Michael Nadli

How would the department work on behalf of communities to ensure that some of those federal dollars that the federal government has committed will be available for communities in terms of establishing technology, whether broadband or fibre optics? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My questions are to the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Recently I made a statement, obviously, about the broadband accomplishments on the reserve. I wanted to ask the Minister if he could update this House in terms of the GNWT’s involvement with the broadband initiative of the fibre optic link on the reserve. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a couple of comments. First of all I’d like to congratulate the department on its recognition of its efforts to maintain our labour force within government. That being said, I was somewhat reserved in terms of this initiative to go to Ottawa and seek people from outside the NWT to move into the North and basically join the workforce.

I acknowledge that it’s a challenge of hiring Northerners and First Nations people in the NWT. The act itself of going to Ottawa and recruiting people from outside of the NWT presumes that it’s a matter of fact that we have a challenge...

I move that we report progress.

---Carried

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Good afternoon. We’re well into the second half of the 17th Legislative Assembly. I’d like to highlight some of the significant accomplishments in my beautiful Deh Cho riding and the important work that remains to be done.

Progress has been made on the new Fort Providence Health Centre. The foundation is ready and the construction will resume in April. Community members and especially front-line workers look forward to the completion of the new facility.

I would like to congratulate Mr. John Leskiw, the new mayor-elect of Enterprise, on winning the recent election...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Travelling by vehicle on NWT highways is a common experience for most northern residents. Seasonal driving conditions on all NWT highways vary from excellent to treacherous. Driving safely and consciously with extra vigilance is a must for travellers on NWT highways.

Last week a constituent of mine experienced a near tragic situation. The vehicle in which they were driving hit a patch of black ice and went off the road and ended up in the ditch. Luckily for the driver, a Good Samaritan happened on the incident and stopped to check on the vehicle, then walked off the road...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would have to put my statement aside, but picking up some points from the statement that I’d planned today, first and foremost I have to commend the Minister for taking a bold step, and Cabinet, in terms of increasing the Heritage Fund from 5 to 25 percent, a fairly significant investment for the NWT.

Nonetheless, the Heritage Fund is a vital component of how we use the revenues from our non-renewable resources. As we approach the implementation of the Devolution Agreement, the role of the Heritage Fund is among the important decisions that the NWT has to make...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just some general comments in terms of what’s before us in the main estimates and the budget, of course, of government. Just my comments in terms of the content and the process, or more so the content.

I think it’s fair to say there’s much less than what we wished for on behalf of our constituents and their desires to improve their communities and to ensure they have healthy families and they have opportunities for jobs and businesses. Whether those points are reflected in the budget at this time remains to be seen, but for the most part it’s just the process of which we...

There seems to be a call of action for this government to put in place some provisions to ensure that the commercial harvest activities of mushrooms are, first of all, regulated. At the same time, there’s a level of control to ensure that this very precious natural resource is protected, so it seems that the Minister needs to do something.

Is the Minister prepared to step towards an interim provision to protect mushrooms? Would the Minister consider establishing immediately an arrangement with First Nations on their traditional lands to put in place a traditional knowledge study of morels...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. My constituency, of course, is situated very close to the southern NWT with easy highway access. Basically the Deh Cho, in the heart of the region, there was tremendous forest fire activity last year that basically rendered a lot of the forests highly impacted by an unfortunate natural occurrence. Yet at the same time, it’s February at this point and summer is dawning. This matter has been raised in the House before.

My question to the Minister is: What changes to legislation need to be made in order...