Debates of February 9, 2005 (day 32)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I feel like I’m the rooster now.

---Laughter

We did have a call into the Minister of RWED and he, along with Joint Cabinet/AOC Planning Committee, came to the Sahtu. It was a wakeup call. Last week, Mr. Speaker, many people braved the minus 40 temperatures to come to a meeting of the Joint Cabinet/AOC Pipeline Committee meeting in Norman Wells. It was very appropriate that the committee met in the oil capital of the Northwest Territories, one of the communities that the pipeline will go right through their backyard. There were many good questions and discussions between the public and committee members that ran well past 9:00 p.m. In the afternoon, the committee also had a very productive meeting with town council to discuss the important pipeline planning issues.

Mr. Speaker, it is crucial for Ministers and also Regular MLAs to take time to meet face to face with community members in regions outside of Yellowknife. It provides a crucial opportunity for residents to get to meet Ministers and MLAs from other constituencies. It’s also a good reality check for us to hear directly from the residents and to spend time in parts of the Territories we may not know very well, so that we can better appreciate the issues and make better decisions for the people of the Northwest Territories.

I would like to thank Minister Bell, the committee chair and also Minister Dent and Minister McLeod and MLAs Menicoche and Villeneuve for accepting the invitation to meet in the Sahtu. The Ministers did an excellent job in answering the questions from the public and committed to follow up on some of the matters. People did appreciate the chance to air their concerns directly to them. It was a pleasure to host the committee members in the Sahtu region. I look forward to traveling to other communities that will be directly impacted by the Mackenzie gas project. Mahsi cho.

---Applause