Michael McLeod

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.

The health of our residents and our environment depend on the effective management and protection of our natural resources such as our water. Communities, non-government agencies and all levels of government must work together to ensure that a safe drinking water system is in place and operating effectively.

The Government of the Northwest Territories' Drinking Water Quality Framework and Strategy has been developed collaboratively by the departments of Municipal and Community Affairs, Public Works and Services, Environment and Natural Resources and Health and Social Services, with a mandate...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, surveys of barren ground caribou herds conducted this summer by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources confirms these herds are declining.

This is a very serious matter that affects many residents in the Northwest Territories. Last winter, few communities were able to access caribou and the harvest was greatly reduced.

A number of actions based on survey results from the Cape Bathurst, Bluenose-East and Bluenose-West barren ground caribou herds were taken this past year to address the decline. This included closing caribou management areas in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given that question, I take it the grace period for this new portfolio is over. Mr. Speaker, I've taken a look at the number of issues across the board, I listened to the Member as he spoke the other day about the concerns for the environment, for the air, for the water, for a number of different things that are affecting our wildlife, and I also heard very clearly today when the Member mentioned there are issues that don't recognize boundaries. I've been having discussions with our staff in the last couple hours about how do we approach this, and I'm going to take...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is an issue that’s come forward as something that we need to deal with. The initial draft was done I think in 1988. It’s been some time since the act has been replaced and it requires a review. We’ve done that and there are recommendations coming forward recognizing there are discrepancies between the general taxation area and municipal taxation. So there are a number of issues that we have to deal with, and the Member has highlighted some of them here, and we’re hoping to be able to rectify the situation then and maybe look at something that if we’re...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to take the opportunity to thank all of those involved in helping making this a successful week for two Pages from Fort Providence. I wanted to say thank you to Laitha Nadli and Dori-Ann Lafoin, who are with us, who have worked as Pages since Monday.

---Applause

Today is their last day. I hope it was an enjoyable and educational experience for both of them. I hope that they will have some great stories to tell and share with their teachers at the Deh Gah School and also for their families when they get back home. I also wanted to take the opportunity to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I would like to speak on the state of housing through the eyes of experience. Mr. Speaker, I spent 22 years working for the local housing authority. We have always had to live with decisions that were made in Yellowknife or in headquarters. A lot of times these decisions weren’t very good. We were asked to perform miracles, to do a lot more with a lot less. I have said before, my crones would have a field day up here.

The government nowadays has some money coming in. They are talking about a $100 million investment over the next three years. They are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm not sure if I've been a Minister of ENR long enough to say I will get the committee to take the lead. The issue of water is something that I am also concerned about as are the rest of the Northwest Territories residents. We have a number of transboundary issues that we have to resolve. We are talking with Alberta to try to come up with an agreement on how to deal with water. B.C. is another jurisdiction; Saskatchewan. There are a number of areas that we have to work out agreements. I'm not comfortable enough right now, with the amount of time that I've spent...