Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. When most people talk about the price of liquor, they mean the price of a bottle of something at the store. Some of them are even run by our own government.

When we talk about it as we do as MLAs every single day, we talk about the real price, the price of our people through lost opportunities and even suffering. It is the price to our health system, to our education, to the courts and corrections. We may be talking about hundreds of millions of dollars. I don’t think Finance has added that up for us. I want to have a final view of those costs, all...

I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on June 6, 2013, it shall be adjourned until Thursday, October 17, 2013;

AND FURTHER, that any time prior to October 17, 2013, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon the House shall meet at the time stated in such notice and shall transact its business as it has been...

Norman Wells will follow shortly. By this time next year the residents are going to be off the natural gas. The cost of heating their homes will go up. They have the old energy report and they haven’t seen anything in regard to the kind of funding that’s going to help with the alternative energy solution.

I want to ask the Premier, in light of what the issues are going to be in Norman Wells, what can they expect this government here, within this short period of time, to help the residents in Norman Wells deal with the high cost of heating their homes and having energy in their homes other than...

I’m looking for a satisfactory answer here. I would like to ask the Premier if there is any type of support available for residents to help them convert to any type of alternative energy sources.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Monitoring of program delivery in regional/community service centres is inconsistent

According to the Auditor General, ECE’s monitoring of income security programs delivered by regional and community service centres is inconsistent. Managers in some regions visit community service centres to monitor general program delivery and spending. However, in most regions they did not monitor files in detail for compliance due to costs of travel, staff shortages and workloads.

The OAG found examples of good monitoring practices in some regions. In one region, the manager reviews...

Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment report to the Standing Committee on Social Programs by April 30th of each year on its progress in implementing the recommendations of the Auditor General and this House with respect to income security programs during the preceding fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to pass on my heartfelt appreciation for my friend here. He is walking his talk and it is much appreciated. The last years with my grandfather, the last 10 or 15 years or so, he spent in a wheelchair, so I appreciate what he’s doing here.

I want to do my Member’s statement on the synthetic natural gas in Norman Wells. Yesterday Member Bisaro talked about you can’t get what you always want, the Rolling Stones tune. Mr. R.C. McLeod followed up with another line from the Rolling Stones: If you try some time, you might just find you get what you need. I like the...

Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment clarify program requirements for productive choices in its guidance to client service officers and clearly communicate them. Regional managers should also monitor compliance with productive choice requirements and take corrective action where necessary. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair, I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment report the turnover rate for its client service officers annually as a performance measure in the department’s business plan. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be short. I do want to thank the Members here, and I thank Ms. Bisaro for seconding this motion and the Members for supporting the motion. I do also want to thank the honourable Members from across to have this in consideration, recognizing the amount of money that we do put into health programs and the amount of money it costs our government due to the abuse of alcohol or just dealing with that issue in our small communities and even in our larger centres here. It is no stranger to anyone what we’re dealing with.

I do want to say that what this motion is saying...