Julie Green

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at the midpoint of this Assembly, 33 bills have been passed, compared to 52 in the 17th Assembly after two years. My question for the Premier is: why is the pace of legislative change so slow in this Assembly? Mahsi.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share my dismay with the glacial pace with which Cabinet is advancing legislation during this 18th Assembly. The pace is so slow that we have no hope of accomplishing all of the proposed legislative initiatives that we inherited from the 17th Assembly and those that come from our mandate. Mr. Speaker, reviewing, debating, and approving legislation is one of our most fundamental tasks as Members. It is our responsibility to write laws that respond to the needs of residents and to provide them with good governance.

At this midway point of our term...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Friendly, helpful, knowledgeable, dependable, accommodating, those are the words that come to mind when we talk about Doug. He is the person that we Regular Members see every sitting morning at nine o'clock who walks us through what the day will be about and how we need to prepare for it.

He is unfailingly helpful. He has an incredible knowledge of procedure and the history of this Assembly, a tremendous amount of corporate knowledge that he takes with him when he retires. He is always accommodating; nothing is too much trouble. He is always a constructive force in our...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Could the Premier tell us when the results of this review will be available and whether he will make them available to Regular Members?

I am aware of the process, but it would start with the Caucus. So how is the Premier going to consult with Regular Members on the issue of speeding up the process of introducing new legislation?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Premier if he will work with the Caucus to convene a short sitting in December so that additional bills can be introduced for review prior to the budget session. Can he make that commitment? Thank you.

The evidence just does not support what the Premier has said there. We are not picking up speed. We are about to start a three-and-a-half-month recess with one bill to contemplate. One bill. It is not as if this Assembly started from scratch with legislative proposals. In the transition report, there was a section about completing devolution and implementing a made-in-the-North regulatory system. That was available more than two years ago when the Premier was Premier. Why is it taking the government so long to bring this legislation forward for review?

Mahsi. In fact, it is impossible for us to complete all the legislative initiatives government is contemplating at the pace it is moving. I will have questions for the Premier about our progress through the legislative agenda. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I am very pleased to see this recommendation. The public accounts come in a form that is not readily understandable to the interested public, and we have been, we the GNWT has been, warned that it is time for us to make the public accounts more understandable to people who are interested in learning what they are and what they represent about our government, and so I am very pleased to see that the committee has gone this additional step in creating a recommendation to address this, a solution to this long-standing problem. Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister responsible for the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation.

In announcing the decision to Concept Energy Services to supply modular housing units, the Minister indicated that the units could be provided at a cost 25 to 48 per cent lower than by stick-built construction. Contracts are now being let to complete construction of modular units at additional costs. Can the Minister tell this House what the additional costs for completion of the units delivered unfinished to communities will be, and:

whether modular construction will...