Michael McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Premier mentioned that he would offer briefings to some of the other groups. I would like to ask the Premier. Have any of the groups taken him up on his offer yet? Is there any indication that they may be willing to sign on to the AIP quite soon? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is our intention, Mr. Speaker, it is to do the right thing and serve all the communities in a fair manner. Excluding one group at this point that still has a recognition and good standing would be unfair, Mr. Speaker. We are waiting for a submission that would come from the community with both signatures on it. We will wait. We have extended the deadline until the end of June. Failing to have an agreement at that point, we will take the next steps and call on the communities to come forward with individual proposals, then we will make the decision. Thank you...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Access to this fund is not spelled out in the directive. It is intended to benefit any community projects or organizations for that matter, Mr. Speaker. I think the problem that we are having here is who is required to sign off on the project. The signatures are required. In the case of Behchoko, it is the Behchoko government and also the Metis Local for that community and also the MLA for that riding. Those are the signatures that we require. So far, we have not had a proposal from the community with both those signatures on there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement yesterday I spoke to the practice of asking employees to sometimes provide a medical prognosis from a doctor when they get a medical leave form. Twenty-four hours later my opinion hasn’t changed. I still think it’s unfair. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Human Resources, Mr. Dent. I’d like to ask the Minister if there’s a policy in place that requires employees to have a prognosis if they’re getting a medical leave form from a doctor. Thank you.

I would like today, Mr. Speaker, to pay tribute to one of the main players of these groups.

I recently had the privilege of attending the Aboriginal Achievement Awards in Edmonton to honour a man of great vision and passion. Fred Carmichael, Mr. Speaker, has been on a quest to get, not only for the people he represents but the people of the Northwest Territories, what is rightfully ours. Fred has been a trapper, pilot, businessman and, more recently, he’s been the president of the Gwich’in Tribal Council. He has been there, he’s done that. So when he speaks, we should listen and pay attention...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll repeat once again, the medical leave form usually has a date of return from the doctor. So in his opinion, that’s when the employee can return to work and perform their duties. In my opinion, that sometimes questions the integrity of the doctors by asking for a prognosis on top of the medical leave form they’ve already given to the employer. I’d like to ask the Minister if the NWT Medical Association was consulted in any way on this particular policy. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The doctor's leave form says an employee can’t be at work for a week. Is that not sufficient enough? Does this apply to all employees who have received a medical leave form or just a select few? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to take this opportunity to recognize my wife, Judy, who’s down here on annual leave to come and watch us in the Assembly. I’d also like to recognize -- they were in the gallery just a couple of minutes ago -- two constituents of mine: Elijah and Mabel Allen, who were down also for, I think, graduation ceremonies taking place tomorrow and they thought they’d take in some of the Assembly. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday, the Premier mentioned there was an AIP reached between the government, the Inuvialuit, Metis, Sahtu and Gwich’in on a devolution and resource revenue sharing position. I would like to commend these groups for doing what’s best for the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The committee held public meetings on Bill 2, An Act to Amend the Condominium Act, in Yellowknife on April 19th and 20th, and on May 8th in Tuktoyaktuk, and Inuvik on April 23rd, in Ulukhaktok on April 24th, in Colville Lake on April 25th, and in Behchoko on April 26th, 2007. The committee would like to thank the Minister and one presenter for appearing before the committee.

The proposed amendments will provide protection for consumers, provide direction to condo corporations on governance and financial planning, as well as broadening the scope of options available to...