Paul Delorey

Thank you, Madam Chair. Is all of the government under the self-insurance program now? Are all government assets under self-insurance programs now? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I noted in my Member’s statement as well, this is a hardship for some folks that have a family and if they are not getting this record they can’t draw employment insurance. So could I get a commitment from the Minister that he will communicate that to all of the departments to try and speed this process up so that we rectify this problem? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I stated in my Member’s statement, the rules under HRDC are that records of employment have to be submitted within five days of the termination of employment. Do those rules apply to the territorial government? Are they the same as they are for other employers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to draw attention to an apparent problem that has arisen within our government. The problem I refer to, Mr. Speaker, is the fact that several of my constituents have waited an inordinate amount of time for their record of employment from our government.

As most people are aware, Mr. Speaker, a record of employment is required by Human Resources Development Canada in order for a person to qualify for unemployment benefits. Mr. Speaker, in the employment insurance guide issued by HRDC it states that a record of employment must be issued within...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Premier and they're to do with my line of questioning that I had raised previously. I would like to ask the Premier what direction he's given to his Cabinet Ministers when it comes to dealing with the business incentive policy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it’s really unfortunate that we spent so much time on this very issue over the last four years and we have so many issues in front of us right now, big issues to deal with with this government, and I’m very much afraid that this issue is going to rear its ugly head again and take up an awful lot of our time. I’m aware of other departments that are looking at playing with the BIP, whether it’s the local preference or the 15 percent on different contracts. If this government has the BIP policy and if they feel that it’s an important policy to this government...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if there are no changes to the business incentive policy, is the Minister aware of any of the departments within the government that are putting out contracts and not applying the business incentive policy to them? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to clarify, I am glad that my colleague Mrs. Groenewegen is finally recognizing her constituency assistant.

---Laughter

Sitting next to her is Jennifer Tweedie, a constituent of mine, and her mom. Jennifer is here to go through this unfortunate thing of having to come over here to give birth. So welcome to the Legislature.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Premier for those answers, but at the same time we have a policy that government follows, and that policy was put in place to benefit northern businesses, to encourage northern business to build capacity and be able to survive in the North. I don't believe that if Cabinet is going to take a view of this now that we're going to be picking and choosing on what projects we can apply the BIP on. For two years, we've been asking what is the cost to government and how much are we saving by doing this. We have not been able to see these figures yet...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, from that answer am I to take that Cabinet is going to have a look at every contract that's going out from departments? If a department comes to Cabinet with a contract to say we want to waive the BIP on this, they're just going to be picking and choosing what projects they're going to apply the BIP to and what they aren't. Is that the direction we're going now? Thank you.