Joe Handley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled Report on the Staff Retention Policy, Year Ending March 31, 2004. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, certainly the policy of our government is to distribute our services and our programs as equitably as possible. That includes moving some things out to other communities. In the case of the Sahtu, there are some things that may make good sense to move to the Sahtu as a stand-alone region. There are also some other challenges that are very expensive when we try to go in that direction. For example, to try to build a stand-alone hospital in the Sahtu may not make good fiscal sense. Mr. Speaker, I want to say that we are reviewing this. We certainly support developing regional...

Mr. Speaker, over the past number of years, there has been a gradual movement of creating more self-sufficiency within the Sahtu region. Education, for example, has been in the Sahtu for quite a number of years. The last couple of years there have been moves to establish health in the same way. So, Mr. Speaker, there has been considerable work done on this already. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I can only repeat that Mr. Zoe has told me that he is taking steps to make sure that this will not happen again. He has told me that he is seeking help. I take him at his word. I believe he is a good Minister in carrying out his responsibilities. Mr Speaker, all I can say is I take his word at it. I have also assured the House that if this is happening again, I will have no tolerance at all for it. Mr. Speaker, it’s my judgement, based on the incident that this is one that deserves the action that we have taken. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, yes, I have spoken to Mr. Zoe about these kinds of incidences. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, whether I am Premier or not is a decision the House has to make here. If they are not satisfied with the actions that I take and the decisions that I make, the judgements I make, then it’s up to the House to make that decision. Mr. Speaker, if there were to be another incident like this, then let’s deal with it at that point. I have made it very clear what my position is as I have no tolerance at all for anything further. Mr. Zoe has told me that he is taking steps. He has told the Members in this House in other discussions that he is seeking help. I can’t get into exactly what...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Zoe’s mandate and portfolio is…With him certainly I have considered it, certainly I will consider it in the future. If anything like this ever happens again, not just with Mr. Zoe but with all of Cabinet, I have looked at this one very seriously, I have followed up with the Legion. Mr. Zoe has as well, apologized; the Legion has given me a letter indicating that they have accepted the apology. Today Mr. Zoe stood up and made an apology to all of us and to the public, and has indicated that this will not happen again. I assure the Members again that if there is...

Mr. Speaker, for all of us who take responsibility for public office we, whether we are MLAs or Cabinet Ministers or Premier, are on the job 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and I think during the last few days that lesson has certainly come home to all of us, that we do not have a period on any day where we can just sort of opt out into a private life. That doesn’t happen in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the incident that occurred is certainly being viewed as one that we take seriously. I can let the Member know that upon hearing about it, I did call the Legion, I did talk with Mr. Zoe, I sent a letter to all of the Members advising them of the incident, and I have also spoken to many of the Members about this particular incident. Mr. Speaker, the incident is serious, and it is one that I certainly view as one that we don’t want to see happening, whether it is MLAs or Ministers. I can assure the Member that I have also included in the mandate letters to all of the Ministers...

Mr. Speaker, the comments, as they were relayed to me, were comments that were found to be offensive. They were comments made against people who come from Newfoundland, and people were offended. They relayed that to the management. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.