Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know which way the wind is blowing on this amendment, so I won't belabour the point too much, but for the purposes of posterity, I wish to make sure these amendments make their way into the official record so that we can see clearly what was being proposed and clearly how these amendments were designed to create options for our residents.

There are a few more amendments I will move as well for the same purposes, but we don't have to belabour the point, and I won't be asking for recorded votes. Thank you.

Thank you for your indulgence, Mr. Chair. I know it is not our typical process to allow the mover to close this debate, but I welcome the opportunity. I just wanted to comment on Members who have raised concerns about consultation, and I am not going to pretend like this isn't a big issue, but we talk about it all the time and typically around election cycles, and then we don't talk about until the next election cycle, and so on and so forth.

This is an attempt to draw public debate into a very specific proposal that was not proposing to transform this Chamber today into a political party...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that Bill 24 be amended in subclause 2(4) by adding the following proposed definitions in alphabetical order:

"authorized representative" meaning a person authorized by a political party to provide the necessary consent to enable a person to be identified on a ballot as a member of a political party;

"political party" means an association, organization, or affiliation of electors comprising a political organization, one of the purposes of which is to nominate and support candidates in elections;

"registered political party" means a political organization that is...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The committee would like to consider Tabled Document 215-18(3), Capital Estimates, 2019-2020, with the Departments of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Infrastructure, and Finance reviewed in that order; and then further to consider Bill 24, An Act to Amend the Elections and Plebiscites Act. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will take that as a commitment from the Minister. How many more resources are we going to expend up on this building that we currently rent from a private landlord? This is $341,000. There has been significantly more than that expended in the past. Are we going to continue to put millions of dollars into someone else's property, or are we going to complete these renos that are before us now, and then move on with a stand-alone courthouse? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to report to the Assembly that the Standing Committee on Government Operations has reviewed Bill 18: An Act to Amend the Cities, Towns and Villages Act, and Bill 20, Ombud Act. Mr. Speaker, the committee wishes to report that Bill 18 is now ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole and that Bill 20 is ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole as amended and reprinted. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister talked about taking immediate action when he took over this portfolio. He has talked about the May audit. Clearly, these concerns from front-line staff and the totality of concerns are significant and have been present for a long time. When was the Minister first made aware that Child and Family Services was worse off now than it was in 2014?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. The Minister has been in his office for five years and, before that, was a member of the Standing Committee of Social Programs that undertook a comprehensive review of Child and Family Services. Given the Minister’s clear experience and interest in this file, why has he not made correcting the deficiencies in Child and Family Services his top priority as Minister? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is nice to be heard. We spend a lot of time speaking in this House, so it is nice that the Minister is taking this matter seriously. I look forward to seeing the feasibility study. I appreciate that this appropriation is largely to improve the quality of service available at the Yellowknife courthouse to those seeking mediation and, also, to improve security conditions for the staff there, and for those reasons, I am supportive of this.

My only concern is that if we are spending money in a feasibility study, let's make sure that it is actually going somewhere and not...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have noticed that there is another project here for the Yellowknife Courthouse. I'm wondering if the Minister can speak to the feasibility study that's going into the potential stand-alone courthouse here, in the city of Yellowknife. Thank you.