Michael Miltenberger

Yes, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue of board appointments ties clearly into the issue of regulatory reform and the challenge… There are two pieces, the challenge of making sure our appointments are up to date and then through the existing process, and we have a system in place to track that and we use lead time to consult the appropriate parties. But the bigger issue is the consistent demand we have made and are continuing to make to the federal government, that simple regulatory reform can start immediately by giving the Northwest Territories government the authority to make the board...

I understand on September 8th, Inuvik Mayor Derek Lindsay invited the Gwich’in Tribal Council and Nihtat Gwich’in Council to participate in the stakeholder committee. It doesn’t tell me whether they agreed to do that or not, but I will commit to make sure that there has been a proper flow of information on all the stakeholder groups. The aboriginal governments are fully privy to the work that’s underway. Thank you.

My understanding is that all the affected stakeholders, property owners, were invited to sit on this stakeholders committee to oversee the work, to look at what the issues were and look at the work plan that was being laid out and agreed to. Thank you.

The reality remains, as we’ve said, the focus is going to be on regional type of games, working with the NWT Seniors’ Society and communities to get as many seniors as we can involved. The Member indicated there’s no indication that this isn’t any better, there is no indication that it is better. We know that we can get far more involvement by focusing on working with the communities and the Seniors’ Society. That’s where we’re trying to put the resources we do have available in this area. Thank you.

The reality is that there are far more needs than there are resources. The reality is we make choices every day. The reality is that the focus of the government is on working with all the seniors in the Northwest Territories in all areas of their need, and when it comes to the recreation piece, the interest has been and the indication is that we do a lot of work at the regional level to maximize the involvement of seniors in the communities often who never get any other opportunity to take part in an event such as the regional games.

That’s the focus. I think it’s a very good idea, it maximizes...

Mr. Speaker, there has been, and continues to be, work done with our government through MACA, through Public Works, on the issue of shoreline erosion as it affects the community of Aklavik, as it affects the community of Tuk, the federal government is aware of the issue, and we’re going to continue to work with the communities to deal with this issue. As it accelerates, it may require different types of action, but this has been an issue that has been there for hundreds of years. The sad reality is it seems to be intensifying as the climate warms, and the ice melts and the water levels rise...

Mr. Speaker, we are of the opinion, as well, that climate change and the effect of global warming is no laughing matter and that it’s affecting us that live in the North the fastest and the most intensely. But we must also recognize that there are some nature forces that have been going on since the world began: the river valley erosion, the shore erosion. It’s being speeded up and accelerated by global warming. We recognize that. We’re spending millions of dollars to work with communities to deal with the issues across the North. We’ve taken out some broad government-wide strategies that I...

Mr. Speaker, the federal government has not officially responded to the McCrank report yet. We are using, and are continuing to use, every opportunity to press the case more and more for the need for regulatory reform. We are doing a lot of other things to get ready to take over, devolve authorities to us, our planning on water, the planning on our land use framework. Let’s get the regulatory reform done. We tell the federal government that regulatory reform as we are putting it out can be done now. It will move us very clearly down the path towards a more efficient system, provide certainty...

Margaret Melhorn, deputy minister of Finance.