Sandy Lee

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that this issue has been going on and there have been problems expressed to the Minister, difficulties that the society has been experiencing for the last year. I don't know why it has taken until the midnight hour to figure this out.

Could I ask the Premier, if the director provides the government with the information, would the Premier work with the Minister of ECE to do all that the government can do to keep that facility open, and give them the reasonable assistance that they need to get through? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In 1978, when I came to Canada and spoke no English whatsoever, my first best friend who taught me English was from Newfoundland, and her name was Rhonda Rodgers. Denny Rodgers is Rhonda Rodgers’ little brother who was in grade school. Now he is here as a chair of WCB, and his daughter here is paging. That really makes you think about how life runs its course as it should. It is a great pleasure for me to recognize Mr. Rogers in the gallery. Thank you.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak today in support of a public awareness campaign that will be launched at noon in the Great Hall tomorrow by the Yellowknife Foster Family Association. Mr. Speaker, as much as it is our fervent desire that every child have a safe and healthy home, sadly this is not the reality in our society, especially so in the North. When there is a child in need of alternative care, often we rely on foster families to step in and fill the need. In an effort to raise awareness and encourage caring individuals to become foster parents, and to encourage...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to do one follow-up on that, and that is, I don’t think we can assume that the contract that the Department of Health might have with the Centre for Northern Families or a women’s shelter will be the same as the YWCA providing a contract under protection against violence legislation. The government may enter into contacts where the core part of that contract is to reveal personal information. Then you may get into another contract where the personal information about somebody is completely irrelevant to the carrying out of that contract. When you...

Thank you, Madam Chair. My second question has to do with something that’s mentioned in our committee report, and it has to do with the presentation made by Ms. Hache. We had a really good debate and discussions about this during the public hearing process, and the question she had was whether or not she, or any other NGOs, would be obliged to give confidential information to bodies like Yellowknife Health Authority or groups like hers who enter into a lot of contracts. She had a fear of sort of being blended in with the rest of the government apparatus, and, thereby, being required to...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Madam Chair, the Standing Committee on Social Programs met to review Bill 3, An Act to Amend the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, on June 20th and October 11, 2005, in Yellowknife; on June 22nd in Fort Smith; on June 25th in Hay River; and on June 27th in Fort Resolution.

The committee would like to thank the Minister and all the witnesses who spoke on the bill. The committee heard concerns about Bill 3 from one witness, Ms. Arlene Hache from the Centre for Northern Families. Ms. Hache expressed concerns that the bill would have the effect of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don’t know if the Minister has information that he is not sharing with us, but I am operating under the assumption that the pipeline is going to go ahead. Regardless, the Minister has indicated that he is talking to the federal Minister. He has negotiations going. He is travelling to Calgary every month to look at his project. He has a consultant on this. He has spent so much money on a project, and he hasn’t given us…It is going to cost at least over $100 million. Where is the analysis, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to ask questions on housing, as well. I think it is good that we are doing this today because housing was, bar none, the number one issue we heard about in our pre-budget consultation. When we are all aware of the housing crisis, it is really important that we spend every penny we have in the housing budget as much as possible. We find here now that the corporation is in a little bit of a crisis mode. It is going through a review of the mandate which we have not seen yet. It has had $30 million of its budget being...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have a whole lot of details to this case specifically, but it seems to be obvious to me that it is quite complex, and there are many sides to this story, with the emphasis being put on financial records and such. I listened, with a great deal of interest, to what the Premier said in his answer to my second question, and that was that he would look at all the day care programs and see how they are running. The fact of the matter is, even per diems are not given when a child doesn't show up; for example, even if you have to light the place and water the place...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is also about the impending closure of the day care in Fort Smith. Mr. Speaker, I realize that the Premier is not involved in the day-to-day management of the file, but I would appreciate it if the Premier would take this question. My question is, given the fact that there are so few days left -- this day care is up for closure within a week or so, within a couple of weeks -- it appears from listening to the answers that the Premier gave to the Member for Monfwi, that there are some documents or records that the government is looking for to...