Jane Groenewegen

I will call Committee of the Whole to order. There are four bills before committee today. What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to provide the House with the Standing Committee on Governance and Economic Development report on the review of the 2005-2006 Draft Main Estimates.

Mr. Speaker, the Standing Committee on Governance and Economic Development -- GED -- met from January 13 to January 18, 2005, to review the 2005 - 2006 Draft Main Estimates. The GED envelope includes the departments of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Environment and Natural Resources, Public Works and Services, Municipal and Community Affairs and Transportation.

As a result of the restructuring...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A fairly direct question then to the Premier with respect to one of the things on one front for sure we are not ready for, and that is on this government and the northern governments being in a position to share in the immense royalty revenues that will be generated for the federal government. We are not in a position to share in those. If, when it comes time to start constructing a Mackenzie Valley pipeline and there is still no royalty sharing agreement in place, should the pipeline proceed? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Excuse me, Mr. Pokiak. Unfortunately, we were very close to 2:00 when you started your general comments, but I've been enjoying this so much I didn't take note of the clock. I'm sorry, I should have probably taken a break, but I need to recognize the clock. I will assure you you're name will be at the top of the list on Monday in Committee of the Whole, and we'll make sure you get your full 10 minutes on Monday; and longer, if you like. Sorry about that. Committee, I will rise and report progress, recognizing the clock, the hour being 2:00.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to speak about something different than what I had planned to speak about. I, too, listened with interest as the phone-in show proceeded on CBC Radio this morning. As a matter of fact, I took the opportunity to call in and offer my opinion as well. I believe that my opinion on the Mackenzie Valley pipeline has been very consistent and I have been saying the same things as many Members of this House have been saying. We had a theme day devoted to this topic and each of us spoke very passionately about some of the issues around the...

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. I’m glad you remain. Next on the list I have Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. General comments. I have next, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to direct my questions to the Minister of Finance. I wish I could get excited about all the good news in the budget, but there are some unhappy things…

---Laughter

There is a lot of good news in the budget and I think everybody knows, including Mr. Roland, that I think he does a very good job. I wouldn’t want to be the Finance Minister for any amount of money. I think he did a good job today and some people in the gallery even said…

---Applause

Some people out in the Great Hall today said it was the best budget address they’ve ever heard. But I’ve...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize a number of people from Hay River who are here today in the gallery. I am going to go through the names of the people who have been recently laid off by the Department of Justice: Bobbi Hamilton, 35 years of service; Faye Johns, 24 years with the Department of Justice; Ruth Lafferty, 18 years in Justice; Margaret Jerome, 16 years with the GNWT; Drew Thompson, eight years in Justice; a husband and wife team, Andy and Alida McKay. Andy with 13 years with GNWT and Alida with two years in Justice; Brenda McAllister, eight years in...

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