Michael McLeod

Mr. Speaker, we have in the last while worked with a number of initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the North. We have looked at our ferries and the engines and the types of engines that we use to power our ferries and work towards putting more energy-efficient motors in these boats. We are also looking at having a better energy management coordination throughout our department for our vehicles. We have looked at installing, and have installed, heaters in our vehicles so we could reduce the idling time with our larger trucks and heavy equipment. So there are a number of things. We...

We certainly would agree to provide some support for the community along with ourselves to have that discussion with the DFO. My understanding of the situation is that it is a difficult facility to construct. However, we also recognize that Canada has put some dollars in their federal budget that may be accessible. We will commit to working with the community and follow it up to see what is possible and keep the Member informed.

We haven’t designed the assessment research that needs to be done for the airports and, therefore, don’t have a cost at this point. Thank you.

Mr. Minister, this issue of distracted driving has been brought forward by a number of people and we have looked at the situation and certainly still have been considering what would all be involved if we were to move forward. Does that include eating? Does that include other things along with cell phones? And we haven’t been able to completely be convinced that we are in a position where we would be able to have charges made. That is something that we need to consider and at this point we are just going to be in a holding position to wait until we have more information to move forward.

Mr. Speaker, the process requires that Cabinet review the request by the community with the required support letters and documents and that decision is made by Cabinet. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, I appreciate the Member’s opinion. My personal opinion is create a better economy where we wouldn’t need as much social housing. Create a lot of jobs. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, that’s the same question. I already indicated, yes, this time around we are going to focus on repairs as a priority. The Member has indicated a lot of concern there. We acknowledge that our housing stock is getting old. Over the last while, it’s been very difficult to do the required maintenance, so we have certainly a lot of deferred maintenance to tend to. I think the Member will be pleased, as we put our budgets together with this budget here and the federal budget, to see the investment in the different regions and different ridings including his.

It is something that we need to engage in. This is an issue that has been raised by many of the band councils across the Northwest Territories and we will commit to doing that.

Mr. Chairman, I should correct my statement. It’s $2,000 per senior for preventative maintenance. Sorry.

I appreciate the Member’s remarks.