Sandy Lee

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, for the mainstream male operators, it might seem quite normal to sit around the table where all the players are men. They might not even notice that something is amiss when this is happening. But I’m telling you this is not acceptable in the year 2004. I must say over and over again that we must have a government that reflects the face it serves. We expect the Premier and Cabinet to take intentional and deliberate actions to make sure this happens: that our decision-making body has real representation from the other gender and all of...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. May I have the breakdown for other expenses, please?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm wondering if the Premier could commit to providing us with regular reports in writing, whether the forum itself or from the government, as to what the government is hearing. I think this group advised to the Intergovernmental Forum, Aboriginal Summit, and the GNWT is part of that whole process. I would be interested in knowing what they have to say about the economic development question. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The last question on the lighting situation, I can understand the need to have cameras and lights around the building in case someone wants to trespass or break into our offices or something. I can see that. But why do they need to have the roof lit up? What is the security situation there? Are we afraid of someone intruding from above?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I think we are familiar with the tendering process for more tangible things like 22 mobile homes or firefighting services or something like that, but do these kinds of contracts, consultants, have to go through the same process as those capital projects? Is there some sort of mechanism within each department or each division as to what the guidelines or parameters of each contract is, and is there a requirement for an open contract process? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don’t have general comments, per se, but I do want to ask our new Speaker on some of the things I was talking about in the last Assembly. I remember at the end of the last Assembly in the late hours here as the former Clerk of the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Hamilton, was ready to retire I raised questions about the fact that it was good timing as we were going through a big renewal because Mr. Hamilton was here for so long and provided great service. I did raise a question about what kind of a succession plan the Legislative Assembly has in terms of balancing out the...

Thank you. Maybe I should just ask questions. How much of it was for contract services under other expenses?

Thank you. I want to speak in favour of this motion. There are valid opinions and expectations out there on the part of the people that the government is careful at all times about the money that it spends. Mr. Braden is right in saying that good policies should result in good results, but it doesn’t go far enough. We do know that government isn’t always careful about the money that it spends, and it would not always pass the scrutiny test of how we spend our dollars I am sure. If I had my way, I would add to this motion reporting of all the charter flights that we travel with within the...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just one more follow-up on the staff retention component. Could I get some more details about what is involved in that? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would be interested in getting that information from the Minister perhaps department by department. If there is a huge expenditure, something above, I don't know what huge is, I think the range is anywhere from $5,000 to $800,000. I would appreciate getting that sort of information. My final question is whether or not government, as a client in all its variation of departments, do they qualify for a subsidy on those utility bills? Thank you.