Tom Beaulieu

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. During my recent visit to Fort Resolution I discovered the community services officer position had been reduced to half time.

In the small communities, as I indicated many times in this House, we have very low employment rates. We cannot afford to give up even a half PY; especially a GNWT half PY, something that this government has direct control over.

I thought there was plenty of work for a community services officer in the small communities. The requirement for information is usually what holds up the income support payments. People in small communities that do not...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Dene people and their leaders are feeling very under-represented by this government with respect to the Premier signing the agreement-in-principle on lands and resources. Mr. Speaker, whose land are we talking about? The original landowners for most of this great Territory are Dene. In the Akaitcho Territory, land claim negotiations with the federal government are far from being settled and yet this government, with the federal government support, wants to take control of Dene land and resources before these negotiations to be completed. Mr. Speaker, yes, it comes with...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As indicated by my colleague Mr. Hawkins, I think it was a very good thing through the Committee on Rural and Remote Communities to put in an employment program for small communities. Very much needed. I’ve talked in this House about employment rates a lot, the low employment rates in the small communities. This is really an opportunity for some of those employment rates in these small communities to be increased. I know that this money that’s going into the sustainability of rural and remote communities goes into the base, so it’s a very positive move on the part of...

Mr. Speaker, how does the Premier plan to address what appears to be a very complex regulatory process right across the Territory and specifically in the unsettled areas? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have more questions for the Premier on the agreement-in-principle.

Mr. Speaker, in the area of resource exploration and resource development, what is the Premier’s plan to address any unforeseen costs that exceed what is agreed to by the federal government in the agreement-in-principle? Thank you.

On January 13, 2011, Aboriginal governments presented a protocol agreement to the Minister. The Premier had made some changes and presented it back to the Aboriginal governments. The Aboriginal governments didn’t accept that. Is the Premier prepared to go back to Aboriginals and seriously consider the protocol agreement that was sent to him in its form on January 13, 2011?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Premier on the AIP. The devolution AIP is a roadmap that sets out the course of negotiations for the final agreement that the final agreement will follow. Five Aboriginal governments have already indicated some portions of the AIP are not in their best interest. Aboriginal governments have reiterated their substantive concerns with the AIP to the GNWT. The Premier wishes to include Aboriginal in the final agreement and if this requires a departure from the existing terms of the AIP to accommodate the interests of the Aboriginal, will the Premier...

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In that design, is the Premier in active discussions with the Aboriginal governments in designing a regulatory process that sits well with the Aboriginal governments of those regions? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, will the Premier secure some sort of decentralized model for the resource development personnel that will positively impact Aboriginal communities with the federal government? Thank you.