Charles Dent

Mr. Speaker, the board and governance council focus on workplace and worker safety, along with good financial stewardship, means the WCB of the NWT and Nunavut is well positioned to look after the interests of both workers and employers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have two documents I’d like to table today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We are hoping we can develop a policy that is rational and meets the needs of the people of the Northwest Territories. I would hate at this point, with the amount of time and effort and consultation that’s gone into reviewing this policy, to announce any changes suddenly. We intend to make some rational changes to this. Let’s be very clear about this; there may be some changes to the policy around how we subsidize housing for seniors. I expect that there will be, but I would rather we bring forward all of our proposals in a comprehensive, cohesive manner and make...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said, both the elected boards have ultimate responsibility for dealing with their constituents. If they are not satisfied with how things are happening, then they have to sit down and try to resolve that in their areas of influence.

Mr. Speaker, I am in a situation where we have, as I said, we have a board that has a surplus of space and one board that is short of space. We need to make sure that we have partners who are willing to work together and I am hopeful that we will. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am prepared to put efforts into working with the two boards, but I think to be fair it has to be recognized that there is not likely to be a resolution in terms of space by fall of 2006. All of the parties have agreed at this point that we are working towards the fall of 2007. I am prepared to continue efforts. I have recently received a letter from the Yellowknife Catholic Schools that calls into question their willingness or interest in continuing this process. I am going to have to check on that. If there is an interest, I would be quite prepared to put every...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The answer is yes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am afraid I can’t give a specific date or even a range of dates at this point, because once we have the new person selected, they have to be formally appointed to that position. Then, as the Member has rightly pointed out, there needs to be a process of them learning how to do their job properly. It’s unlikely that would happen within a matter of days. It will probably take a couple of weeks for somebody to get their training. Then when everything is ready, we will have to contact the lawyer for the appellant to see when they are going to be available, when the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I would say we have received a number of qualified applicants that we can consider for filling the vacant public interest position. It is my intention to attempt to consider them as quickly as possible in concert with the Minister of Nunavut. We have been in touch with his office several times in the past week since the receipt of all of the applicants. We are hoping that very shortly we will be able to make an appointment to the vacant public interest position. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled NWT Arts Strategy Progress Report as of March 31, 2006. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled NWT Arts Strategy Progress Report as of March 31, 2006. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.