Sandy Lee

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, further to my Member’s statement, my questions are to the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation. In anticipation of his answers, let me just state that challenging the government on these policies does not speak to anything about us not caring about social housing. I just wanted to say that. I believe that it’s an accepted premise here that we all want to work to increase housing in the North and meet some of the housing needs. My issue with the Minister is the way in which this market housing initiative was brought up and how it was...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t know if the Premier could answer this, but I see that there are many people at the table in this committee and GNWT and DIAND being the government representatives, but all of the other aboriginal governments both in Nunavut and the NWT are represented. I am just wondering if the government is expected to answer to this and if there is an opportunity for the government to respond whether the government could reiterate the importance of consultation for the committee to put this action plan into work. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, further to my Member’s statement about the recently released management plan for the Bathurst Caribou herd, in light of the rather eye-catching headline in the newspaper today that read, “Caribou hunt ban in plan." It is something that would raise concerns of many avid hunters everywhere in the North. I suppose, Mr. Speaker, that might be the outcome in the end, is we don’t collectively manage the caribou herd in a way that could sustain and that could give all of the residents of the Territories the privilege to hunt for sustenance as well as recreation...

Just as a short follow-up, Madam Chair. I know that people listen to what goes on here just when we don’t think that they are. One observer e-mailed me to let me know that there was an ad in the paper, in News/North, asking for a tender to renovate one of the clinics, I think it was Great Slave Clinic. She heard the Minister in the House going back and forth about options of consolidating clinics and she wanted to know if there were any plans to consolidate these, then why are we renovating one of these clinics. For the benefit of the public and for me, could the Minister give some...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I believe this is where we deal with the contracts for physicians. Correct me if I’m wrong. No? Okay, I will wait for the right area for that question, sorry. Here is also where I could, I think, speak about infections and diseases. Madam Chair, I know, from having been through a lot of briefings, that the GNWT also tops the national stats on the rate of infectious diseases, including sexually-transmitted diseases. I think this section deals with all of them. I know that the department is trying to increase their activities in this area and I think that the...

Yes, on that point, yesterday, Madam Chair, you were asking whether there was any piece of good news that we could speak about. I think there has been some good news about less drinking and there are fewer people being caught drinking and driving. Even though the laws have been made to be more stringent and restricting over the last Christmas, I think the statistics there turned out to be a lot better than it was in the past.

Staying on the prevention of FASD and what the government is doing and what kind of work is being done on this issue, what are we expecting to come out of the discussions...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the government’s commitment to make sure that all the communication and consultation is done. Mr. Speaker, one of the recommendations that the plan makes is to develop, publicize and implement community-based hunting rules and territory hunting regulations in order to avoid wounding and wastage of wildlife. I think there could never be enough promotion and publicizing of the importance of hunting responsibly. Could I ask the Premier to direct these officials to make sure that this is done properly and well? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In fact, one of the objectives of the committee is to ensure that the plan is implemented and information about progress on management actions is shared with all stakeholders and users. Mr. Speaker, I might add that most of the plan is about how to monitor and manage the herd better. One of the things that the plan recommends is that the GNWT change the regulations with regard to the quotas and the numbers. We know that, being here for so many years, wildlife legislation has been in the works for a very long time. It hasn’t been introduced. Could I ask the Premier...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker I would like to take this opportunity to comment on the Bathurst Caribou Management Plan, tabled in the House this week. Mr. Speaker, my riding of Range Lake is most noticeable as the home of national chain stores like Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire. But what many may not know is that it is also home to many avid hunters, both aboriginal and non-aboriginal. In fact, Mr. Speaker, I have to tell you, I was quite surprised at how often the issues of rights and privileges of game hunting came up during my door-to-door campaign. This is an intense passion for...

Thank you for that. I will be watching this issue and will pursue it at a later time.

I see on page 6-22 it says that this division is responsible for physician negotiations, vital statistics registration, acute and long-term care planning and other things. I just want to throw in here a question about the fact that the physician negotiations have been completed and the contract is good for the next four years. We know that the bargaining is going on between the government and the UNW that includes the nurses and other health care professionals. I wonder, because I am very intrigued by what...