Michael McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the ability to transfer unpaid water or sewer bills, service bills, within a municipality applies to the municipal taxation authorities, which are basically the tax-based communities. This is a section that was in there historically. There has been a request to put it back in place. We don’t formally have a dispute mechanism as part of this bill. However, there is a section that allows the communities, through the municipal legislation, to set up a bylaw that will allow for the creation of a dispute mechanism or an appeal board. So the communities have...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we have discussed this issue of the Tuktoyaktuk road on a number of occasions in this House and I have indicated in those discussions that we have a document called Investing in Roads for People and the Economy, which was put together in the year 2000. It highlights a number of issues around the transportation systems, including the roads that need to be improved, the roads that have to be reconstructed, and we have made submissions to the federal government to do a number of reconstruction projects along those lines. We are now drafting a new proposal that...

This funding is intended to promote environmentally sustainable municipal infrastructure. Municipal and Community Affairs has pushed to broaden the project criteria for gas tax funding so that communities can use it to support energy efficient components of other infrastructure; for example, solar panels on a community office.

Mr. Speaker, Whati has been a leader in exploring options for energy conservation and alternative energy sources. However, Whati is not the only community undertaking work in this area. For example, Jean Marie River is looking into solar panel options for the band...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my statement, I talked about the students’ perspective and the whole thing going on with Samuel Hearne. One of the comments the students made was they were wondering if there was a backup plan or why there was no backup plan. So my question today is for the Minister of Education, Mr. Dent. I would like to ask Mr. Dent if there are backup plans in each community in case something happens to the school. If not, why not? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated earlier, the Department of Transportation plays no part in the negotiations. Our obligation lies with the contractor that is hired to provide a service and we are not planning to intervene in any form at this time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is recognized that the Liard ferry services are very important to the people of Nahendeh, especially the communities of Fort Simpson and Wrigley, and will cause some disruption in terms of service for those communities. However, this is a labour dispute between the PSAC employees and a private company, and the Department of Transportation is trying its best to stay out of the discussions and not get involved directly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is important to recognize the needs that Yellowknife has and the pressures they are facing in terms of land, but it is also important to recognize that the Akaitcho Dene have a process that is recognized by the highest law of the land: the federal Crown and the treaties that were signed with them. We have to respect that. I will do my best to ensure that Yellowknife has lands that they can use for some of their needs in the area, but I also have to do my best to ensure that the Yellowknives’ rights are looked after. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for his thought-provoking question.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, it is quite simple how the logjam, as the Member refers to the land issue in and around Yellowknife, would end once the municipality has control over the lands that are turned over to it by this government and once the Akaitcho Dene have their land selection all settled. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it’s difficult to point to exactly all the initiatives because this document is still in draft form. But I would like to assure the Member that the road to Tuktoyaktuk is included in all our discussions and both our proposals. The proposals fit together. It’s all part of a bigger vision statement. There are other initiatives in new areas that we have yet to develop proposals that we’re working on. The Tlicho roads, for example, that we still have to work with the chiefs and we still have to work on realignment. That proposal has to be done. We are also...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for the second day in a row I rise to speak about the Samuel Hearne Secondary School. Today I want to talk about the students’ perspective and some of the things that they are saying. A few students have said that they don’t mind using the college for classrooms because it prepares them for life after high school. One student wonders why the pilings were not repaired over the two-month summer break. She thinks the school should be knocked down and replaced before it knocks itself down. One young lady in her final year is worried whether her younger brother...