Statements in Debates
Thank you, Madam Chair. The things I’m going to say are really reflective of what I’ve heard in my community, the constituency of Yellowknife Centre. The fact is, I appreciate the work the commission did, but we also have to keep in context that they are an advisory group and they do not force us. They are an administrative body that we commissioned out of this House to go find research, come back and to substantiate what they heard into some formulation and then send it off as a proposal to the politicians. Now, in essence, the politicians are the ones that actually have to make the...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today, I spoke about the need to have a territorial celebration of the arts. What I was getting at is the Northwest Territories needs to take the lead on initiatives to help embrace and help promote our arts community. So, Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment is, would he look into establishing an NWT arts achievement award night? It could either be an annual or semi-annual event. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will have to be voting against the amendment presented as a motion by the Member for Monfwi. I appreciate his concern and I tried to highlight it in the context of my statement earlier, which is I think he's in a very difficult position because people from the whole Tlicho Nation are expecting him to deliver results, although again I have to underscore that they don't all live within the boundaries or the prescribed boundaries of the Tlicho Nation. So I appreciate the extra workload he carries.
I actually thought the most interesting presentation put on the table...
Thank you, Madam Chair. I move that Bill 14 be amended by striking out items 12 to 19 of the appendix and substituting items 12 to 21 as set out in the schedule to this motion.
Madam Chair, I seek unanimous consent to have the schedule to this motion deemed read and printed in Hansard in its entirety. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That was a very welcoming answer from the Minister. I appreciate his collaboration and the necessity to talk to the Minister of ITI. Mr. Speaker, my next question to the Minister is, could he sort of outline some time frame that he could look at getting back to committee with this initiative? Could he look at doing this maybe before the next session that begins in February? Could he get back to us on that detail? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, wish to acknowledge our brave men and women in green here in the gallery today. It’s quite overwhelming to see them all. Thank you for coming.
Mr. Speaker, every day the Department of Education, Culture and Employment and the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment contribute to individual artists and groups of artists through grants issued by the NWT Arts Council. In 2005-2006 there were 124 applications for grants totalling almost $1.2 million, of which the NWT Arts Council was able to fund 84 projects totalling $355,000. In the last update on the NWT...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister earlier said it was approximately $100 million spent in resupplying the mines this spring and summer, Mr. Speaker. I think it’s a shame that that money is being spent in that regard. We could be putting it into real infrastructure, Mr. Speaker. When we have a Prime Minister who says if we do not approve the pipeline, there will be no resource deal, so, Mr. Speaker, let’s turn that around and say if the Prime Minister doesn’t approve infrastructure and a resource deal for the NWT, we should say no pipeline, Mr. Speaker. Let’s show him who truly is standing...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I was getting to in my Member’s statement, I was talking about this government not taking a sit down approach when dealing with the federal government. Mr. Speaker, we need year-round access to our mining corridor and, Mr. Speaker, we need a Transportation Minister to deliver that message. So to start to get to some of the answers to these questions, can the Minister tell me if his Department of Transportation has any preliminary estimates or any information on how much industry has spent this spring and summer because of the loss of their winter road access through...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, that $100 million would have been good money going into highway infrastructure, Mr. Speaker, with a partnership three ways with the federal and territorial government, but that’s another argument. Mr. Speaker, can I get some timelines from this Minister? Nunavut is considering the Bathurst Inlet port and if we are asleep at the switch too long, they are going to jump ahead of us on this opportunity. So what type of timeline can this Minister of Transportation tell me he’s going to work with industry to ensure we are doing this project in a timely way? Thank you...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday in Yellowknife, it was plus five degrees. I checked the weather before I came downstairs, it was plus three degrees in Yellowknife and it was plus nine in Hay River. So I am getting at the fact that the climate is changing. Does the Minister of Transportation have any estimates on what it would cost to turn the Ingraham Trail into a year-round road, not of paving or chipseal quality, but simply a year-round access road to the diamond mine corridor? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.