Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to continue with the Minister of Human Resources on the Summer Student Employment Program. It’s funny; I got a tweet a minute ago saying: “Didn’t you hire somebody from down South”? I think it’s a good question and fair question to ask. I put three job offers out, but they were all waiting for GNWT jobs because they assume they pay much better, it would be more lucrative. That’s part of the issue here, is the fact that a lot of kids are waiting for jobs and they don’t want to take them. They’re hurting the public sector as well. They just want a shot at a...

Well, all I know, and I think a lot of Members know, is there’s a little button on some web pages that says apply here, click, send your resume in and good luck. That’s all that exists. There is no transparent process to know you’re competing for anything. There’s no transparent process to say or show or demonstrate your resume actually has gone anywhere besides the in-box of who knows who, who knows where, and who knows when. There is absolutely nothing for any student to know that their resume has been sent out and fairly, competitively been considered. That’s all I’m asking.

Now I’m asking...

I want to ask the Housing Minister questions too. Unfortunately, I don’t have any for him today. Seeing how, of course, the Housing Minister is giving out millions of dollars here…

My questions will be directed to the Minister of Human Resources. I’ve received a call, like most MLAs do every year this time of year, which are from both summer students and certainly parents alike, and often they see that other students are getting jobs and they’re hearing about placements already being made.

My question is to the Minister of Human Resources regarding the policy, as such, for early hires. Do we...

Mr. Chairman, after hearing that, it inspired me. I move that we report progress.

---Carried

Madam Chair, that sounds good. I’m not asking for veto when I describe it this way, but committee feels very strongly, and I stress committee and not necessarily anything broader than that, but there would be a possibility to maybe open or exercise those concerns and maybe build upon those concerns, if necessary.

One of the challenges we have is, once we approve the budget, it is from a Regular Member perspective, it’s see you later at that point. Sometimes I think some things do take a fair bit of work to get to know, like, expect and work through. Again, I’m not stressing veto power. I’m...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In 2012 Diavik provided over $300,000 to Northerners in various ways under the culture and community well-being. That’s something to be very proud of. But we shouldn’t have to worry about checking with the feelings of the mining industry when these reports are given back to the government for the people of the Northwest Territories to ensure the socio-economic agreements are being lived up to. I don’t care how the mines feel; I want the government to show that they’re with the people, not protecting the mines.

Would the Minister agree today to publicize these things in a...

By the way, that mine promotion statement was brought to you by the Minister of ITI that everything’s fine.

The question for the public here is – now on to the next issue – building capacity. One agreement had highlighted 38 percent of material, equipment and purchasing through the construction phase would be done locally in the Northwest Territories. Furthermore, when they went on to operations, the goods and services at 32 percent would be purchased in the Northwest Territories.

The question to the Minister of ITI is: How does the public know that they’re living up to their agreement in a...

Mr. Speaker, I’ve stood up in this House a few times to express my concerns about the mines not meeting their socio-economic targets, especially in the area of jobs. But rather than wasting today’s time and certainly the public’s time, I’m hearing Minister Ramsay defend why they continue to have failures in certain areas. Let’s build upon what we know and let’s turn it into a success.

Everybody in the Assembly here knows that mines perform a regular performance reporting and they write out and explain where they have met their key targets and components on the socio-economic agreements and...

Mr. Chairman, I certainly support this. I’ve been raising this particular matter for a lot of years, and I’m kind of glad to see it finally get a bit of traction on this side of the House. For many years I had heard at the time Finance Minister Roland say, oh no, don’t worry. That’s why we’ll have a Heritage Fund, and don’t worry; we’ll use the Heritage Fund to take care of any ups and downs. Then along came, following him, Finance Minister Miltenberger, the eldered Miltenberger, that is, and in his wise way he, too, said much the same way, don’t worry, there will be a Heritage Fund one day...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I understand that potentially some Members may be having concerns with the grants and contributions and certainly the overall program with this particular page, so what I ask is rather than being sort of bent up in the sense of doing something we are not quite sure what we want to do at this particular time, is it possible that the Minister could commit to a discussion and certainly a briefing regarding things like the grants and contributions on this division. Maybe we could have an overall look at it before the end of this budget cycle and the commitment that we will...