R.J. Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And there is more than just one team doing work in the Northwest Territories. Throughout the Northwest Territories, there's dedicated groups of volunteer who might not be part of a structured incorporated group that go out and do this work on a quite regular basis, depending on the circumstances. But that group is -- you know, we don't have a coordinating body, as I said and right now the report itself suggested that the EMO, the emergency management organization, take over these functions. The EMO does not have that capacity at this time. And we'll be responding to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A couple years ago, a few years ago, the federal government offered us some money to undertake a review of search and rescue in the Northwest Territories, and so we did that, and the report came back with a number of recommendations. The responses -- the government's responses to those recommendations have been tabled in this House as part of a response to a written question that the Member made. And so what that written response says is that the government is not adopting those recommendations, so there will be no action plan. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And so it sounds like the Member's aware that once you start renovating something, once you open those walls, you never know what you're going to find, and there could be extraordinary costs that you don't expect. That being said, if there are units that lend themselves to potential renovations, we can have a look at those and do our best to figure out whether or not we might run into some of those issues, and then they go from there. So we don't want to write anything off without even looking into it.

When it comes to the transitional housing piece -- I don't want to...

Minister of Justice, thank you. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 12, Business Day Statute Law Amendment Act, be read for the third time. And, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I never like to speak ill of my colleagues or the work that they do, and I know that when we speak in those types of terms in this House, it can cause disorder and it can cause the public to lose faith in our institutions, and so I want to apologize to this House, to all of my colleagues in this House, and I withdraw my remarks. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I received this request about SCAN legislation and civil forfeiture legislation quite often because there is a real concern about what's going on and people want more tools to move things forward. So I will ensure that we're working as fast as we can on this, but I don't want to get anyone's hopes up that we're going to be able to get this done and introduced prior to the next sitting.

SCAN legislation has proven to be controversial in the Northwest Territories. It was brought forward once before, and it did not make its way through this House or out of this House...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise the House that the honourable Member for Kam Lake, Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, will be absent from the House for the remainder of this week to attend federal/provincial/territorial committee on internal trade meeting in Toronto, Ontario. The Minister will also be away Monday and Tuesday next week to attend the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada Conference in Toronto, Ontario.

Also, Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise the House that the honourable Member for Hay River South, Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, may be absent for a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And not me personally but our Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment has been engaging industry all across Canada. This was mentioned earlier by my colleague. But she has discussed this at the -- at PNWER, the Pacific Northwest Economic Region Conference, at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers Conference, at the Arctic Energy and Resources Symposium that's coming up in March; I believe she's the keynote Speaker there. And so she is out there engaging with industry, letting them know what the opportunities are in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'd like to support the Member asserting the point of privilege. I think that when you make your decision, Mr. Speaker, I hope you consider the entire context of politics right now and social media. I was just down in Washington, DC, and I can tell you that, you know, when politicians say something inflammatory through social media, it puts a chill on speech, it puts a chill on people's ability to do their jobs. I spoke with lawmakers. I was there in the environment, and you could really feel that happening. That is the state of politics right now. And in this House...

Thank you, Madam Chair.