Tom Beaulieu

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the various departments still go forward with direct appointments. Direct appointments are made by Cabinet. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Wednesday, November 6, 2013, I will move that Bill 5, An Act to Amend the Motor Vehicles Act, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There was a lot of work done in the cost-benefit analysis before the bridge was completed to get some good baseline data. So my assumption is that there will be an audit and I’m assuming these numbers are from some form of an audit that was done on the cost of the various items. If more audits need to be done on this, I’m sure that the department is continuing to track for the purpose of determining if the bridge has put a heavy burden as far as cost goes on the items that are being sold in Yellowknife. Thank you.

Thank you. The trucking industry is an unregulated industry, just like the airline industry is an unregulated industry. However, what we’re seeing is that with the Deh Cho Bridge, the competition is what’s going to bring the costs down. There hasn’t been a significant increase in other areas, either, in this time period. The cost of fuel has only gone up by 1.6 percent, gasoline by 0.3 percent, footwear by 1 percent and household furnishings by 0.4 percent, so it’s not significantly an increase that is a result of the bridge. Thank you.

Thank you. The department and myself would be glad to review that bill. Thank you.

Thank you. Likely the law is stopping us from doing it, but I can check with the Department of Human Resources and if there are no privacy laws that we are breaking to print people’s individual salaries, then I can discuss that further with the Members across. Like, probably go to the committee as opposed to just saying that I’m going to table people’s salaries here in the Legislative Assembly. Thank you.

I do not believe any of the departments would be closed to that idea. I think that if there’s a good performing individual in the system that sees there’s an advancement opportunity within their department or other departments and sees there’s going to be a competitive process or a job that has become vacant and they have shown interest in it, I believe that we would facilitate people that may be interested in the position, for a direct appointment by their own request. Thank you.

Direct appointments are used often when a competitive process will not give better results than somebody that we have in the system that is eligible for direct appointment. Also, Mr. Speaker, direct appointments can be used for the advancement of an Aboriginal candidate that would be qualified that would be a front runner for a competitive process. So then we’d skip through the competitive process and go to a direct appointment for advancement purposes. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as we prepare to commemorate Remembrance Day, I am pleased to confirm the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) is designating a section of Highway No. 1, from the Alberta border to Enterprise, as the NWT Highway of Heroes. This designation will serve as a reminder of the sacrifices made by northern soldiers, police officers, firefighters, emergency medical and rescue personnel, and other first responders who have died in the line of duty.

Recognizing our northern heroes demonstrates our government’s commitment to the Assembly’s vision of Believing in People and Building...

Although I am prepared to provide the cost to the Member, I don’t have the cost of the partnership agreement between ourselves and Northern Safety here with me today, but I’m sure that I can get that very quickly.