Glen Abernethy

Mr. Speaker, the process is that it will be reviewed. It will be identified how many pages are required to meet the Member’s request. It will identify the cost. The letter will indicate there is a cost. The Member can certainly ask us to waive the fee. Frankly, I’m interested in helping the Member obtain this information, so we will likely waive the fee, but we have to go through an appropriate process. We have to go through the legal process. I will do that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as I indicated yesterday, we’ve had one application for this information. It was from a private citizen sent from his private home, with no reference at all that he was working on behalf of the MLA. The staff who actually processed the request would have had no idea that the Member was actually the one forwarding this request.

I would love to provide the contract to the Member. I would love to do it in open and in public. The problem is, there is a law. I can’t break the law. I would like to work with the Member. I would like to sit down with the Member and identify what exactly he...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize two individuals who are on the Anti-Poverty Steering Committee, Ms. Bronwyn Watters and Ms. Julie Green, and thank you both so much for all the hard work you put into this strategy. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document, entitled “Building on the Strengths of Northerners – A Strategic Framework Toward the Elimination of Poverty in the Northwest Territories, June 2013.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

There has been some discussion around this and it’s something we’re certainly interested in having some conversation on, but there are some challenges there that we have to be aware of; for instance, insurance coverage and making sure that the individual is safe. We need to make sure that an individual is safe, and if he or she happens to be the only individual in a community providing policing, or is seen as the only person, they could be in harm’s way, so we need to make sure that we put in mechanisms to ensure that that is not the case, and we don’t have those questions answered at this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do have a dedicated officer in Fort McPherson that is intended to provide services to Tsiigehtchic. In the last sitting the Member did raise some concerns he had about some relationship between the community of Tsiigehtchic and the RCMP detachment in Fort McPherson, and I did have some staff and the commanding officer of “G” Division go out and visit Tsiigehtchic and try to work out some of the complications or difficulties that existed. It’s my understanding that they have actually worked out a few things, which I think is a step in the right direction.

The Member is...

In coming forward with all these frameworks and strategies that have come forward in the last couple of months, or during this session anyway, it’s clear that there are definite links and tie-in, and many of them are working towards the same ultimate goal coming at it from different angles, which is one of the reasons we want to take a little bit of time to make sure that as we move forward we link all those together so that we are not duplicating functions and we are not duplicating initiatives, that we are trying to work together for the best use of money for the best of the people of the...

Thanks, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Member for the question. I would like to echo the Member’s comments in congratulations to the steering committee for all the incredible hard work they did, but also the working group who was involved from the beginning as well. They’ve done a wonderful job, but it is just the beginning, Mr. Speaker.

As I did say in my comments earlier today, we will be working on action plans over the summer months. There are a number of frameworks that have been released over this short session and all of them tie together to some degree, so we need to work together as a...

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce a new initiative that aims to promote the Government of the Northwest Territories as an inclusive workplace, a key commitment of 20/20: A Brilliant North, the NWT Public Service Strategic Plan.

The Northwest Territories is proud to be the only jurisdiction in Canada that recognizes National Aboriginal Day as a statutory holiday, and we celebrate on June 21st of each year. To coincide with Aboriginal Day 2013, I am pleased to confirm that the Government of the Northwest Territories will be launching Aboriginal cultural awareness training for employees of the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document, entitled “Public Works and Services Energy Conservation Projects Annual Report, 2012-2013.” Thank you.