David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item 7, oral questions.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS Section 23.(1) of the Human Rights Act provides that the Commissioner, on the recommendation of the Legislative Assembly, shall appoint a Director of Human Rights to carry out the responsibilities set out in the Act;

AND WHEREAS the Board of Management is tasked with recommending an individual to the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Assembly is prepared to make a recommendation to the Commissioner;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Monfwi, that Ms. Thérèse Boullard of Yellowknife be reappointed as Director of Human Rights during...

During my Member’s statement I also said that Regular Members, too, play a role in this, because every day — and I’m as guilty as the next Member — we stand up here and demand of government enhanced programs and capital projects in our ridings. We’re asking for more money.

But I really do believe the government needs to come up with a worst case scenario. What if equalization is cut as soon as next summer? This is a reality that could hit the government hard. I’m wondering: has the government got any plans to deal with cuts to equalization or cuts to our funding that will see us have to scale...

I have a few questions today, and I guess the first question I’d like to ask is of the Premier.

I listened to CBC News yesterday. I heard that the Legislature got back to work over in the Yukon, and one of the first things that Premier Fentie did was set up a committee of deputy ministers to keep a watchful eye on what is happening with the global economic downturn.

Again, I found it interesting that our Premier didn’t go to the Premiers’ meetings that were held recently in Montreal. I’d like to ask the Premier: what is our government doing today to help assure residents of the Northwest...

Mr. Speaker, it doesn’t leave me with a great deal of confidence in our justice system if, when a woman in the Northwest Territories committed a very serious offence and was remanded, we would put her in a facility where she could escape out the window or she could walk out the front door. That’s what I heard the Minister say. That’s not good enough from a public safety standpoint.

In this case it’s a woman charged with a very serious offence. It’s lucky people didn’t die that night when that fire was set. Why is she remanded in a facility where she could walk out the door or climb out an...

Again, I think having individuals in remand for an extended period of time and in locations where they’re not secure…. If they can just walk out the door, that causes me a great deal of concern, and it should cause the public some concern. Why would an individual like this be remanded in a facility where she could basically walk out the door?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just had a couple more oral questions, if I could. Are you still on item 7, Mr. Speaker? If not, I seek unanimous consent to return to item 7.

Unanimous consent granted.

The other thing that residents in the Northwest Territories are going to have a very difficult time with is the fact that the current General Rate Application is premised on the fact that oil and world oil prices were $130 and $140 a barrel. That’s not the reality today, Mr. Speaker. I think the government has to instruct that board to revisit the current General Rate Application so that residents in the Northwest Territories are not going to be faced with these high increases in cost this winter. It’s not too late to say no to that GRA or at least revisit it, because those numbers that were...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statements from earlier I was saying how increasingly difficult it is for residents and Members of this House to continue to stomach the bonuses that are paid to senior managers at the Power Corporation. Last year it was close to $600,000. Given the fact that rates are rising again, will the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, Minister Roland, instruct the board of the Power Corporation to immediately put a halt to the bonuses paid to senior staff?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That’s awfully hard for a resident in a small community to understand — that they’re paying more money today for mistakes or costs the Power Corporation incurred in the past. I think it has to be more forward looking, and I do believe that the current GRA that is in play right now needs to be revisited. It is premised on high oil prices and high utility costs today that just are not a reality. Can we open this up? Can the Minister instruct the board to revisit the GRA?