Robert Bouchard

WHEREAS the Legislative Assembly has established and appointed members of the Northwest Territories Electoral Boundaries Commission, 2012;

AND WHEREAS Section 9(k) of the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act enables the Legislative Assembly to establish guidelines or criteria that shall be taken into consideration by the commission;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Monfwi, that the following guidelines be set out for the NWT Electoral Boundaries Commission, 2012:

The commission shall review the existing electoral districts using the most recent and accurate census and...

Another area of concern that I have with the operation of the park is this year on September 15th, the close of the park was on a Saturday, which people were asked to leave the parks during that weekend. I’m wondering if the Minister would commit to looking at those dates and what those dates fall on as far as weekends, and allowing the access through the closest weekend and then shutting your parks down, not having people removed during the middle of the weekend. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I was pleased to hear the Minister of ITI’s comments today about tourism and parks and I think our staff has done a great job. The residents of the Northwest Territories, however, have been asking for longer access to these parks as the seasons seem to be getting longer, or maybe we’ve had an exceptionally good year. I’m wondering if the department is looking at being a little bit more flexible in getting these parks opened longer and starting a little bit earlier when the weather allows.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today in Edmonton at Government House, three constituents of Hay River North will be receiving recognition from the Royal Life Saving Society. R.J. Benoit, Lucy Benoit and Jordan Groenewegen will be in attendance at the event in which the honourable Lieutenant Governor of Alberta will be recognizing the efforts and quick thinking of these three Hay Riverites as they each receive a commendation and citation today.

Hay River has a beautiful sandy beach on the shores of Great Slave Lake, and the warm water from the mouth of the Hay River makes the mouth of the public beach...

Thank you. I guess the question that I’m trying to get from the Minister is how are we dealing with this shortcoming of 10 long-term beds, acute beds, whatever you want to call it, that are currently in Hay River?

The facility is being built in the community of Hay River right now and the department has been selling, through communications, through press, that this is a facility for 50 years for the community of Hay River, but it doesn’t meet current needs in Hay River. Obviously, the new health care centre will, but they’re removing 10 beds from Hay River and there has never been any plans in...

I am looking for information from the department on when these 10 beds were removed from Hay River, basically. That’s why I was wanting to know when the budget was originally put in and if they were originally in the budget.

Currently, we’re going to be short 10 long-term beds in the community of Hay River. The two questions I had earlier talked about long-term beds. I’m just wondering about the department’s plans and how they plan to fix the issue of long-term beds, from what I see is a mistake in the department’s planning when they planned to build this facility. They didn’t plan to do any...

My other question would be about the facility in Hay River, the health centre in Hay River. How long has that been on the budget of the Government of the Northwest Territories in the planning, and how long has it been on the budget as far as the planning of that facility?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I had a question for the Minister about the upgrade being done in Inuvik, the patient…(inaudible)… management system in Inuvik. Can the Minister maybe just elaborate on that system that’s being upgraded?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The other area of concern that I’ve heard about in the parks area is the on-line booking of the campsites, and my colleague was questioning this earlier. One of the areas of concern that I’ve heard is the fact that some of these stalls are being booked for guests that are coming and they never show up, and some people have been turned away because the booking has been done on-line already. Is there an allotment of certain ones that are being done for on-line and certain ones that are not being done on-line, and are they reviewing that on-line policy after completing one...

I understand the financial commitments with contracts myself, but I’m wondering if the department is willing to at least leave these parks open to access. Often the gates are locked, making it difficult for people who park on the highway, especially in the South Slave area. Kakisa, I know, is one other area. Is the department willing to at least leave the gates open during those times?