Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The committee, I believe, would like to deal with the last department in the budget, the Department of Human Resources, and then move on to Supplementary Appropriation No. 3, Supplementary Appropriation No. 1 and then Bill 2, time permitting, Forgiveness of Debts Act. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I can fully understand why Members representing small communities would consider having a nurse resident in the community to be a very important thing. Access sounds nice, but it doesn’t address the issue of emergencies and just, I suppose, the comfort level people have knowing that there is a qualified health care professional in the community should the need to receive services arise. It’s complicated, the answer, but does the Minister at least acknowledge the issue around the quality of life that’s realized in these small communities if they had a resident health care...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to ask a question to the Minister of Health and Social Services while I have this opportunity today. I’ve be listening to my colleague Mr. Krutko and my colleague Mr. Menicoche talk about the nursing services for Tsiigehtchic and Wrigley and even with all the debate and questions that’s gone back and forth, I still don’t really understand one thing. Is the ability to put nurses in these communities a financial consideration? Is it about the financial resources in order to do this?

The Minister doesn’t sound very supportive of the vote from the fishermen to be removed from the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation. Again, I don’t really understand what the liabilities are. Is he talking about financial liabilities? Is there some outstanding debt that needs to be paid? Do we owe something to the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation? I’m not understanding that. And as far as the legislation passed in this House, what is the department doing to bring forward whatever change in legislation needs to be enacted in order to see our fishery stand alone from the Freshwater Fish...

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

---Carried

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question today is for the Minister of ITI as well. My colleague Mr. Yakeleya raises the issue of domestic product for a domestic market. We have long had a lately untapped resource in the way of our fishery and for years we’ve been asking the government to do what they can to make the fortunes and life of the fishermen better. I’m, of course, speaking of the fishermen on the Great Slave Lake and the quota of fish that does not get harvested from that lake, which is determined by the Department of Fisheries to be sustainable.

Mr. Speaker, a landmark decision has now...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that consideration of Tabled Document 78-16(4), Supplementary Appropriation (Operations Expenditures) No. 3, 2009-2010, be now concluded, and that Tabled Document 78-16(4) be reported and recommended as ready for further consideration in formal session through the form of an appropriation bill. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, it’s a small Territory, we all know who the board chair is for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation, and I want to say -- and Mr. Voytillla knows this -- that I’ve always had a great deal of respect for what he has done for our government and his many years as deputy minister and how pleased I was when he became the chair of the NTPC board. Would the Premier convey to Mr. Voytilla, please, that we would appreciate his support as the chair, because he would be a very key person in these negotiations; that we would like him to participate with our government in trying to find...

So these are fairly large numbers. I don’t know how they compare to previous years, however, the Minister has indicated that the demand for southern referrals and placements is increasing and I don’t know what is contributing to that. He said there are emerging issues, but certainly in terms of the sustainability of the support that this requires, it would be good if we knew what those emerging issues are so that we could perhaps do something to kind of put prevention or stem the increase in some way, because I’m not sure if this number in this group of people who are in need of these...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Premier and the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation. Mr. Speaker, I would hope that today, through some questions and answers here in the House, we could set the record straight. Mr. Speaker, at the outset of any sensitive negotiations of course we can’t fully predict the outcome of those negotiations, and no doubt, there will be obstacles and challenges to try to achieve the goal that we have of trying to see value added from the Rare Earth’s mining activity in the Northwest Territories. We...