Brendan Bell was first elected to the 14th Legislative Assembly on December 6th, 1999. Born on August 17th, 1971 Brendan has lived in the NWT since 1980. He now lives in Yellowknife with his wife Jill and their daughter Emily.
Prior to his election to the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Bell was a business owner and also worked for a management-consulting firm in Yellowknife for several years. Brendan has Bachelor of Commerce and Masters in Business Administration degrees.
In the 14th Assembly Brendan was appointed Chair of Standing Committee on Social Programs, Chair of Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures, and Chair of Special Committee on Conflict Process. He also served as a member of both the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight and the Special Committee on the Review of the Official Languages Act.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the Member knows, this is certainly a priority for our department. We have had and been proposing to do some work and had budgeted amounts of money for a number of years. We are now at the point where we have a working committee to move forward. We have nominees as put forward by the region. We are going to work with them to ensure that there is a viable plan for enhancing the project. I expect there will also be a bit of a tour this summer. If the Member is interested in participating with the Premier and others, I believe, as well as Members of the committee, I...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the information from the Member and his support and advocacy for having us look at new and innovative ways to ensure community safety. This is something that we’ve been pursuing for quite some time. We have looked at other jurisdictions, looked at similar models. There are about four Canadian provinces, three Canadian provinces and one territory right now, with similar legislation and we have been in discussion with these provinces and territories to understand how effective this legislation and the enforcement of it has been. So we are analyzing...
Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that Bill 4, An Act to Amend the Supplementary Retiring Allowances Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Monday, June 5, 2006, I will move that Bill 8, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2006, be read for the first time.
Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Monday, June 5, 2006, I will move that Bill 8, Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act, 2006, be read for the first time.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have been discussing this with my colleague, the Minister of Health. We do have a Social Envelope Ministers Committee that discusses these issues frequently. I have talked about this and we have seen over the years here, especially recently, that it has been difficult in his community of Wrigley to get a permanent nurse in the community. One of the concerns was about the lack of a permanent policing presence. We are trying to work on that. We recognize there are linkages here. We can’t afford to be a stovepipe. So we are collaborating. I am trying to coordinate our...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have been discussing this with my colleague, the Minister of Health. We do have a Social Envelope Ministers Committee that discusses these issues frequently. I have talked about this and we have seen over the years here, especially recently, that it has been difficult in his community of Wrigley to get a permanent nurse in the community. One of the concerns was about the lack of a permanent policing presence. We are trying to work on that. We recognize there are linkages here. We can’t afford to be a stovepipe. So we are collaborating. I am trying to coordinate our...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will certainly find out. The Member is right that I have said the department’s foremost priority is to get additional resources on the ground in our smaller communities. Members know there are 13 communities that currently don’t have a permanent police presence. Of course, they are served out of the larger centres and I think we do a very good job with the resources we have, but I have made the case to the federal government that we have pressing needs. There are pressures coming from development. We need a strategy, we need more resources and we will continue to do...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will certainly find out. The Member is right that I have said the department’s foremost priority is to get additional resources on the ground in our smaller communities. Members know there are 13 communities that currently don’t have a permanent police presence. Of course, they are served out of the larger centres and I think we do a very good job with the resources we have, but I have made the case to the federal government that we have pressing needs. There are pressures coming from development. We need a strategy, we need more resources and we will continue to do...
Mr. Speaker, I think I have a very close working relationship with the Governance and Economic Development committee. We meet quite frequently to discuss issues formally and informally. I am more than wiling to do that with Members as it relates to constituents who have specific concerns. Yes, I do rely on the advocacy of Members to bring those issues forward. In terms of communication on major initiatives, that is my job to come forward to committee and present them with those things. Of course, we had that discussion when we decided to move away from the National Diamond Strategy. I did...
