Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My statement today focuses on supporting the vitality of the Weledeh language and the need for flexible and effective language support programs.

Akaitcho people in my Weledeh riding don’t speak Tlicho or Chipewyan. They speak Weledeh, which is a unique amalgam of the two languages. The Yellowknives Dene First Nation has long been on the record calling for official recognition of Weledeh and I support this aspiration.

Weledeh speaking elders talk about the confusion that results when it is assumed that Tlicho translation can stand in for Weledeh translation. One recalled...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’d like to start by really acknowledging the superior level of support we had in putting this report together. I’d like to start with our research staff. We had Regina Pfeifer, Robin Stewart and Lee Selleck, all of whom put their stamp into this work and went beyond the call. The Clerk’s office contributed hugely and I’d like to recognize the committee clerk, Gail Bennett, who is very professional and thorough in her support with a keen eye for the detail that’s required to do a good job here. My colleague, MLA for Great Slave, Glen Abernethy put the motion on the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that, on Friday, October 29, 2010, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, that this Legislative Assembly recommends that the NWT Housing Corporation reduce the rent scale so the maximum rental rate is 25 percent of the assessed gross income. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Minister’s comments again. I will be looking for those remarks in the plan.

Today I also re-emphasized the long-standing problems of the lack of evaluators certified to approved credentials for interpreters/translators and the need to reduce the time it takes for course work from the current 10-year haul.

These problems have been pointed out in language reviews, Mr. Speaker, since the 1900s. Can the Minister tell me what progress is being made meeting these basic but crucial needs and perhaps where that’s addressed in the Languages Strategy? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment and following up on both his statement and my statement today.

The Official Languages Act made the enormous contribution of making ancestral languages real in the law. We have seen some progress on the basis of that law, but we shouldn’t assume the 1998 law was the last word on what is and isn’t an official language in the Northwest Territories.

Can the Minister state this government’s position on recognizing further official languages under the act? That is, what are the standards and arguments...

Thank you for those remarks. I understand that and I guess I would just ask the Minister to consider a little research in this area and provide that research results to our businesses, our tourism operators, so they are operating with full information there. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do support Bill 9. I came to that support through the process that’s been outlined and the participation of many. I want to express appreciation to those who did contribute in the process and the considerable input we had, especially from small businesses and entrepreneurs, many of whom are currently very much struggling now in the face of our low caribou populations.

I just want to point out or comment or observe that our local resident businesses have, on the whole, been extremely responsible and have not been, sort of, the source of the angst that has generated this...

Well, we’ve had discussions in this House where it was identified that the Green Procurement Policy might rightfully belong in the Department of Finance so that it would be applied and implemented. Whereas it’s not now, it would be applied and implemented across the government. I am interested in what it would take to configure this module to be able to handle it. I recognize that there must be other policies that this software is responding to and if we should move that policy into Finance, I hope that the potential for this to be useable to administer that policy would be part of this...

Are we anticipating any further expenditures other than just about a million dollars in this case?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wonder if I could just have a little explanation of this fund, the $925,000. Thank you.