Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just have one comment and one question, I guess. I think the Minister is well aware that as communities accept more and more responsibility for their own affairs, they are also, at the same time, gaining more and more buildings and infrastructure, therefore, more and more costs. This infrastructure budget has remained the same for quite some time, but the responsibilities of communities have grown. This infrastructure budget can’t stay the same forever. So my question to the Minister is: When are communities going to see an increase in the infrastructure budget so...

Thank you, Madam Chair. We would like to continue consideration of Tabled Document 107-17(4), NWT Capital Estimates 2014-15. We’d like to start with the NWT Housing Corporation and, time permitting, Municipal and Community Affairs, Public Works and Services, and Health and Social Services. Thank you.

That is what I’m asking. I’m asking for an opportunity for Members who want to hear from you as Minister and from staff, what we are putting forward in this joint group that is developing a response, a federal response. We get briefings all the time, and what I’m asking is for a briefing on what the GNWT is saying at the table where this federal response is being developed.

Will the Minister commit to a briefing to myself, in particular, but to any other Members who wish to attend to know what we are saying at the table with the feds?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. I would like to ask the Minister some questions as a bit of a follow-up to the motion that this House passed the other day with regard to the Giant Mine Remediation Project. I think the Minister is well aware that Members on this side of the House, particularly Yellowknife Members, are very interested in the recommendations from that report and are very interested in knowing what the GNWT is going to say about that report.

So my first question to the Minister is to know from him how...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to follow up on my Member’s statement from today and I have some questions today for the Minister of Justice. I discussed proposed amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act in my Member’s statement, and a discussion paper which the Minister had put out during the month of September. One of the items in the discussion paper that I did not mention is titled Consistency with the Condominium Act and there are several provisions in there which the department is suggesting to bring the Residential Tenancies Act in line with the Condominium Act. I agree with the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For the month of September, NWT residents had the opportunity to provide comments to the Minister of Justice about proposed amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act. Since first elected, I have been expressing concerns about that act and asking for some amendments to this piece of legislation. I’m very glad to see that change is potentially on the horizon.

The discussion paper circulated by Justice was thorough and it asked for input on most of the issues I have been talking about for the last five years. However, one issue was notably lacking, one which I hope the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to move that the committee defer consideration of the department summary for the Department of Transportation at this time.

No, that’s good. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. To Mr. Miltenberger’s comments about this adding funding to the budget, I thought I clearly heard Mr. Bromley say that money could be reallocated from a project that takes up an extremely large chunk of the Transportation budget, take $1 million and put it into this particular Detah road that he’s asking for. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The committee reviewed dozens of police reports from every community in the region. These monthly summaries from the RCMP are further testament to the carnage wrought by alcohol abuse, the suffering endured in every community, and the burden on police and other government services.

In a year, calls for service to RCMP in the Sahtu are approximately equal to the population of the region: 2,750 calls in 2012. Alcohol is a factor in most crimes and complaints.

Far more alarming is the number of assaults. In 2012, RCMP recorded 255 assaults in Sahtu communities. This is...