Robert C. McLeod

I will follow up on the status of the range plan. I will share it with this House, or I will share it with the Member.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was glad that the Member was able to attend these sessions with me, and as I said in the sessions, I thought that it was very important that Regular Members come and listen to some of the concerns that the communities have firsthand. Again, I appreciate the Member taking the time to visit the communities with us, and also the Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh on our trip out to Detah. They had an opportunity to hear firsthand some of the concerns that the community was sharing.

We had a lot of community membership show up, we met with the community leaders...

Let's not presuppose that mediation is going to fail. The ultimate goal at the end of the day is to reach an agreement during mediation. Failing that, we will have a discussion at that time, but let's not presuppose the outcome of mediation before it even happens.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, I will not. What we were doing was providing information out there. If you read the statement very carefully, it does not encourage people to cross the picket line. It encourages them to speak to their union representative. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and welcome to all those in the gallery.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to present the 2019-2020 budget for the Government of the Northwest Territories. This budget continues to invest in our people and our territory to achieve, as set out in the very first sentence of the 18th Legislative Assembly mandate, our vision of a territory where all our people, communities, and regions share in the benefits of a healthy, just, sustainable, and prosperous society.

In presenting the final budget of the 18th Legislative Assembly, I want to thank Members for their collective efforts over...

Much like the Member for Hay River North, I am optimistic. I have been optimistic in the 14 years that I have been in here, and I would like to see them come to an agreement this weekend that is beneficial to all. Failing that, again, we will have to decide on the next step. There is some back and forth that needs to be had yet, so let's let the people who we have tasked do that, and then, failing that, let's go political with it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Member said in his Member's statement before and he apologized for missing the boat for the last three years, and now he is telling us he has been optimistic for the last three years. Which one is it? I did read the email correctly. It is encouraging them to speak to their union representative, and, once they speak to their union representative, then they can speak to their supervisor if they think they would like to come to work. Mr. Speaker, it's quite simple there, in the text, and I am sure most people out there understand it.

The GNWT has committed considerable resources to the management of barren-ground caribou, and as the Member heard in our presentations to the communities that we visited, there are a number of other initiatives that we are working on. I have directed the department to put the plan together to come up with identifying the resources, the amount of resources, that we might need to implement some of these. One of them I think was expanding the Boots on the Ground program. I think there was the predator initiative that we are working on. So I have directed the Department of ENR to identify the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give notice that I will deliver the budget address on Wednesday, February 6, 2019. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following two documents entitled "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 385-18(3): Community Landfills and Waste Disposal"; and "Follow-up Letter for Oral Question 491-18(3): Fur Harvesting Programs." Further to my return to written questions 13-18(3) and 14-18(3), I wish to table the following two documents entitled "Northwest Territories Liquor and Cannabis Commission Total Cannabis Sales"; and "NWT Resource Production 2014 to 2017." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.