Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Monday, February 11, 2013, I will move that Bill 1, Tlicho Statutes Amendment Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, we had identified $200,000 in the past for ground ambulance and highway services. We had some communities take us up on that money. Once they realized there is a huge liability without the proper training, they kind of backed off a bit.

We are looking at the overall picture. There is a departmental advisory committee that’s looking at it right now, and we’re waiting to see what they come back with, what some of their recommendations might be. So we are looking forward to that. Once we get that, we’ll be able to share it with the Members. We will share it with NWTAC, and look...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Through the office of the assistant fire marshal in each region, we’re working with community fire departments to identify training and anything else they may need. I believe that work has been done and we are just waiting to hear. Once shortcomings are identified, we will work with the communities and try and get them trained up, or work with them in identifying potential pieces of equipment they may need. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, it is an ongoing review. I will contact those that are involved, and see where they’re at, and see if there are any preliminary findings that I can share with the Members. I will be sure to give that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, one of the things we heard from NWTAC and a lot of the communities that are on the highway system, is their lack of capacity to respond to accidents that might be outside the town. We have $200,000 that was earmarked for ground ambulance and highway service rescue. We have decided that we’re going to allocate some of that for training. So we’ll have a lot of people in communities that are trained to be first responders. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize a few residents of Inuvik. We have Lisa Semmler up there. Mr. Jozef Carnogurski. Topsy Cockney is up there. I’d also like to recognize Caroline Lennie from Tsiigehtchic. Welcome to the Assembly.

Mr. Speaker, our programs are designed to be more consistent, so all three zones are treated equally. If the Member has specific examples of inconsistencies, I would be pleased to sit down with the Member and hear from the Member any particular cases and we will investigate.

With the new rent scale program, it is very consistent across the board. If there are any inconsistencies the Member pointed out, we would like to know about them so we can address them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, the income levels for seniors, especially those that are on a very fixed income, the rent assessment won’t change very much. We do have a scale where they are allowed to get up to a certain amount in increases before the rent changes. With the small increases they get with pensions especially, that really doesn’t affect the minimum rent or the rent that they will be paying. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Member to repeat her question, if you don’t mind.

I would have to find out to see if I have any powers to make a decision today, because as the Minister responsible for Consumer Affairs, if I were to say we want the price on par with the rest of the NWT, do I have that power? I need to find that out before I make statements like that. I have a bit of research to do here. I’ve committed to a couple of Members that I intend on doing that and that I will return to the Members with any information that I may have gathered.