Michael McLeod

Mr. Speaker, we do a lot of work in the area of volunteering and volunteerism. Historically, we have worked very closely with Volunteer NWT. The decision of the federal government to pull the financing has made it very difficult for that organization. They are looking at ways to acquire some support and have had contact with us.

We have had a lot of discussion around that issue, looking at ways to maybe find outside sources or within our own government to help them. But we do, as the Member indicated, provide the volunteer awards program. We also provide through our department the Fire Service...

Mr. Speaker, I’m pleased to announce that nominations are being sought for the 2008 N.W.T. Outstanding Volunteer Awards. This program was developed in 1991 as a way to celebrate outstanding volunteers in the Northwest Territories and to highlight the importance of volunteers to Northwest Territories residents.

The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, in partnership with Volunteer NWT, is pleased to support this important initiative and jointly invite all residents to nominate that special volunteer in their community.

Volunteers are the key building blocks of healthy communities and...

Mr. Speaker, the question, of course, is hypothetical. The Member is asking me for information that may influence the outcome of our negotiations, and I can’t respond to that.

Mr. Chairman, the central heating plant in Simpson has been there for quite a long time and it heated four facilities: the recreation complex, the Thomas Simpson Secondary School, the Bompas Elementary School and the Deh Cho Hall. It has been studied on a number of occasions for economic viability. However, no decisions have been made on it. The situation that we are in now, to remove the Deh Cho Hall from the system…. This will change the dynamics of it and sort of make it something to require us to conduct another review to make the appropriate decisions.

Last year in March we hired an...

Mr. Speaker, I’m pleased to provide Members with information on the 2008 Arctic Winter Games Youth Ambassadors Program.

As Members may recall, in 2007 youth from across the Northwest Territories traveled to the Canada Winter Games in Whitehorse, Yukon. They were excellent representatives of our Territory.

Youth volunteered with the Host Society in a wide range of activities. They demonstrated that they have immense strengths and showed great promise as future leaders.

Building on the success of this project, the Yellowknife Host Society for the 2008 Arctic Winter Games has encouraged youth from...

Mr. Chairman, there are a number of projects underway to replace boilers at different locations throughout the Territories. Most of the boilers are in need of replacement because of their age. The one in Fort Simpson — Deh Cho Hall, scheduled for demolition — was on a steam boiler heating system that was over 50 years old. We will be incorporating a new boiler system into the schools.

Also, Chief Jimmy Bruneau School is in need of another boiler. That is the one community we have targeted to replace the existing boiler with a pellet stove system.

We have been looking to see what we can do at...

Mr. Chairman, I believe it’s an initiative to provide and create new space to enable us to have enough room for all the records and the storage that we need for the department. I don't have anything further on it.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to recognize today a constituent from Enterprise who is in town for business. Winnie Cadieux is a former mayor of Enterprise. I’d like to say welcome to her.

Mr. Speaker, the Member has raised, on a number of occasions during the session, concerns about recreation and recreation facilities in his community, and more recently raised and highlighted some concerns brought to him by the community of Lutselk’e. We’ve had people in the community over the last while and have been working with the community on putting some training programs together — ice-making and other things — to help support them.

There still seems to be some disconnect in terms of some of the funding arrangements and some of the support they think they need. I’d be glad to sit down...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document, entitled Biomass Heating System, Wood Pellet Boilers: North Slave Correctional Centre, Yellowknife, NT. Thank you.

Document 18-16(2), Biomass Heating System, Wood Pellet Boilers: North Slave Correctional Centre, tabled.