Yellowknife North

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 45)

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that, on Monday, November 2, 2020, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that, pursuant to rule 92(1), the Legislative Assembly hereby establish a Special Committee on Reconciliation and Indigenous Affairs. And further, that the following Members be named to the special committee: Mrs. Lesa Semmler, the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes; Mr. Steve Norn, the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh; Mr. Rylund Johnson, the Member for Yellowknife North; the Honourable R.J. Simpson, Member for Hay River North; and...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 45)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm just going to ask that question one more time a different way. I recognize we're sending this project for approval. It may go to environmental assessment, in all likelihood. We need to have a lot of detail. Is part of the plan to include extending power lines? Obviously, this would require running them up the Ingraham Trail and then down the road, which would be another huge project. I want to clarify whether the project as defined to Lockhart Lake includes transmission lines. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 45)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am glad to hear the Minister commit to reviewing this. In my experience, I am confused what this clause does because we fund plenty of tourism businesses through SEED, and to me, every time we fund one, they are disrupting the market in comparison to their competitors. I helped one of my constituent fishermen get SEED funding. Then another complained that they did not get a government subsidy, so I had to go help them. It seems that, every time we give government grants, we are disrupting the market. To me, that is the goal. Is the Minister willing to just accept that...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 45)

Thank you, Madam Chair. There have been a number of different assessments of this road and benefit-cost analysis. One of the problems is many of the ones I have seen, they do the analysis based on there being hydro, based on the road going to Nunavut, based on the port existing. I have yet to see a business case for just Lockhart Lake road, which is what we are proposing to build. We're proposing to build a road that doesn't get to the diamond mines, that doesn't have hydro. Is the Minister willing to go and do the business case for just that? Funding for this is ultimately up to political...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 45)

I am glad that the Minister is working to find that top-up internally. We are hearing this year that there is $4.3 million of demand for SEED applications. I can only imagine that this demand will continue next year. Really making sure that our entrepreneurs can find that capital in these tough times, I think, is central to our recovery. Is the Minister willing to increase the SEED funding in next year's operations budget?

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 45)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm happy to do we are doing this in phases. I recognize it's not our decision whether it goes to EA. I don't think it's much secret that it probably will go to the environmental assessment. I want to get the sense: say we get regular approvals; we get those in 2024, let's say past the life of this Assembly; say we're approved, and we have funding for just phase 1 of Lockhart Lake. Will we build the road to Lockhart Lake, start construction, or are we going to wait to get regulatory approval and funding secured for the other phases? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 43)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Presently, ENR has a wildlife veterinarian. They do lots of great work. It's essential work to making sure the population and health of our wildlife is there. I now learn that public health has a bit of a role in zoonotics and MACA seemingly has some of a role but seems to deny it consistently. My question for the Minister of health is: is it possible to work with those departments, see if there are some gaps here, and possibly create a funding pool to address them?

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 43)

Today is actually an appropriate day to talk about zoonotics as the first dog in Canada tested positive for COVID-19 today, so there is a bit of an overlap. One of my main concerns in this area and one of the great works that the NWT SPCA does is making sure dogs are vaccinated for rabies and making sure rabies does not then transfer to the human population. Presently, that is not being done in all of the communities. Can the Minister of health put together a plan to make sure we are having rabies vaccines in all of our communities?

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 43)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Committee's discussion with the IPC turned to the subject of "open government." The purpose of open government is to make information the government holds easily available to the public. A person would not need to make a special request for information. This makes government more accessible and accountable. It could also reduce ATIPP requests.

The IPC noted the benefits of government building access and privacy into programs, policies, and legislation as they are developed. This process is called "access by design" or "proactive disclosure." It helps ensure that the...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 43)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before I begin today, I'd like to thank the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh for raising the idea of Detah providing fire services for the Ingraham Trail. I'll note that this is actually from Detah to the junction as opposed to the Yellowknife North Fire Hall to the junction is actually a few kilometers shorter, so it could result in a quicker response time. Also, the risk profile of a fire occurring in the Detah and the Ingraham Trail at the same time is much lower than a fire occurring in Yellowknife and the Ingraham Trail. I hope the Minister can get all those parties...