R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think I lost Cabinet with my earlier statement, so I'll try and get them back with a compliment here. The Department of Infrastructure, at least the transportation portion of it, does a pretty good job of informing the public and stakeholders of fee increases, and they've had a lot of practice lately, so I'm sure they are getting better day by day. Maybe I lost them again. The Department of Lands hasn't been around as long as Transportation, and maybe that's why they're not quite as adept as Transportation in getting that type of information out. The recent changes to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm sorry if I garbled anyone's name earlier. They always give the MLA for Hay River South easy names, but I failed to mention my constituent, Ms. Myrtle Graham, is with us today, and I would like to wish her a happy birthday. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to go to item 5 on the orders paper.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. There is a motion on the floor to report progress. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

I will now rise and report progress.

So did the Minister say that they brought the information to the Standing Committee on Priorities and Planning in 2016, and they consulted with Indigenous governments, and the Chamber of Mines actually approached them regarding these fees? That's in contrast to the Department of Transportation, or now Infrastructure, which will put on Facebook and Twitter and the radio that there are changes to the fees to cross the Deh Cho bridge for commercial vehicles. So that's the type of communication that I'd like to see coming out of Lands to avoid these types of issues that I've been talking about. So...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I've avoided making public comments about the ongoing negotiations between this government and the UNW, because I've been under the assumption that both sides are working in good faith towards an agreement. However, I've seen nothing in the past two and a half years to indicate that a deal will ever be reached. It's beginning to look like a strike is more likely than a timely resolution, so I can't keep quiet any longer.

Just look at the centerpiece of the last offer from this government: a 0.1 per cent wage increase over their previous offer. That's the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you can see, we have a full gallery today. It is the annual grade 6 class trip. The gallery is full of students from Princess Alexandra School, and we are happy to have them. We have a long list of names here. I don't want to miss anyone. Let's get started.

The students, we have Ashley Angulalik-Elder, Chayce Beck, Emerson Beck, Esha O'Brien, Kaiden Broedner, Jadeane Brown, Glacia Gordon, Teagan Hedderson, Kyzer Hehn, Angelia Nitsiza, Nora Lecouter, Teagan Lefebvre, Theron Mabbitt, Grace Schaub, Joshua Cayen, Sienna Daniels, Alijah Famorcan, Linkin Giesbrecht, Teddy...

You just snuck in there, Mr. Speaker. I didn't think I was going to get it. Today, I noticed that there has been a lot of negative talk about the economy. There has been a lot of finger pointing and adversarial back and forths. Let's change the conversation. Let's talk about economic growth. Let's talk about investment. Let's talk about Cabinet and Regular Members working together. Let's talk about the Hay River fish processing plant, Mr. Speaker.

When I last brought this up, it was February, and at that time, the Minister of ITI was still trying to secure some federal funding. I would like an...

Thank you. There is a motion to report progress. The motion is in order and non-debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

I will now rise and report progress.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Part of the reason that the government is pushing this fish plant is because nobody quite knows what is happening with Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation in the near future. Since the Minister has a direct channel to Ottawa, could the Minister please let us know what the GNWT knows about the future plans for freshwater? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.