Michael McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The whole concept behind forming the NWT Sports and Recreation Council was to try to pull all the organizations under one roof and to set up a funding program that would give everybody a fair share of the dollars as they delivered their own programs. It was also a cost-cutting measure so that the organizations would start to share some of the administration, cut down on the administrative costs and be able to put more dollars towards programming. Mr. Speaker, this has been working quite well. All the organizations are operating under one roof. We plan to put our sports...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would have to get back to the Member on whether or not the gaps that he has referenced are being covered and if we are consolidating our efforts to ensure that happens. We are a partner on some of the files that are moving forward in terms of resource development. At this point, I would have to make the commitment that I need to find out more about the issue in order to answer that question.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot of work that has been done in the area of greenhouse gasses. We have looked at a number of the other issues that are facing us in terms of air quality standards and resource development, pollution and climate change, and looked at some of the documents that have been used as our guide. We have our Greenhouse Gas Strategy that was developed some time ago and recognize that we need to have some update. That is in the works right now. We expect to have that document as part of the Energy Strategy. The greenhouse gasses will be...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we stand in here all the time and we speak on the resources of the Northwest Territories, and we are a territory rich in resources. But, Mr. Speaker, I think one of our most precious resources in the Northwest Territories are the children in the Northwest Territories. That’s why, Mr. Speaker, I’ve stood in this Chamber before and I’ll stand here again and argue the point that the Children First Society in Inuvik needs to have a centre built as part of the new school.

It’s a proven fact, Mr. Speaker, that children who get a good start in their schooling and...

I move that this committee recommends that, as a priority, the Minister responsible for the Workers’ Compensation Board work with the Governance Council to develop options for an independent means of resolving conflicting medical opinions that provides finality, and that reflects the basic principles of the workers’ compensation system and, in particular, the assumption in favour of the worker. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Wednesday, November 1st, 2006, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Range Lake, that this Legislative Assembly censures the Premier for his comments to the media on the civil case currently before the courts related to former teacher Edward Horne; and further, that this Legislative Assembly strongly recommends that the government bring forward a policy on how it will handle allegations of sexual abuse, which is consistent with zero tolerance toward violence, which shows support...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I totally agree with the Minister that this is another good argument for getting resource royalty, but that’s something that’s still in the works and this is something that we need to do right away. My colleague from Kam Lake spoke to $32 million going into corrections, $4.5 million into childcare. I mean, there’s something wrong with this picture, Mr. Speaker. Why, besides money, is this government so reluctant to consider putting the childhood development centre as part of the new school in Inuvik? The budget is big enough. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would have to take that question as notice. I am not familiar right now. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we certainly all have to take responsibility when it comes to air quality and environmental issues across the board. At this point, we have shared responsibility with the federal government. We are looking at more than just our lands. We want to ensure that all lands in the NWT are covered. That is my position on where we are going with this. I will continue to monitor the situation. We have regulatory bodies out there that are in charge of ensuring that this happens. We will look to see if there are any areas that are not covered and certainly...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it’s not very often I get to recognize visitors from my riding into the House. I would like to welcome a number of people from the Hay River Reserve; Phillip Fabian, Robert McKay, Angus McKay, Harriet McKay, Brendan McKay and there are also a couple of people who are here who live on the reserve but are formally from my home town of Fort Providence. I would like to say welcome to them. Margaret Elleze is here and also Cecile Bonnetrouge. They are both from Fort Providence. Thank you.