Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that we report progress.

---Carried

Mr. Chairman, so that whole issue of specific number of hours, that would be worked in a year in order to advance to the next level within the apprenticeship training is not something that would be outlined in legislation. It is something that more might be in policy or regulation. Would that be correct? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The committee today would like to deal with Bill 5 first and that’s it for today. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, the MLAs for Hay River were involved in a process with the then-CEO of the hospital, Mr. Al Woods, and the public administrator of the hospital, of also receiving a lot of information about prospective sites for the new hospital. At that time I believe it was determined that the ENR/ITI site was the most suitable site. However, I appreciate that Public Works has done their homework and that there may be a better alternative.

Mr. Speaker, how does the proposed site of the Sundog industrial area, how does that take into account the issue of it being on the west side of the railway...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have questions about the proposed location for the new hospital in Hay River. I’m not sure if I should ask my questions to the Minister of Public Works or the Minister of Health and Social Services, but let’s go with the Minister of Public Works.

Mr. Speaker, we have, for many years, had a desire and a need for a new hospital in Hay River. This is something that, Mr. Speaker, yourself and myself over the years have worked on. We have had a little slippage. We haven’t stayed right on the front of the line for this capital project. It’s a very big project...

Mr. Chairman, that is probably another matter that could be taken up at a different time and in a different venue, but I can tell you that the differences between what is required in Alberta where many of the apprentices from the Northwest Territories, sometimes there is an opportunity for apprentices to continue to work in Alberta while they are taking their training down there because there is only a few short months between theory sessions at NAIT or something like that and the way that their hours are accounted for is different and does create an issue. But I will say that this is probably...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don’t sit on the Social Programs committee so I haven’t had very extensive knowledge of what this repeal and revision specifically pertains to. One thing I would like to ask of the Minister, and I guess this is a general comment but I will explain a situation related to apprenticeships that I would like to get some clarification on and then I guess the Minister can tell me if this has anything to do with the consideration that is before the House now and was before the Standing Committee on Social Programs.

Mr. Chairman, not every formal training session for the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said at the outset, my main concern is there be no slippage in the timing and the schedule for the construction of the new hospital. I think that the site or the location is probably of a secondary nature to the timing, as far as I’m concerned. But, Mr. Speaker, at the same time, the proposed site that is the choice of the government, I guess, or the town -- I’m not sure who was mostly pushing that -- is an industrial area.

I’d like to ask: have the people of Hay River been consulted in any fashion in this, in terms of the public? A hospital is usually...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, has the Minister given any consideration to lifting the border or export restriction to at least as far as Alberta? Would it be possible, in this transition phase while we’re trying to establish markets further afield, would a dialogue with the Alberta government, because they don’t have the big freshwater lakes that we have here in the Northwest Territories and that is quite a large market on our doorstep, would it be possible to have any discussion with the Alberta government Minister responsible about the potential for exporting our fish at least to...

The documents I have indicate that this consultation process should be concluded by June 11th and then there is a requirement of us to repeal some legislation which makes us part of the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation. I’d like to ask the Minister if he would anticipate that the repealing of that legislation could come as early as this fall.