Robert Bouchard

The sequence and timing of the event that unfolded on this summer evening was nothing but miraculous. We celebrated their rescue from near disaster and the quick thinking of R.J., Lucy and Jordan.

So many of our communities in the North are located where they are because of the proximity to waterways and lakes. They provide recreation and much enjoyment for residents and visitors alike, but access to these waters requires knowledge, respect and extreme caution.

Please join me today in thanking the Royal Life Saving Society of Alberta and the Northwest Territories for the valuable work they do...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Again, I’m not getting a straight answer from the Minister. My concern is that he talks to me about every other community – Norman Wells, Sahtu, Fort Smith – but my concern is obviously with the concern of this facility that it’s not meeting all of the needs of the community of Hay River right now and I’m looking for a when.

This facility is going to be completed around ‘14-15. I’m wondering when I am going to see a line item on the budget of the territorial government that these 10 long-term care beds are going to be replaced in the community of Hay River, the second...

My question, along those lines, is the accommodation of those individuals. Does that mean moving them to other communities where the services are being provided? Would they be moving to Norman Wells? Would they be moving to Inuvik? Would they be moving to other places where there are obviously long-term care facilities being planned on the budget? What is the plan, I guess, for those long-term care people?

The Minister obviously knows my concerns about the 10 long-term beds being removed from the current facility and not being replaced in the new facility, and I understand the department’s justification for that. My question is: Were the beds originally in the facility plans? Do they know that?

Thank you, Madam Chair. My question is similar to that along those same lines as the funding arrangement for this capital infrastructure. Indications from the previous numbers… Are there no changes in those numbers? The $28 million has been fixed in for a few years, and is there any indication from the department that that will change at all in the next couple of years? It seems difficult to me, the fact that these numbers are staying steady, but yet the communities and municipalities are all seeing different pressures in CPI, other expenditures where we’re not matching, we’re not keeping up...

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Monday, October 22, 2012, I will move the following motion: 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 other population data available;

In keeping with Canadian constitutional conventions and the notion of effective representation, the commission shall make recommendations to achieve relative parity between electoral districts while...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s good to be back here in the House with my colleagues dealing with the important issues of the Northwest Territories. I will equate it to coming to a big family reunion. Everyone is happy to see each other, shake each other’s hand, and shortly after that give each other a jab or two. This morning I was a recipient of most of the jabs, the ribbing, because I wasn’t here for the first day of session. I was travelling with the Minister for Arctic Winter Games. My colleagues know that, but they still had no problem giving me not-so-smart comments. Glad you could make it...

…(inaudible)…I understand that the infrastructure money and the O and M money are closely linked in the fact of demand and stuff. One of the questions I have is the formula, as far as my understanding, is it’s a base-plus and base given to each community plus their per capita plus some other factors. I understand that the department consults with the Association of Municipalities; however, that association has two sides. It has small communities and the larger centres. Some issues they separate the discussion; some issues they continue discussion together. They’re an organization that works...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Like my colleagues, I am fairly supportive of the projects that are in the capital budget. It’s probably one of our lighter budgets, but I do have some concerns in the area of timelines, in the areas of highways and buildings being constructed and the fact that the government has decided to look at these in the fall time in order to be able to put them into operation in the summertime. Somewhere down the road, no pun intended, these are getting farther and farther down the line so we’re beginning projects in July and August and getting into the rainy seasons in the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to recognize Lorne Kusugak from Nunavut, who I also had a chance to travel with over the last couple days. Welcome to the House.