Statements in Debates
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister today commit in this House that he would go out to some type of public consultation to engage our engineers and architects on coming up with sustainable design principles for all our public government infrastructures so the percentage of cost overruns are minimized? For a note to that, Alaska has 15 percent as an acceptable overrun. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there’s a solution to this obvious problem. We could engage our public, we could engage our professionals about true, real designs for our northern location. I’m tired about hearing about cost overruns, about one project delaying or possibly cancelling out another because of the skyrocketing costs. I think the future and expansive growth of our Northwest Territories requires smart design, and with community involvement we could solve this problem together. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
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Twenty-five dollars, according to my Sahtu colleague. The thing is, I’m not sure he’s right, but the point is if we could make things more competitive, maybe we can also help those costs from being spilt down on people and we can also help encourage them to have healthier lifestyles, Mr. Speaker. Conservation versus consumption, it’s great. Conservation is the right idea; change your light bulbs, those things all help. I’ve gone to Arctic Energy Alliance and I borrowed their metre, I plugged it in the wall, I tested my TV for a couple days, my computer to find out ways I could be more...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank Mrs. Groenewegen for bringing this forward. I am in full support of it. That is why I asked her if I could second this motion. To me, this motion really speaks to the principle of the people we take care of. That would be our youth, our children, the people at risk. They could be our seniors. They could be anyone.
Mr. Speaker, I believe we are duty bound as Members here to find ways and take every step that we consider reasonably possible to protect those from the predators that prey upon those people at risk I talked about earlier. Mrs...
Mr. Speaker, I think I heard the Minister say yes, but I’ll let him re-clarify. Mr. Speaker, specifically to schools, health clinics, and seniors’ facilities, has the department ever done a historical cost overrun overview by doing a 360 degree design evaluation to ensure that bad designs are re-evaluated and that they haven’t turned into maintenance nightmares? Further, are we building our buildings for the 1,500-year life expectancy, or are we just designing them to be maintained for the rest of their life? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today I talked about how and why sustainable and standard design for public infrastructure could help everyone by delivering better products at lower costs. Mr. Speaker, whether it’s the designers, the engineers, the community, even government officials and MLAs, I mean, everyone wants the design to the maximum dollars put into the budget and they seem to always want more. One more thing, Mr. Speaker, always wants overtake needs. Has the Minister of Public Works and Services ever considered adopting a template format for construction of public...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today, I’d like to talk about sustainable standard design for government building infrastructure. Instead of spending money on original designs for every single public building each time we build a new facility, what if we came up with a sustainable standard design? I’m talking about a modular public facility with room for expansion to grow with the population as needed. After a concept has been developed the money saved in design, fees could be put back into more infrastructure for all our communities. By standardizing or even streamlining our designs and the building...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today, I spoke about my constituent, Ms. Carmen Tees, who is in the gallery today who is suffering from MS, as well as depression, austio arthritis, sleep apnea, and she’s shut in most of the year. She is not allowed to move into the new apartment building that is barrier free because she has a cat. Mr. Speaker, I have two small points to make. The Yellowknife Housing Authority has made a no pet policy for this building and that is a human rights breach. Mr. Speaker, I would like to hear the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation position of whether...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. May I begin today by reminding all Members today is red Friday and I am wearing a red tie to honour our Canadian Armed Forces.
Mr. Speaker, in 1859, Florence Nightingale, the famous founder of our modern nursing profession, promoted the important role pets play in therapy. She said a small pet animal is often an excellent companion for the sick, especially those battling long, chronic conditions. Since then, many studies have proved the benefit of human-animal bonds. Medical and emotional improvements have been recognized as a result of therapeutic value found in pet...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Minister’s position on the fact that they are not allowed to breach human rights. So, Mr. Speaker, I would like to get a commitment from the Minister today because we own the buildings and we can set policy, territorial-broad policy, not just one housing authority, all housing authorities. I would like him to agree today that he will go in and investigate this problem and make sure that we do not have to march down to the Human Rights Commission office downtown to make sure this lady gets into this unit, because she absolutely deserves...