Bob Bromley

Thank you.

Bill 9, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 4, 2007–2008, approved for third reading.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just following up on those comments of the Minister and the collections brought up by my colleague. For Stanton, I believe about half of the debt for the Stanton Territorial Health Authority is due to billing disputes for services to Nunavut residents. I’m wondering if the basis of this dispute has been remedied. Are we no longer accruing debts because of billing disputes, and do we have a billing protocol that’s acceptable now in place?

To the Preamble.

Preamble approved.

Great. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. I think it would be great, as leaders for the territory, to be able to point the finger at ourselves as leading in all ways. Thank you very much. I appreciate that.

Total Supplementary Appropriation: $28.205 million.

Bill 9, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 4, 2007–2008, Total Supplementary Appropriation, not previously authorized: $28.205 million, approved.

I’m wondering what sort of accountability here…. As I understand it, this commissioner hardly visited any communities. To me, as just a member of the public and so on, I saw very little profile for the Languages Commissioner. I think back to a few commissioners ago when it was huge, in the news all the time; it was a big part of…. To me, this is a really important role, so I’m wondering what sort of accountability…. How does this commissioner get feedback about the job she’s doing and so on, to make sure things get happening as they should?

Total Health and Social Services: $17.32 million.

Bill 9, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 4, 2007–2008, Total Health and Social Services, not previously authorized: $17.32 million, approved.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to support language diversity in the Northwest Territories.

There is so much that’s embodied in a language: ways of being, ways of knowing, incredible understanding, a whole framework for the way the world works.

Mr. Speaker, I was facilitating a workshop in Whati with elders and youth a number of years ago, and I finally realized they all spoke the Tlicho language, except for me. So I said, “Why don’t you guys go ahead?” and they did. But at the end the elders told me it was sad they didn’t speak strong Dogrib and didn’t understand the layers of...

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Ms. LeClair.

Thank you. Mr. Hawkins, did you have a question?