Robert Villeneuve

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess for the interest of the Akaitcho First Nations, the Lutselk’e First Nations and probably the Nunavut Government, could the Minister tell us who are these other interest groups and why do they want a seat on this management board all of a sudden? This has been in the works for 13 years and why are they only coming forward now when the plan is in next to the final stage of approval, Mr. Speaker? Why did we wait so long to hear from them and who are we waiting for? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources with regards to an area just east of Lutselk’e that is a unique, sheltered oasis within the Arctic tundra region. It is rich in wildlife, contains the Beverly caribou calving grounds, it’s rich in fauna, and unfortunately it’s also rich in uranium. There’s also been a real long, 13-year, planning process that’s been in the works since October 1994 into a management plan. The area I’m talking about is the Thelon Game Sanctuary, Mr. Speaker. The Thelon Game Sanctuary Management Plan has...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I stand in support of this motion also, Mr. Speaker, for all the reasons that all the Members have stated earlier in all our Members’ statements and all the reasons here that are stated in the motion, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we all know that all our social ills here in the NWT have derived from alcohol and I just want to point what the Member from Range Lake did, that it is kind of a public enemy number one. But I’d more or less like to term it as the aboriginal enemy number one, Mr. Speaker, because it is the aboriginals that are in our jails, it is the aboriginals...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can I get the Minister to come forward with some indication to the proponents who, to my knowledge, have already approved the plan in principle of who we are waiting for to come forward to give their interest or state what their claim and interest in this management area? If they are totally legitimate, I don’t see why not, but if they’re really not that legitimate and we’ve been working on this thing for 13 years now, Mr. Speaker, so you know, why can’t we just approve, because this is just a plan in principle. So why can’t we just move forward with that and move...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think, you know, like I stated earlier, the basic proponents and the people that are most affected by this management plan and should have the most input have approved this plan in principle. The longer we wait, the more people are going to come forward and say they should have a seat at this management committee for the Thelon Game Sanctuary when the Thelon Game Sanctuary doesn’t even cross their borders or go into their areas. I would encourage that this Minister maybe who arranged the meeting in Lutselk’e just this last February, Mr. Speaker, just to reaffirm that...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I also rise today to raise some awareness about the responsibilities of both the public and the government when we’re addressing the social impacts of alcohol abuse here in the North, especially amongst our youth. Mr. Speaker, northerners have been living with the impacts of alcohol abuse in all our communities for many years. Many communities have groups and leaders that have come forward with many solutions on how to deal with this issue. Some have had some positive results, some negative, and some have not had any effect on curbing alcohol abuse within their respective...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I just want to follow up with the Member’s statement on the Deh Cho Bridge project. I just have some questions for the honourable Premier, Mr. Handley, I think whose court that this bridge is in right now. I just want to talk about some cost recovery initiatives that this government could probably give the green light to and probably should seriously consider giving the green light to since the Deh Cho Bridge sounds like it’s a go ahead anyway. The $6 a ton fee that the Premier was talking about last week that the rates plus the cost of living that’s going to be charged to...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I, too, rise in support of this motion. It is a good start. I know a motion like this doesn’t give all families 100 per cent confidence that our systems are protective of our children, but at least we are starting somewhere to give people a level of confidence to look at this government and say that we do care about our valuable resource here in the North, being our children, and that we are willing to take some extreme steps to ensure that that safety is covered under an umbrella motion like this which would basically give all our families in the NWT some level of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, if we need some more marine transportation legislation, fine, let’s just forget about the toll on the ferry. Let’s have a toll on our highway system. How about that? Why don’t we put a toll fee right at the weigh scales in Enterprise where the trucks come in? Why can’t they pay a toll fee right there? I don’t see that charging them $10 extra is going to make any big difference. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If I remember correctly, too, that $6 is based on a $60 million project and not 130 or 150 million dollar project. So that just changes everything drastically. I’m just looking at the $2 million over and above the already $2 million that we pay for ferry and ice road operations. So that looks like we’re paying out about $4 million per year out of our government revenues, taxpayers’ money, I guess, to finance the Bridge Corporation. I want to ask the Minister, if we are so hard on seeing this bridge project go through and we give the green light automatically or with not...