Glen Abernethy

Thank you Mr. Bromley. General comments. Mr. Krutko.

Okay. With that, we will take a short break.

---SHORT RECESS

I would like to call Committee of the Whole to order. Today in front of us we have Tabled Document 4-16(5), Tabled Document 30-16(5), Tabled Document 38-16(5), Tabled Document 62-16(5), Tabled Document 75-16(5), Tabled Document 106-16(5), Bill 4, Committee Report 3-16(5), and Minister’s Statement 65-16(5). What is the wish of committee? Mrs. Groenewegen.

The Minister actually hit on something incredibly important there and I’m glad she’s going to provide the information back to me and my colleagues; that’s important. But more importantly it’s about getting the information to the public, because they’re the ones who are using this clinic and we need to make sure that whatever we do is clearly communicated and articulated to our residents, the ones who want to use it. So I look forward to that.

Another area of concern, and I’ve touched on it briefly, is just the number of staff that we have in that facility. I had one constituent come to me --...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister responsible for Health and Social Services. I talked earlier about the consolidated clinic here in Yellowknife and, once again, I think it’s a great facility and there are great programs that are being offered out of there. But as with new programs, there are some growing pains. I know the Minister has probably heard a lot of these concerns that are brought up by the public. I know that I’ve taken a couple to the Minister and they have been addressed.

What I’m interested in now is in order to ensure that this facility continues to be the...

Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Tabled Document 75-16(5), Response to the Joint Review Panel for the Mackenzie Gas Project on the Federal and Territorial Governments’ Interim Response to “Foundation for a Sustainable Northern Future” and would like to report progress. Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I am really happy to hear that. I would like to go back to the Minister’s first response, where he was talking about reducing some of the red tape. I appreciate everything he was saying, but we are in that reality today. The red tape exists today and every day that it continues to exist, businesses continue to struggle. Frankly, I want small and medium-sized businesses to succeed in Yellowknife. I want them in small communities. I want them to offer employment in small communities. Every second counts. When can we expect to see some progress on this? When can the Minister commit...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment and follow along with my Member’s statement today. I talked about red tape and the existence of red tape. We know we can’t eliminate red tape and I’m not talking about the red tape as a result of legislative requirements, but there is lots of extra red tape that comes out of policies and procedures. It is not all GNWT, but I think we have an opportunity here to work with NABA and the NWT Chamber of Commerce to identify what the real burden is. I am asking the Minister today if he can work with...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

So this is basically to return that power that once existed that got missed by way of some sort of oversight.