Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to welcome and recognize Colette Langlois, the Ombud for the NWT, and I think she is a constituent of mine in Hay River South. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess when this first came up and there was talk about the foundational review, I was under the impression that it would be to take a look at Aurora College and make that stronger. Then, for some reason, it morphed into a university, and I am not sure why. I wasn't happy with that at first. Now I have looked at it. I have looked at it over time, and I look back at my life, I guess, because I did go south. I am proud to say I graduated. I went to my grade one to 13 here in the Northwest Territories, and then, I went south for nine years to school. Part of that was in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This past week I witnessed and participated in a decision-making process where there appeared to be a misunderstanding with respect to a matter that would provide housing to approximately 42 people in Yellowknife; a misunderstanding that blew up in the press, and one that could have easily been avoided if this government gave serious thought to the benefit of the project, a project with many moving parts.

I give credit to the Yellowknife Women's Society, who identified a serious need in the community and have identified a potential solution to address and action this...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess the other area that we don't tap into, for whatever reason, is through immigration and doctors and professionals from other countries. Why is that? I guess I know why it is, but I want to hear it from you why that is and what we are going to do about it or what we can do about it, working in conjunction with the federal government. Thank you, Madam Chair.

I thank you for that, and you are right. We do have to look at anything that comes forward because if we can piece something together and make it whole, then that is kind of what we want. It is up to us, I think, as government, in the bureaucracy, to go out and talk to the people. It is kind of like the training for trades and that. You bring somebody in, talk to all the employees. It would be nice to do the same with counsellors as well. It is not hard to do. For me, you will just call somebody up and say, can you come over, but not everybody can do that. Sometimes, people are just so busy...

Like I said, for Hay River, that is a very important industry, and for, I think, communities around the lake. We have got stock there. We don't have to feed it. It is just waiting to be caught and go in the frying pan, so we have to take this seriously. The other thing is that I guess I am concerned that sometimes the expertise we use within the communities, we use the bureaucracy and the bureaucrats who don't quite have that expertise, but they may think they do. I want to make sure that we actually have somebody who knows, who can provide us with some sound advice on how to proceed with this...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess before my time runs out I had better talk about the fish plant. Basically, where are we on the construction of that? Are we making any headway, or have we begun looking at it again? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The other issue, I guess, is we do have that agricultural strategy in place, and I am hoping that we do something with it. In talking to some of the growers in the area, one of the problems they have is that, in the South Slave, there is no access to land. It is a big problem. They are allowed a little portion there, and they tried to move out past their lot lines there, and I am sure that Lands will go after them at some point for that. I am just wondering if there is anything that we could do in the South Slave to allow some lands to be opened up, even if it is on a...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just one more question, and that is: right now, we need to make sure that the money we are spending is spent in the North. The contracts that we're giving out have to go to Northerners. Is the government willing to commit to looking at negotiated contracts in the interim to make this happen? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. With respect to the business cases for the three major projects, where are we with them and how long will it take to complete each of them? Thank you.