Bill Braden

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We’ve had tremendous advances in the telecommunications field in the NWT in the last 25 years. Today I think all 33 of our communities enjoy instantaneous telephone, satellite television, fax, we’re getting just about everybody hooked up to high-speed Internet, Mr. Speaker, almost to the point where we’re taking all this for granted. Even I can remember the days of telex, typewriters, VHF telephones and things like that. Things were a lot simpler in those days and sometimes I wish they were back. But in contrast, Mr. Speaker, southern communities enjoy an almost bewildering...

Mr. Chairman, as my colleague Mrs. Groenewegen has said, the people of Fort Simpson deserve better. They deserve to know that there is going to be a long-term solution and answer in getting this piece of infrastructure established. That is probably the most important reason why I am voting against this. We really are not helping this community. We are going to end up disappointing them again because beyond the two to four years that this program might keep the building open, there is nothing.

Mr. Chairman, as has already been said here, it’s an embarrassment that this request has made it this...

Mr. Chairman, thank you. I appreciate the Minister’s very patient explanation of all this stuff, but you know, he’s pointed out one of the obvious stages in here, gaps, that for whatever reason or cause the routine step of getting this into the business plan was missed. One of the steps that I’m familiar with and very comfortable with when it comes to getting things into the business plan is bringing an issue or problem or situation before standing committee. I sit on the Standing Committee on Social Programs, which has oversight responsibility for ECE. I do not recall in the four or five...

Mr. Chairman, as my colleague Mrs. Groenewegen has said, the people of Fort Simpson deserve better. They deserve to know that there is going to be a long-term solution and answer in getting this piece of infrastructure established. That is probably the most important reason why I am voting against this. We really are not helping this community. We are going to end up disappointing them again because beyond the two to four years that this program might keep the building open, there is nothing.

Mr. Chairman, as has already been said here, it’s an embarrassment that this request has made it this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources:

Would the Minister supply a status report on the GNWT’s responsibilities and progress in finalizing the remediation plans for Con and Giant gold mines?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Chairman, thank you. I appreciate the Minister’s very patient explanation of all this stuff, but you know, he’s pointed out one of the obvious stages in here, gaps, that for whatever reason or cause the routine step of getting this into the business plan was missed. One of the steps that I’m familiar with and very comfortable with when it comes to getting things into the business plan is bringing an issue or problem or situation before standing committee. I sit on the Standing Committee on Social Programs, which has oversight responsibility for ECE. I do not recall in the four or five...

I should try not to read between the lines here because I just might make a mistake. I respect the Minister's situation here where he can't put too many of the cards on the table right now. But I guess the point that I want to make, Mr. Chairman, is that we've seen so many innovations and so many new ways of doing business crop up in the last few years since the last regulatory framework was set up, that I believe we should really be more open and in fact more aggressive in seeing what other options there are out there. So, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to know what the government can do to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources:

Would the Minister supply a status report on the GNWT’s responsibilities and progress in finalizing the remediation plans for Con and Giant gold mines?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions this afternoon are for Mr. Roland as the Minister for Public Works and Services and the department that has historically had, I understand, a kind of a watchdog capacity for regulatory matters, and that would include, I'm assuming, Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Radio/Television Telecommunications Commission. Mr. Speaker, the GNWT has kept an eye on these kinds of regulatory matters. There are hearings scheduled for Whitehorse next month on a major new regulatory framework for NorthwesTel, the major service provider of telecommunication services across the...

I should try not to read between the lines here because I just might make a mistake. I respect the Minister's situation here where he can't put too many of the cards on the table right now. But I guess the point that I want to make, Mr. Chairman, is that we've seen so many innovations and so many new ways of doing business crop up in the last few years since the last regulatory framework was set up, that I believe we should really be more open and in fact more aggressive in seeing what other options there are out there. So, Mr. Speaker, I'd like to know what the government can do to...