Frieda Martselos

Madam Chair, I would like to have the definite allocations by region. I also want to specify that we have had in the past in different regions. We used to have a neutral board before, an arm's-length board that looked after the disbursement of loans. I think when you have an arm's-length board that it's more of an input from businesspeople. I think that it's something to look at. I am not saying you have to do it, but I would like to see the options that we make sure that neutral, objective decisions are made for people, ordinary people, medium business, and large business. It's very important...

Mr. Speaker, I know that ENR staff are amazing. Does the Department of ENR consider it a priority to update and upgrade the current Territorial Fire Centre? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Can the Minister explain when the last time an evaluation was conducted to determine whether the Government of the Northwest Territories is providing our firefighters with the best resources available for addressing wildfires?

Mr. Speaker, I would like to address the issue of capital spending in the NWT, specifically for Fort Smith. I would like to see a new territorial fire centre for the NWT to replace the existing fire centre in Fort Smith. As we all know, the NWT fire centre has the important role of being the first responders to any territorial forest fires. Not only does the fire centre operate across the NWT, but the fire centre also has signed agreements to assist with large forest fires across Canada, as well as internationally.

Geographically, the South Slave region is the northern-most part of the Boreal...

I could not hear him. Could he speak loud and clear so I could just hear what he said? Please, Madam Chair.

Another line that I am interested in is the regional operations, the leases, the $29,191,000. I am wondering if I can get a breakdown, a detailed breakdown of those.

Mr. Speaker, today, I want to speak about the attributes of good leadership. "Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher heights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations," a quote from Peter F. Drucker, who is an author and expert on management.

Mr. Speaker, that quote is from the book titled "Leadership, a Practical Guide to Leadership Principles and Strategies." That book was gifted to me by someone in my community after I entered into leadership as chief of the Salt River First Nation about 13 years ago. I...

I want to go on the record, too, that I do support the legislation. I am not a computer person, but I seem to manage. I seem to get my view out there. I don't want to hold back. We have to be role models, especially when it comes to our younger generations at the high schools and the colleges. I have done that in the community, and I continue to do that. I will never hold back progress. Thank you.

The other one I want to just ask a further question on is kind of on the same lines as one of my colleagues asked, Madam Chair. That is the $66,444,000, the contract services. It was stated that 87 percent of it went to Northerners. The big list that we got on one of our documents, there was a lot of businesses on there that are BIP, but I would not consider them northern, myself, if they are not owners in the Northwest Territories. I am just wondering: how is 87 percent quite possible? Like, I want to make sure because there is a concern about northern content. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Madam Chair, so it's more discretionary I take it?