Glen Abernethy

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Minister McLeod.

I will now go to the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment to respond to the general comments.

I think the Minister’s putting some words in my mouth. I have no interest whatsoever in killing this bill and I’ve been pretty clear along those lines ever since we started having conversation. I am concerned about process, because we are a public government, Mr. Speaker. We must be transparent in everything we do. We must be accountable for our actions. In this case, I don’t believe the public consultation is particularly transparent or accountable. I’ve heard from representatives from the Government of the Northwest Territories, members of his own department, members from ITI, members from...

Thank you, Minister McLeod. We are on page 12-21, Industry, Tourism and Investment, activity summary, energy, operations expenditure summary, $6.019 million.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. Next on my list, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said in my Member’s statement, that we get with the Wildlife Act, the document that is right as opposed to right now. This act affects everybody in the Northwest Territories, Aboriginal hunters, non-Aboriginal hunters, harvesters, industry, transportation. In fact, every person who goes outside is affected or will be affected by the Wildlife Act.

My question to the Minister is: what is the urgency? Why don’t we wait, go back out, talk to those people who have concerns, get the information and put forward an act that is right? We need to delay this, Mr. Speaker, so...

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister McLeod.

Not really so much a question but a pat on the back. Early in the life of this Assembly I gave the Minister a fairly hard time about the road licensing office here in Yellowknife and how it was so incredibly frustrating going there. I recently went and got my new licence and it was a great experience. The way you’ve got that office structured now is a lot more ergonomic. It makes sense. Yes, the lines are still long, but it’s a lot clearer. So I’d like to pat the Minister on the back for some good work in that area and thanks for making that a more pleasurable experience than it was in the...

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. In this section I just want to highlight comments from my colleague Mrs. Groenewegen when she was talking about access into the Hay River. Under this section, I know this is mostly ferries, ferry operations and whatnot, but is there any capacity within this division to work with Hay River to partner with the federal government or any other partners about possibly dredging that channel to increase the transportation links out of Hay River? The shallower that gets the more difficult it is for significantly-sized boats to get in and out. Does this division have any...