Bob McLeod

I believe that the coalition has provided a valuable service to the government and we will continue to involve them as we go through in reviewing these 19 recommendations.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We, too, are very grateful for the work that has been done by the Status of Women Council and also the Native Women’s Association. With regard to the 19 recommendations on the Coalition Against Family Violence, we are just starting the process of reviewing them as we begin getting ready for the business planning process.

We will be reviewing them and we will be involving them where it will make the most sense and where we will get the best advice for the amount of money that we spend on it.

We will be responding to each of those three requests. On the first one, on the shelters, I believe we have responded in the affirmative, that as a government we will be continuing funding for the continuation of the shelter program. On the two other requests, we’re still reviewing on the training for prevention of violence for men. We are reviewing the proposed program to see if it meets the requirements of both the government and that they will be successful. On the other one, we’re also reviewing that specific request as well.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome all Members back to the continuation of the First Session of the 17th Assembly. In this sitting we will review the capital estimates for next fiscal year and begin to debate some important issues. I believe all Members of this House have a shared interest in creating an environmentally sustainable and prosperous territory for all the people we serve. Despite some significant challenges, our territory is strong and we are even stronger when we work together.

We are still a relatively new government, but we have taken our first steps towards a shared vision: a...

I agree with all of those sentiments and we’ll work hard to make sure that happens. I’ll certainly look forward to going to Hay River; it’s one of my favourite places.

My understanding is the condominium association had finalized the proposal. I haven’t seen it myself, but if there is a final proposal that has been brought to the city, then I expect that as soon as we assign portfolios and Ministers have been briefed up, that we could look at that, probably within the next few months.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Although I wasn’t a member of that committee, in my estimation, it was a very good committee. It accomplished a lot and it provided for real change and improvements to the small communities. So if it is the wish of everybody here to continue it, I certainly would support it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I met with Mayor Van Tighem from Yellowknife, we talked about the Northland issue and the fact that the estimated cost to fix the problem at Northland was somewhere in the neighbourhood of $18 million. The Northland condominium group had indicated to the city that they didn’t need to have paving and so on that had been planned for the area, so that would shave $2 million to $3 million off the project. Also, if a loan guarantee was provided so that the city could make a low rate, they would save a further $3 million to $4 million. That would reduce the cost by half...

In the 16th Assembly we set up a protocol which we all agreed to and we all agreed that there would be no surprises. There was nothing that was identified in the protocol that was going to be approved by the 16th Assembly that would flow into the 17th Assembly. We’ve all agreed that we’re going to get together and set the vision and strategy for the 17th Assembly, and we are committed to that process and we will follow that process. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.