Wendy Bisaro

Mr. Speaker, I was going to ask the Minister if he would come back to committee for input, but he’s beat me to the punch, so good for you.

I would urge the Minister to get a policy in place as soon as possible. These kinds of projects are somewhat unusual, and we need to have as much governance, as much of an umbrella for overseeing these projects as possible.

If the Minister could respond to my question in terms of timing — I realize that “as soon as possible” could mean tomorrow; it could also mean three years from now — if he could give me a narrower time frame, I’d appreciate that.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Minister’s willingness to look into this issue, and I would hope he would do that and report back.

Does the Minister agree that there is a need for developing a policy to administer P3 projects?

Today I’d like to wish everyone Happy Valentine’s Day and, in my statement, highlight a sport that I love. I want to alert all Members of this House to an upcoming event that is sure to please and delight even the grumpiest among us.

The N.W.T. Power Corporation Junior Cager and Senior Cager Basketball Championships will be held in Yellowknife February 22 to 24 and February 29 to March 1. Members can go to any school in Yellowknife on either of these weekends and witness kids from communities across the North having fun and playing my favourite sport. Basketball rules!

Mr. Speaker, these two...

Mr. Speaker, I think I heard the Minister said yes in there, that he would look into a policy. Having assumed that yes, there is a policy about to be formulated, I’d like to know when that might happen and when we could expect to see the completed document.

Mr. Speaker, my questions are directed to the Minister of Public Works and Services. Over the years the G.N.W.T. has used a number of different methods to facilitate and advance infrastructure projects. One of these is a Public/Private Partnership, an example of which we’re currently experiencing.

As the G.N.W.T.’s infrastructure deficit grows ever larger, it is likely that P3 projects or business-facilitated projects will become more and more commonplace. I’m concerned that this government does not have adequate policies and procedures in place to adequately handle and monitor these kinds of...

Mr. Chairman, I just have a couple of comments. This is a new process for me. This is the first sup appropriation that I have seen, and I want to echo the comments of my colleague Mr. McLeod, in that it seems to me that many of these expenditures in this supplementary appropriation should have been foreseen, particularly the utility costs. I don’t think it was a surprise to anybody. A year ago I think we should have been able to know that our utility costs were going to increase, and they should have been budgeted for.

There are a couple of other things in here, as well. From what I see in this...

Mr. Speaker, I’m glad to hear that the Minister is open to working with the Council of Persons with Disabilities. I’d be most pleased to help him facilitate that.

I mentioned in my statement that I believe that persons with disabilities priority ought to be changed. I would like to know whether or not the Minister would consider that for revision, changing the priority for persons with disabilities from P2 to P1?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues.

We need to remedy this situation as soon as possible and can do that by removing barriers to hiring persons with disabilities. We must: (1) change the Affirmative Action Policy to show persons with disabilities as P1 priority — a no-cost budget item, and (2) establish a career assistance program for persons with disabilities. I can provide information on that to the Minister of Human Resources for whom I will have questions later on.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’m a little dismayed at the amount of this item: the $739,000 for the increase in contributions to the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority pension plan. It seems to me, and from what I understand, that this is an extra contribution that’s been required in the past several years. I’m wondering whether or not we can soon expect that these employees will become part of the G.N.W.T. public service so we can avoid having this extra expense.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Minister’s reluctance to state an answer right here. But I would urge that we move forward on changing the priority.

For me, it’s a no-cost item. We’re simply encouraging. We are giving people employment who deserve it, and we’re not actually spending any extra money.

One of the things I discovered in looking at this issue is there’s an interesting item on the Human Resources department’s online manual, which shows that, for management positions, persons with disabilities are not listed as P2; they’re listed as P3. They come after indigenous aboriginals and women.

I...