Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm hoping the dollars for the Mackenzie River included Hay River. And I'm just expecting that, you know, since the people doing the budget are from southern Canada, they may not know kind of where the Mackenzie River is and where the Hay River is. They may be mixing them up and I'm hoping that's what's happening.

I'd asked the Minister what is the status on the permitting which will allow work to happen on the channel where coast guard has repeatedly been grounded? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we know that what happened last year in Hay River. There was flooding, major flooding. And we're looking at a cost of probably $175 plus million. And another issue that we seen happen last year was supplies not getting into northern communities and part of it, I think, was because of, you know, the harbour  access to the harbour in Hay River, and the problems with the coast guard grounding and other boats as well. So even though I didn't get these questions in advance to the Minister of Infrastructure, she's answered them prior anyways, so. I would...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think I'm going to ask this question again, and there's something wrong with my earpiece so I didn't hear the answer.

Will the Minister ask the federal government to consider exempting residents and businesses of the Northwest Territories from carbon tax, because I understand the agricultural sector is looking for that in southern Canada. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a question for the Minister of Finance. What in the federal budget will support an offset for the added cost of the carbon tax increase? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, again, now I'm pleased to see this one as well because, you know, if we expect to increase the number of Indigenous people in the public sector, decentralization is going to be important. But when we talk about decentralization, we used to talk about it as, you know, moving a department or a part of a department. I think we have to look at, as it says here, as look at individuals and if we move individuals and they can still do the work, you know, we do have individuals working in southern Canada right now that, you know, that are seem to be it seems to be...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister of Finance also relay to the federal government the value that the Northwest Territories adds to Canada? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, before ever meeting Mr. Mercer, it was immediately upon my successful election to the Assembly that he contacted me to give me advice on an issue that was dogging me. And I knew from that first contact that we, as MLAs, were in good hands. And R.J. said I told you so.

Mr. Mercer's dedication to this Assembly for the past 20 years is very appreciated by myself and I think everyone here today. I wish him all the best in retirement while he works on his class 3 driver's license and his air endorsement. So, Mr. Bassett, you may have a truck driver in the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, will the Minister of Finance confirm if she plans to meet with the federal government to relay this government's opposition and concerns around the carbon tax. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, mitigation. Like, you know I understand that there's  you know, for private homes, raising the furnace, okay, that's fine, that's easy enough to do. And, you know, there's some other things they can do. It's mitigation for places like Cranberry, like the road. That's great. But we're coming into a season where breakup's going to happen here at the end of next month and we have done limited work within the town. If the same thing happened, people who had fixed up their houses are going to be in the same basically, you know, in the same...

Thank you, Madam Chair. When it comes to sports, you know, when I was younger, one of the things that I guess that really helped me out was, you know, playing hockey, I guess was the big thing. And it kept me busy. Plus the other thing it got me a job at the arena, so it helped me make money. But, you know, it kept me active. It kept me healthy. I didn't you know, it kept me away from cigarettes. It kept me away from alcohol. And when I see youth today, you know, everything is so fast paced. And sometimes I think they just don't know where to turn. They don't and everybody's so...