Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On April 1, 2014, the NWT achieved our long sought after goal of devolution, and with devolution the GNWT accepted seven pieces of federal legislation as our own. We established NWT acts that mirrored the federal acts.

At the time many residents expressed concern about adopting these laws exactly as written by the federal government, unchanged and unevaluated. Many questioned when the legislation would be evaluated, when it would be amended to suit the NWT, our unique government and territory. We certainly heard a commitment from the Premier to review the seven pieces of...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just have two comments that I want to make here, and the Minister has heard them already, but they bear repeating. One is my concern with the decentralization of the parks office to Hay River. Not so much that we are moving the positions but that we are uprooting families and forcing people who have lived here for a very long time to reconsider their life’s path, to reconsider whether they are going to take their spouse out of a job and move them with them, children in school. That whole ball of wax that I talked about the other day. I would just like to state again...

I guess maybe the Minister is thinking of something different than what I’m thinking of. The coroner’s report, from my recollection, does not give us how recommendations were handled, what an individual department did with those recommendations. So it’s conceivable that the Standing Committee on Social Programs, for instance, may ask for the data, all the recommendations that came from the coroner in the last year, please provide us with how the recommendations were handled, what each department did. I guess what I’m suggesting is instead of waiting for standing committee to ask for it, the...

Thanks, Madam Chair. I do have some comments. Thank you for the opportunity. I have a couple of questions. One of them comes from the Minister’s comments yesterday when he opened the department. I was struck on page 3 where he said that, “NWT Housing Corp activities are just part of the overall support as homelessness is addressed through the activities within a number of departments in the GNWT.” I thought that we had consolidated homelessness within the NWT Housing Corporation. That struck me as a little strange. I would appreciate an explanation of what that means.

Right after that, the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I need to say to the Minister that industry itself is concerned with the impacts it has on the social conditions in communities that they’re close to. So I guess there are no terms of reference. I would like to ask the Minister, that as terms of reference are developed, as this project goes forward, if he will involve committee in providing some feedback to this board as it is developed. Thank you.

Thanks to the Minister. So a wide-ranging experience in the mining industry. How are these people going to be chosen? Are they simply going to be representatives of mining companies? Are they going to be representatives of chambers of mines? Will there be any representation from social interests? As the Minister stated in his press release, “something that will encourage economic growth while maintaining high regulatory, environmental and social standards.” So that’s a concern that has been expressed. What will the representation be on this five or seven?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to start today by praising the Finance Minister for the initiative he has shown for holding budget dialogue events for the last three years, allowing NWT residents to comment on NWT budgets.

Over the three years the meetings have produced considerable feedback, but due to the timing of the forums, I’m not sure that feedback has actually been used. I have to wonder about the value for money of this initiative. Having said that, though, I’ve previously said that we can’t put a price on democracy. Consultation is a necessary evil of government.

This year there were...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do have a couple of comments here. First and foremost I would like to comment on the Wellness Court. It’s been a long time coming and I’m glad that we are getting there. When we reviewed business plans, Members expressed some concerns about the resources which may or may not be available for the Wellness Court. We had concerns about whether or not the services and the programs were going to be available to make the program succeed. I think there was going to be an update ready for us somewhere around this time, so I guess I would like to know from the Minister and from...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I’m sure we want to continue with Tabled Document 188-17(5), NWT Main Estimates 2015-16. We’d like to continue with the NWT Housing Corporation and, time permitting, do the Department of Justice. Thank you.

I thank the Minister for his Member’s statement. I have no qualms with increasing mining in the territory. I know we need the economic development. However, when we have economic development, the offshoot and the results have an effect on our social conditions. I think it is extremely important that we have a cross-section, not just people who are experts in mining but people who are experts on the impact of mining.

Can the Minister provide me and Members on this side of the House with a terms of reference for this committee? Thank you.