Frederick Blake Jr.

It would be nice to have some answers here, but I will try again: how will the Department of Infrastructure monitor the impacts of its decision to end the shoulder season ferry services on the communities that have historically relied on those ferries?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in follow-up to my Member's statement, I have a few questions for the Minister of Infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, the Minister previously mentioned that new, lighter equipment was on its way to the communities to support accelerated ice road construction. Can the Minister provide a status update, including where the equipment is going? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The World Wildlife Fund calls the decline of the Arctic caribou one of Canada's greatest wildlife concerns, and we have not seen sufficient herd recovery nor GNWT action to show that caribou will truly be protected. Human activity posed a credible and severe danger to the Porcupine caribou. That herd is now dependent on us as human beings and as Northerners to protect the Arctic refuge and ensure their survival.

Mr. Speaker, it is not just an American problem. It affects the people of Fort McPherson, Tsiigehtchic, Aklavik, and Inuvik, as well as Gwich'in living in the Yukon, all who rely...

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, October 19, 2017, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that pursuant to section 91 of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, the Legislative Assembly recommends to the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories the reappointment of Mr. David Phillip Jones as Conflict of Interest Commissioner, effective December 1, 2017.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to ask the Premier: will the Premier travel to Ottawa with a delegation to lobby the Prime Minister to do all that they can to ensure the protection of the 1002 lands for the Porcupine caribou herd?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a follow-up to my Member's statement, I have two questions for the Premier. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Premier: what does the Premier understand his role to be when working with the federal government and with the American officials in the matter of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge where the effects will intimately impact the landscape wildlife and people of the Northwest Territories? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Scientific American reports this week that the fight over the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is back. For many in the North, though, Mr. Speaker, that fight never went away. A couple of years ago, the international newspaper the Guardian brought the Alaska Refuge to the world's attention in a long feature article. What might have seemed like new information to the southerners has been a part of Indigenous life in the Arctic for generations upon generations. Whether living in northern Canada or in Alaska, Northerners are no strangers to far-and-away...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the years, this concern has received a lot of support from the congress in the United States, but recently with the election of Trump it has really opened up the hard facts that, you know, they are planning to open up the 1002 lands. We do have the Porcupine Caribou Management Board and other Gwich'in nations in the Yukon that travel to Washington to lobby. If possible, would the Premier be willing to also travel down to represent the communities of the Northwest Territories to lobby congress in Washington? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Debate over the refuge has gone back and forth in the American congress for many years. However, the first series of attempts to erode the refuge in 13 years is currently under way. What actions has the Premier and his government taken now to represent the GNWT voices and defend the refuge to our American counterparts?

I’m not sure where the Minister gets all his numbers from. Last year alone we had in the neighbourhood of 140 tractor trailers on those ferries. I’d like to ask the Minister: how does the department plan to support the increased demands for travel and access likely to put pressure on regional infrastructure in the lead up and follow of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway?