that being the case then George Tuccaro has been curing many people across the NWT for years.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can’t give a specific date, but we’ll have our staff go into the community as soon as possible. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think it would be premature for me to commit to installing traffic lights at the intersection of Behchoko at this point. We weren’t aware that there was a safety concern at that intersection. We are doing a review of what roads are public access roads that we have on inventory. We will certainly look at the request from the Member. Other communities have also requested to have lights installed at their intersections. That is something that we will have to take into consideration as part of a review. We will also start looking at what public access...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister spoke of dedicated staff across the Northwest Territories. I'm sure there are not dedicated staff or positions here in Yellowknife that could move across the Northwest Territories. So my final question to the Minister, with this particular constituent that I'm dealing with, the Minister says we can't overrule the decision. So will he look into this constituent's concern and make a good business decision, or is this a final decision? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister talks about regulations. I'm sure these regulations aren't written in stone, and I'm sure we do have the authority, or I'd like to know if the Minister has the authority to overrule some of these decisions, based on facts, not on regulations. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is our concern, also. We had some of our people, our staff, go onto the boat last night, and we are taking the steps to ensure that this vessel is safe. It is an asset that is owned by the government, and we will do everything in our power to make sure that it's safe and the security is there. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday we indicated to the House that the ferry was going to be shut down yesterday evening. That did happen. The contractor did park the ferry at 6:00 p.m. yesterday, so the service was discontinued. Operations are now suspended until further notice. We are considering the actions of the contractor to be a breach of contract and have notified the contractor, or are in the process of notifying the contractor, that it is so. We will look at ways to continue the service sometime early next week. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister look at establishing regional offices that have the authority to make decisions for the students, once these regulations are changed? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I look behind me and I see all these students from the school here in Yellowknife, and some day they'll be applying for SFA when they go to college. I'm sure people here wouldn't want to have their decisions made from an office in Inuvik or Fort Smith. So I would like to ask the Minister of Education, why are there no regional offices in the NWT with the authority to make decisions? Thank you.