Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As an MLA, we get concerns from constituents on many topics. One concern I’ve had raised recently by constituents is in the matter of trying to advance in the workplace or be direct appointed, if that’s a policy that’s applicable to them. It seems that there is information about professional development, about applying for and successfully obtaining a job that they want that is not available to them.

I would like to ask the new Minister of Human Resources if the method or policy of direct appointments is one that is still employed by this government on a large scale or...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister if an employee themselves can instigate a direct appointment. Can they express interest in a position and bring it to the attention of their superiors that they would like to be considered for a direct appointment to a specific job opening? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, could the Minister outline for us briefly what is the purpose of direct appointments? We had a Minister’s statement on Aboriginal inclusion just recently in this House.

I would like to ask the Minister, for the most part, what is the purpose of the direct appointment policy? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to reflect a little on the events of this past weekend as we commemorated and thought about the 20 year anniversary of this building. It was wonderful to see Members from the past here, sharing their thoughts, and it was truly inspiring.

I’m not a person who stops and ponders the past very often. I’m usually very much in the present moment and pushing forward in whatever that moment is. I was looking at the calendar just now and realized that it was 39 years ago today, on November the 4th, that my parents took a 17-year-old to the Union Station in Toronto, the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to recognize former colleagues. I won’t name them, as they’ve been mentioned here before. I’d also like to recognize a little girl, Mikayla Jacobson. When we had a retreat up in Tuktoyaktuk one time, I met her before I met our Speaker. We attended a child care centre there, and Mr. Ramsay and I were both quite smitten with this beautiful little girl that was sitting there. She was so engaging in talking to us, and when she arrived here last night at the Assembly, she wanted to go immediately down to Mr. Ramsay’s office to say hello. What a delightful young...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your committee would like to report progress. I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you. Mr. Speaker.

I’d like to call Committee of the Whole to order. Before we proceed with any business in Committee of the Whole, I’m going to call a break.

---SHORT RECESS

So, nothing about our approval or assessment process has changed specifically in relation to fracking, which is something, as we said, relatively new.

On the issue of a timeline for the kind of things that Minister Miltenberger is referring to, how far down the road of approvals for this activity are we going to go before these things that Mr. Miltenberger refers to are actually in place? Are there a lot of companies out there, or even ConocoPhillips… Is there a lot more of this activity imminent at this time? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I continue to have questions and concerns raised to me by constituents around the issue of fracking in the Northwest Territories. There is so much information out there on this topic. People read it and they are concerned. We’ve had members of the EDI committee who have gone on investigative tours to see how this process is impacting other jurisdictions and this information has come back. I’d like to ask the Minister some really simple questions.

In terms of fracking, what is the status of approvals for this activity in the Northwest Territories at this time? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, another issue that seems to have been brought into this is the issue of the franchise fee. I just happen to have my Yellowknife power bill here. It clearly states in here what the franchise fee is about. Franchise fee is a flow-through fee that is approved by the Public Utilities Board that allows, in tax-based municipalities, the service provider to avoid paying a tax on the land or the infrastructure where transmission is located and then this cost is paid directly to the community by the service provider.

I will quote Mr. Miltenberger again, he said, “I will indicate clearly...