Jane Groenewegen

Mr. Speaker, I mentioned, as well, that when one has the unfortunate experience of coming upon an accident that’s already occurred, there are no shoulders on the road on that stretch of highway I’m talking about. So for an example, last night we had to basically stay right in the lane with our four-way flashers on, and someone coming around a curve, and they touch their brakes, you have the potential for another accident. So I guess I’d like to ask the Minister, in that particular stretch of highway, what are the plans for expanding the shoulder? There are no shoulders on that road now. They...

I went to the Minister about a steel supply contact that we didn’t feel had been resolved fairly, and it was resolved to the satisfaction of my constituent. We had a gravel crushing contract that was not being resolved to the satisfaction of a constituent and it went our way.

Mr. Speaker, I raised the issue of the graffiti on the sign at the border, and I know that the Minister’s not responsible for Justice, but the next day the corrections inmates were out there and repainted the sign at the border. Mr. Speaker, I told the Minister we didn’t need a bridge at the Deh Cho, we didn’t need the Deh...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to talk about the Department of Transportation and its Minister.

Mr. Speaker, in the South Slave we are happy to have roads. We have a good road network system. I empathize with those who are from areas where that is still an aspiration to be realized. But, Mr. Speaker, I want to talk a bit about the Department of Transportation and their responsiveness to the issues that I have raised with the Minister and in this House, and I hope my colleagues don’t feel bad, because I realize that not everybody loves the Department of Transportation.

Mr. Speaker, when I...

In the press release that was put out by the government, it does say that those who plan to line up for the vaccine should not be in a hurry. Health officials say flu clinic staffers will ask people if they have any risk factors such as chronic illness or pregnancy. So it doesn’t actually specifically in this communique speak to the issue of egg allergy, so I hope that even this discussion here on the floor of the House today will raise people’s awareness about that potential issue and, perhaps in the future, communications on this, because it is such a common thing, this could be included in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Jacobson.

Many people who participated in the public hearings raised concerns about whether the federal Species at Risk Act would supersede the proposed NWT legislation. For species in the NWT that are listed under the federal legislation, the Government of the Northwest Territories must show that its laws are providing effective protection for those species. The Species at Risk (NWT) Act will establish the mechanisms to assess the status of a species at the territorial level -- which could differ from the national level -- identify the threats facing the...

That was actually my next question. I was going to ask how we were going to ensure that the ongoing communications and up-to-date information is available to potentially affected parties. Certainly NTPC is a huge presence in Hay River and extremely important to our community.

In the negotiations that could take place -- I know I’m not supposed to ask hypothetical questions, but in those negotiations -- I mean, it’s quite possible that the retention of the current NTPC employees in a merger type of arrangement could be part of the negotiations.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned in my Member’s statement, I do think the Premier’s visit to Hay River went some ways toward explaining this government’s position and what we’re trying to achieve by examining the ATCO proposal that came to our Premier’s desk.

However, the wheels of government turn slowly and there’s been several reviews related to electricity going on. There’s been the rates review that the folks have taken out to the communities on the road. Also, there’s the NTPC review itself, and then, of course, the review of the ATCO proposal. So although we did have that...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The committee today would like to deal with Committee Report 6-16(3) dealing with the Official Languages Act and we would also like to deal with the Committee Report 8-16(3) first, and that is the Review of the Evaluation of Laptop Computers in the Legislative Assembly. So not in the order I called them, but those are the two items. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Also, just to confirm that if at the end of this analysis process there does seem to be merit in this partnership with the private sector for the benefit of the people of the Northwest Territories, including those who already work for our present utility, that there will be an opportunity for those points and those merits that could be achieved would be brought back for a decision of this House.

As that team of deputy ministers looks at that proposal and considers it from a business analysis perspective, to be perfectly clear, can the Premier confirm for us that if this proposal had merit and if we were to proceed with it, that in fact it is not anticipated to be, or in any way anticipated to be, a sell-off of NTPC, but in fact a partnership with the private sector through ATCO?