Michael McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don’t think it is my position to side or give my opinion as to where I personally think the Village of Fort Simpson should belong, whether a tax-based or a hamlet. My job as Minister of MACA is to ensure that we have healthy and prosperous communities. If Fort Simpson has a problem with financing in the capacity of village status, I would certainly want to talk to them about it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don’t often get an opportunity to recognize visitors in the gallery, so I want to take this opportunity to recognize a number of people. First of all, Blake Lyons, president of the NWTAC, is here with us, and also Yvette Gonzales, the executive director of the NWTAC. They are joining us today. We have the mayor of Enterprise, Winnie Cadieux, here along with Don Gray, the acting SAO. I would like to welcome them here.

---Applause

I would also like to welcome Mayor Raymond Michaud here to the gallery today. I believe we also have Maggi Levavasseur here...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the biggest cost for land and the biggest cost driver for land in Yellowknife is the availability of services, the construction of roads, sewer services, power and water. Right now our focus has been on trying to look at the issue of availability of lands at the city level. We are reviewing the plans that have been put forward by the City of Yellowknife. We are also looking and talking with the Yellowknives Dene in terms of what they plan and what they have plans for their future land requirements. There are also departments that are coming forward...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we had a number of discussions over the last while with the City of Yellowknife. We have also had a number of discussions as recently as this week with the Yellowknives Dene on the issue of land. Land issues are a big issue in the city of Yellowknife. Affordability is one issue and availability is another. There are, right now, discussions with the aboriginal governments on a process of making land available. We have signed an agreement with the Yellowknives Dene to be able to identify some lands that we could identify in terms of making available in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is an issue. We have talked about it. It’s certainly a concern with our department, the City of Yellowknife and the residents of this community. At our last meeting, we were informed by the mayor of Yellowknife that there is a plan for land acquisition being brought forward. It has received second reading. We have not received that at this point and that’s an issue that we will deal with when it comes forward. We are working with the aboriginal groups, the aboriginal governments, to put together a system that will allow us to move lands and allow us to deal with...

Mr. Speaker, the Interim Measures Agreement will only work if everyone agrees to make their best effort to deal with the issues and follow the criteria that’s set out. We have a number of issues that have come forward in the city of Yellowknife. We have met with the Yellowknives on a number of occasions. The Akaitcho Tribal Council has also been consulted and we have talked to them. We are trying to work out a process. We have a signed agreement with the Yellowknives Dene to start looking at areas that we could consider opening up. Last week we met with the City of Yellowknife. The...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are a number of different initiatives that we have been working on in the last while as a government. We have signed an agreement under the Municipal Rural Infrastructure Funding Program that has $15 million committed to the Northwest Territories which can be used towards development of a number of different infrastructures in the communities. We are also looking at a gas tax agreement that we are hoping to sign in the near future, something this spring. That is also geared towards infrastructure. As part of those infrastructure criteria, lands...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, right now there are two ways to make land available. First of all, it would be through an application through the city, which would then come to us. Under our Interim Measures Agreement with the Yellowknives or the Akaitcho, we would then go through a consultation period of 60 days and have feedback from the aboriginal governments in the area. There is also a mechanism that allows the aboriginal governments to come forward with a request that they would bring to the negotiating table for the requested land through their land claims discussions. Those...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For my inaugural Member’s statement, Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak on being a Member of this Assembly. First of all, I would like to thank my family for their support and encouragement when I have another one of my brilliant ideas.

---Laughter

Me being here would not be possible without the support of my campaign team and the constituents of Inuvik Twin Lakes. For that, I thank them.

It is important to acknowledge the support that I received from the Clerk and his staff. They have helped me to make the transition to being an MLA a little easier.

I would like to...

Mr. Speaker, these comments about lands available for public lands is not something I can answer at this point. I believe all the lands have been made available for private developers in the city of Yellowknife. The system we have in place allows for the consultation of all the groups involved. How long the system will be in place will depend on the negotiations that are happening with the aboriginal governments. I don’t have a time frame as to how long that will be. Right now, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs is obligated to follow the Interim Measures Agreement as it's laid...