Bob McLeod

Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome Members back for the continuation of the Third Session of the Legislative Assembly.

We are now into the final months of the 18th Legislative Assembly and Ministers and Members have been working hard together to create a better territory for our residents, one in which all people have the support and opportunities they need to be healthy and economically secure, while maintaining their connection to a sustainable and well-managed environment.

I want to recognize everyone in this House for their efforts and their commitment to advancing our work on behalf of...

As I said earlier, I think, responding to questions earlier, we have mediation coming up with the UNW on Friday. We are hoping to reach an agreement with them, and we will see what happens after that. As far as the other tables go, again, we are waiting to hear from Hay River Health and Social Services, and we are also looking to continue our talks with NTPC.

A strike is not something that anybody wants, and it is not something that the people of the Northwest Territories want, especially the employees. We feel that we have been very fair in our discussions with UNW. Again, that remains to be...

In my mind, I don't believe that all of the Members took into account whether all of these commitments were doable in four years. Some of the commitments were very, very specific, and as such they are difficult to fulfill. Others are ongoing commitments that were there before; we have been doing a lot of work on it. Moving into the next Assembly, they will continue.

It is not an easy process, to just say, "Okay, we've done this," and move on to the next one, and that is why we are tracking all of the commitments that were made.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't see why we need to create another forum. The information is updated on a regular basis. We meet at Caucus once a week when we are in session. I think the process is already in place. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As a government, we are working very hard and we are committed to fulfilling all of the mandates, and we will be reviewing the commitments as we go forward. At some point, we will make a determination. Some of them we know are ongoing commitments, as I said. Some of them, the commitments are very broad, so I think a lot of them are ongoing. We will be reviewing each of them to determine if they will be fulfilled or not, and, at some point in the next seven months, we can report on our progress.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are 230 mandate commitments for the 18th Legislative Assembly. Some of these are specific and targeted. Others are very broad and focused on fundamental issues that have faced our territory and require long-term efforts. With that said, we are committed to advancing each of these mandate commitments and, where possible, completing them. There are many positive advancements being made and tracked on the mandate reporting website. Between now and the end of this Assembly, the government will continue to work toward fulfilling the mandate commitments of the 18th...

Yes, we are commit today working very closely with the IRC in Ottawa not only on climate change, but other issues that affect us, such as offshore oil and gas and fisheries, among other things.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Government of the Northwest Territories is committed to respecting the provisions of land claim agreements and to fulfilling its obligations under all Northwest Territories land claims, especially since we are also a signatory of the land claims. We see it as our land claims, as well.

Through implementation committees, which include representation for Canada, the Indigenous government, and the Government of the Northwest Territories, the parties discuss the ongoing implementation of land claim agreements and work to resolve any issues that may arise. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I kind of like that NGB name itself. Generally we respond to public interest, so if there is public interest to name the building, we have a government policy that focuses on two areas when it comes to naming of buildings. One aspect is how to set up a process that is fair and gives everybody who is interested in submitting a name an opportunity to do so. Also we have some criteria as to what types of names. For example, we are not going to name buildings after people who are alive. So that is the kind of criteria, but if there is any indication of public interest, we...

We have had a number of suggestions for naming of buildings, and so for that reason we came up with a government policy. The policy has a definition for an "office building." The definition is based on the purpose of the building. Some of the guidelines are: we need Cabinet approval; we will consider whether the proposed name reflects the historical, cultural, and geographical significance of the Northwest Territories; GNWT-owned office buildings may be named in honour of deceased persons who have made significant contributions to public life; and GNWT-owned office buildings will not be named...