Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister Ramsay.

Mr. Chair, thanks to the Minister for finally acquiescing and agreeing that we complain to him. I’m not proposing that the government implement a service, but I think the government has a bit of a responsibility to assist the community or communities that do want to try and put the service into place. I appreciate the Minister’s position here. As long as some support is provided, I think that’s fair.

The Minister mentioned ground ambulance. I was going to wait for the next page, but I will mention it here. It’s kind of all part of the same thing. I wanted to just point out that the Minister has...

Page 11-23, Transportation, information item, highways, active positions.

Mr. Nadli.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just have a couple of comments here. I’ll start where Mr. Dolynny left off with the Mackenzie Valley Highway, the road from Inuvik to Tuk. I, too, am concerned. I appreciate that the Minister has advised that we haven’t got a decision yet, but we also don’t yet know the total cost of the project. Sometimes I feel that we are heading pell-mell down a road without considering what’s at the end of the road when we get there, and I just want to say that I am extremely cautious about this project. Once bitten, twice shy. And the Deh Cho Bridge, having gone through the Deh...

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. Minister Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a few questions here. I’ll start with the emergency preparedness. The Minister heard a number of people, in their general comments, talk about emergency preparedness and our need to have capacity for communities and the government as well, but communities and the government to be able to deal with things that happen, either major items within the community but also on our highways which, unfortunately, we had evidence of in the last little while.

My first question has to do with staff, and we did have a larger complement of staff in the emergency preparedness...

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Page 11-21, Transportation, activity summary, highways, operations expenditure summary, $64.766 million.

Thank you, committee. Sergeant-at-Arms, if you would please escort the witnesses into the Chamber.

Minister McLeod, please introduce your witnesses for the House.

Thanks to the Minister. I guess if the Minister is looking to be efficient and to reduce work, I really don’t understand why he’s establishing a committee. We are committed to death, I think, in this government.

I’d like to know from the Minister why we would not simply do something as simple as tying minimum wage to the cost of living and do increases to the minimum wage when our cost of living increases. Thank you.