Bill Braden

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In this Year of the Veteran, it is a great honour to recognize two constituents who are veterans: Tom Eagle and Jan Stirling. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Mr. Speaker, I can appreciate the Minister is looking at the resources available and having a split service might not right now look feasible, but I would like to challenge the Minister on this one. Initially, we took a look at the requirements to renovate an old building and the option to put it into another one seemed the best way to go. I would really like to revisit the potential of establishing two centres, one where half the population can be served here in Yellowknife in the North Slave region and another at the potential new operation in Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, my questions, too, are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. The information that he provided earlier today indicated that about half of the residents of the TTC right now are from Yellowknife and perhaps the North Slave region, and half are from elsewhere in the NWT. That would seem to indicate that with Yellowknife as approximately half the population of the NWT, there is a local and a resident need it will be here and may continue to grow. Could the Minister, Mr. Speaker, give some indication of whether or not there is justification for establishing not only a home...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the information from the Minister. One of the questions that I received from a parent was to get some sense, Mr. Speaker, of where the residents at the TTC are from. We are trying to get a sense of what parts of the North are served by this facility in its present capacity. Could the Minister provide some sense, on a regional or territorial basis, where the residents are from who are now served by TTC? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up on messages and statements today about the proposal to relocate the Territorial Treatment Centre operated by Bosco Homes in Yellowknife, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Could the Minister update the Assembly on the status of the plan for the potential relocation of the TTC? Thank you.

I am very confident, Mr. Speaker, that what we will find out through the investigation here will only benefit workers from Nunavut.

The Minister does make a very valid point in that we do have a hard-won agreement with our sister territory, Nunavut, to share the resources and the responsibilities of running this WCB that we can share. I think that is a good arrangement. He also made the point that when we proceed on legislation, we have to be careful to proceed in tandem so that both territories can accommodate the legislative process and the changes that we see as required. But, Mr. Speaker...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The initiative that I have proposed, and my colleague from Nunakput is seconding, is not a small or a lightly undertaken initiative. The function of the WCB is one that is essential to the success and the stability of our workers and our workforce in virtually every endeavour here in the NWT, in our communities, in our governments, in our small businesses and big businesses too. Mr. Speaker, over my time here as a Member of this Legislative Assembly, I have had frequent traffic with a number of workers who have come to me with what really is a common story of in some...

Mr. Speaker, the on-line chat sites and dialogues that go on serve a certain purpose. I am wondering, in light of the fact that His Excellency Mr. Cellucci is, I understand, soon going to be retiring as the ambassador to Canada, we will have a new American ambassador. Would the Premier consider being among the first in Canada to extend an invitation for the new American ambassador to visit the Northwest Territories in person? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Premier’s inclusion of a number of areas of international concern and interest that we share. I wanted to ask the Premier if he would undertake to create a dialogue that we could have directly, as people of the Northwest Territories, with the American people and their officials on these significant associations. Certainly I would put caribou, missile defence and, in the not-too-distant future, Mr. Speaker, what will be a contentious issue; that of fresh water. Can the Premier help us get together with the Americans and talk about these issues?...

Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to welcome all of the judges, especially a friend from my days in the Yukon, Justice Ron Veale. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to recognize a constituent, an injured worker and a great advocate on behalf of injured workers, Mr. John Huffman.

---Applause