Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I considered a subject for my Member’s statement today, I realized I have been taking the government to task for the past week, some might say too harshly. So I thought I would take a look around and see if I could find a few good things happening within the GNWT and the Legislative Assembly. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that I found lots of good results.
For instance, during last year’s budget debate I was very vocal about the millions earmarked for the Olympics, but the money was approved and now the work has been done and the value of the money spent is becoming evident. NWT performers and artists in Vancouver will have the eyes and the ears of people from across Canada and the world. Our Northern House will educate them about the NWT; who, what, and where we are. The NWT will be very visible in Vancouver and the planned activities will do a great deal to promote our Territory. Northern House especially has received rave reviews from visitors and the Vancouver media already.
Again, a few short days before Christmas I was contacted by a constituent with a human resource problem. My thanks go out to the Department of Human Resources for their quick action in solving the problem. I can’t argue with the 24-hour turnaround time.
Thirdly, the announcement in the budget address of a commitment to establish a heritage fund is good news.
The announcement by Education, Culture and Employment of the transfer of responsibilities for public housing subsidies back to the NWT Housing Corporation is also good news; long-awaited, but good news.
Minister Lafferty’s announcement yesterday that the minimum wage will increase April 1st is music to my ears. After two years of lobbying and pleading, I’m overjoyed that the GNWT finally saw the light.
The Standing Committee on Government Operations produced a comprehensive and valuable report on NWT official languages. I commend them for their excellent hard work.
The Standing Committee on Social Programs is in the middle of a comprehensive and thorough review of the Child and Family Services Act. Our staff are doing great work and the meetings held to date have been informative and exciting.
Lastly, as added proof that we live in a great place, the northern lights stretched across the sky over my head two nights ago as I trudged home from work after a long day.
I’m told by my colleagues that the teacher in me comes out now and then. I guess you can take the teacher out of the classroom but can’t take the teacher out of the MLA. So using my teacher voice I say thanks to those responsible for creating these good things and may we all keep up the good work.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.
