Brendan Bell

Mr. Speaker, there are discussions, if not currently underway, they’re imminent between our officials, federal officials and the pipeline proponents to talk about the areas that government could support and assist this project, and I’ve just indicated some of the options that we favour. We need to see more detail from the producers in terms of their costing. \what does that $16 billion comprise? What types of infrastructure would help make this project price come down? We want to make sure that we’re advocating for areas that will have the most impact on the price of this project. So...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to draw Members’ attention to the RCMP change of command ceremony that will take place later today in the Great Hall.

Chief Superintendent Tom Middleton will be appointed as the 34th commanding officer of the RCMP “G” Division. He continues the excellent work of his predecessor, outgoing Commanding Officer Pat McCloskey. Chief Superintendent Middleton is a 30-year veteran of the RCMP and will provide leadership to officers across the NWT. He will have a critical role in strengthening RCMP relations with communities, government agencies and institutions as...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Legal Services Act, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Deh Cho, that Bill 1, An Act to Amend the Partnership Act, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, one of the reasons we like this project is because of the legacy it can create and, first and foremost, 50 or 100 year industry for people up and down the valley in terms of oil and gas exploration. There are logical infrastructure contributions we think can be made by the federal government. We’ve been advocating that for some time. Now what we do need to see from Imperial and the producers is some detailed breakdown on that costing. There's no sense for us advocating for roads that will have little or no impact on the project. We need to see this detail. They have...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Obviously, the new costing came out and although we were expecting an increase in the price of this project, we were surprised by the magnitude of the increase: $16 billion. I think the suspected or the whisper number on the street had been, sort of, in the 10 to 12 range. So this is much higher than we had anticipated. We’ve been lobbying for some time; we do believe that there is a logical role for governments in assisting this project. We’ve never been advocating that there be subsidies paid to the producers; we don’t think that makes sense or is the role of...

Thank you, Madam Chair. With me today, on my left is Gary MacDougall; on my right, Mark Aitken from the Department of Justice.

Sorry; just to be clear, we contacted the Law Society. They indicated they were in support of this. I am not sure what internal consultation they would have done, but they did indicate they were in support of this.

I would. Madam Chair, if you would allow me just before I start, I would like to say hello to my daughter, Emily, who is watching at home with her friend Myra, I understand. They are probably onto other things by now, but they were watching for a brief moment.

The primary purpose of this bill is to permit the registration of limited liability partnerships formed or operating in the Northwest Territories and to establish basic rules and procedures for the registration of these partnerships.

In a general partnership, each partner is liable for the obligations of the partnership, as well as the...

Mr. Chairman, a number of points were made by the Member. Let me first start by saying we are working to try to get more members to the private bar who would be interested in doing this type of legal aid work as it relates to civil matters. We are working cooperatively with the Law Society on recruitment and retention initiatives. We have been doing some joint work at ventures in the South to try to recruit more members into the bar. I think that is the answer. Ideally, we would like to not have this issue. Other larger jurisdictions have the luxury, where there are more members doing this...