Alfred Moses

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The principle of the motion is one that’s pretty interesting indeed, and with the new dollars that we’re getting, I do support that we have to have a debate. I feel that we are going to have a debate anyway, once we get these revenue resources into the government budget.

However, I don’t feel that I could support the motion at this time in regard to the therefore section allocating specific percentages of dollars into different areas within our government system. When we go through the business plans, we see areas such as deferred maintenance, infrastructure projects...

Mr. Speaker, with the theme of Disabilities Awareness Week creating accessible and welcome communities for all people, we only have a few communities that have accessible infrastructure. What is the Minister and his department doing to actually create accessible and welcoming communities within our 33 communities in the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I know there were a lot of recommendations in the report. We’re five years into a government for a document that was tabled in the House in 2008. That’s five years of action and work that could have been done to addressing some of these recommendations. We’re less than half completed, still a lot that are ongoing, and some that haven’t even been addressed.

Can the Minister please go into detail on why some of these haven’t been addressed and why we’re not even getting half of these recommendations complete? Is it lack of resources? Is it lack of funding into these organizations? Because as we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to welcome and recognize Norman Snowshoe, who is the vice-president of the Gwich’in Tribal Council; Jozef Carnogursky, the president of the Nihtat Gwich’in Council; Willard Hagen, who has worn many hats over the years and has been very influential in how our government’s informed, and with the Gwich’in Tribal Council as well; constituent Mavis Jacobson. I’d also like to welcome the devolution team who’s done a lot of excellent work, and especially during consultations up in Inuvik, and any of the other leaders that are joining us today...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to just begin by saying I’d like to thank the Premier and Madam Groenewegen for bringing this motion to the House. It is a very great motion and I’m very honoured to be speaking to it today.

Actually, I did make a Member’s statement earlier, at the beginning of the 17th Legislative Assembly, on the history that this government’s been doing, and in a short time period – I think it was only in quite a few months – we started making some changes within this government and how things were done, and that that change continues to happen even today.

Twenty months...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today is a very important day for the Inuvialuit people of Inuvik and the Beaufort-Delta region; in fact, throughout all of Canada. On this day 29 years ago, June 5, 1984, in the hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk, the Government of Canada and the Inuvialuit gathered on the shores of the Beaufort to sign the Inuvialuit Final Agreement.

The Inuvialuit Final Agreement was built in the hopes and hard work of the many involved, and its continued success is attributed to the ongoing dedication of the Inuvialuit. The IFA was the first comprehensive land claim agreement signed north of the...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In regard to this motion, any of these reports that we do get before standing committee would be very helpful in terms of how we plan out the business year. Without having these public accounts in place ahead of time, with some of the boards and agencies in their reporting, it is very difficult for committee to work on how we proceed with the business plans moving forward. Each year, whether or not departments spend all their funding or not, really reflects on how these reports are done.

Committee members, Regular Members going through the business planning cycle, it is...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Government of the Northwest Territories provide a detailed progress report to this Assembly on work done towards a comprehensive review of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, identifying a timeline and any additional resources required to complete the review within the life of the 17th Assembly.

One million six hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money for our NGOs and our small communities. Would the Minister, going back to I think it was my second question, look at creating an application-based program specific? We have a lot of application templates out there. Would he create something new where we can start funding things like kids sport, friendship centres, youth centres, or hamlet organizations? Would he look at creating something new in the amount of, say, maybe $25,000 application so that communities can actually get a little extra dollars to run some great programs and...

Yesterday the Minister made a Minister’s statement, and he does say that he’s waiting for the Early Childhood Development and Anti-Poverty strategies to come forward, but he says, “I will not wait until that response is finalized to take action.” So the sooner the better. We can’t wait to start providing programs.

You have heard a lot of really good options, a lot of good suggestions on this side of the House, what’s happening in Hay River, what’s happening in rural and remote communities. I’d like to ask the Minister, would he look at creating an application-based program with the funding...