Julie Green

Let's fast forward now to Tuesday when the Minister said in this House, and I quote, "I think that this is one of these situations where we show due respect on both sides of the table, and we hope that would bring the temperature down." Imagine my surprise when I saw the government waiver that was handed out to unionized workers yesterday. How does that action square with his statement earlier in the week of bringing the temperature down?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to applaud the outstanding efforts of the search and rescue technicians of the 435 Transport and Rescue Squadron based in Winnipeg. The efforts these search and rescue technicians, often called SAR techs, made to reach the site of the downed Air Tindi plane last week was heroic. This is what I have pieced together about their actions from news reports.

Air Tindi dispatched a charter flight to Whati in the morning of January 30 and lost contact with the two pilots just as the sun rose. Soon afterwards, the company called the Joint Rescue Co...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by saying that I appreciate the positions that my colleagues have taken. I think some of them I don't agree with, but I appreciate their efforts to make themselves understood.

Mr. Speaker, make no mistake. This is a political discussion, and we are making a political decision. This is a place in which politics happens. We are here to demonstrate leadership in the most pressing issue facing our territory at this time. It is my take on my role that I can express this leadership by forwarding this motion.

From a legal point of view, we have...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. WHEREAS the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Union of Northern Workers have been negotiating a collective agreement for the last three years;

AND WHEREAS the Union of Northern Workers and the Government of the Northwest Territories have agreed to mediation scheduled to take place on February 8 and February 9, 2019, in an attempt to reach a collective agreement;

AND WHEREAS the Union of Northern Workers has served the Government of the Northwest Territories with strike notice for 12:01 a.m. on February 11, 2019, in the event that mediation fails;

AND WHEREAS the...

I would like to provide the Minister of Finance with some information: it is further inflaming the situation. I don't understand what the government is thinking they are going to accomplish by handing out these forms, except to make everybody more mad. There is a sort of an impugning of intention here that the picket line is going to be aggressive and that there needs to be some kind of indemnification for the government. Does the Minister not see that, in fact, this is fanning the flames, and why would he want to do that?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Finance. In a communique issued to the unionized work force in July of last year, he said, and I quote, "You would not be able to return to work during the strike to perform other unionized work." My question for the Minister is: why did this position change? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, two years ago the Finance Minister made a commitment to explore a sugary-drink tax in the NWT. He is now making good on that promise, although the effort looks half-hearted. The discussion paper on the tax was posted on January 22nd. Consultations began five days later. Don't look for a news release. There wasn't one. Be prepared to dig around the Department of Finance website to find the online survey. The whole exercise feels less like fulfilling a promise and more like a cynical box-ticking exercise.

Here's why this discussion matters. I am going to repeat...

Could the Minister tell us what the requirements or qualifications are to work in homecare?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up on my colleague's questions, I have a general question about homecare funding as represented in yesterday's budget. The budget seems to indicate a significant decrease, of more than a million dollars, in homecare spending, and I am wondering if the Minister can tell us how that relates to the answers he just gave to my colleague. Thank you.

My next question is: what is the end result of this consultation going to look like, then? Is it going to be something that is added in a supplementary appropriation? Is it a recommendation to the 19th Assembly? What's the point?