Brendan Bell

Mr. Chairman, we do have a standard requirement for parks officers for the training that they have to take. Of course, that training is updated depending on the case. It’s updated as required and often annually. We do have a compliance protocol with ENR that applies to all of our parks across the territory. So that is in effect in all of our territorial parks. I hope that answers the question.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that Bill 12, Garnishment Remedies Statutes Amendment Act, be read for the first time.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Under the current act, the powers of a parks officer currently, they can order a person to desist from an action or a conduct if in the opinion of that officer: 1) it’s dangerous to life or property; 2) interferes unduly with the enjoyment of the park by others; 3) bothers or damages the natural environment in the park. So they can issue these orders, but what we are trying to do is provide an additional tool, more teeth, a $200 fine or hopefully just the threat of a fine. The intent here is this would be a deterrent, Mr. Chairman. So that’s the difference. They...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that Bill 6, Engineering and Geoscience Professions Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. They’ll be ready for this season and of course we appreciate the willingness of Members to expedite this legislation. That is what has allowed us to do this. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Hockey night in Deline does have a nice ring to it and I don’t want to rope MACA in here as well, but, Mr. Speaker…

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In our Tourism 2010 Strategy there is quite a bit of money for product development, but it has to be regionally driven, it has to be about regional priorities and it would have to be a community-based proposal and submission. But if that were to come forward, I know that we would work with the community to try to advance this as a priority. I think it makes a lot of sense notwithstanding whether or not MACA can be involved, I think government...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We’re continually looking for ways to improve park safety and enjoyment for park guests. This has been something that’s been discussed in the department for some time. The Member is correct; we decided, with some of the recent concerns we’ve had in parks closest to our municipalities, some of this has been escalating over the years, that we needed to give this legislation more teeth, we needed to give our parks officers more of an ability to clamp down on unruly behaviour and that’s what we’ve done.

In 2004 we initiated a review of enforcement practices in our parks...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re really getting down to it at the end of question period; it’s commitment time. I appreciate the work that the Member has done in raising the profile of Deline as the birthplace of Hockey. He did draw national attention to this. He’s done some good work in this regard. I know that the NWT Tourism Association has been interested in this. Certainly our department and region is aware of it and if there are proposals that come forward, I know that the department would consider those. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, this money is long awaited. The TIPs initiative was one that was rolled out or at least discussed when the SINED program was created. The SINED name was given. It really talks to some strategic focus for this money. The federal government has been in discussions with our government about areas that they would like to see supported. We’ve talked about tourism. We’ve talked about geoscience. There still will be a pot of money, I understand, that the federal government will have that will be application based. So residents from across the territory can apply for that...