Wendy Bisaro

That’s great. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

I’m not quite sure where to start here. With the long-term care, in two months’ time, once you have done your work, you have looked at the work from Avens and you make sure they jive, so to speak. What is the intention? What is the department going to do with the numbers you get in two months’ time? Avens has put out that we need 600-some beds for long-term beds over the next I don’t remember how many years. When the department has numbers that say basically the same thing, what is the intention of the department with regard to long-term care facilities? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Committee wishes to continue with Tabled Document 107-17(4), NWT Capital Estimates 2014-2015, with a continuation of the Department of Health and Social Services, then Justice; Industry, Tourism and Investment; Environment and Natural Resources; and Legislative Assembly. If we get through all those, then we will go through a few bills, perhaps.

Thanks to the Minister. I realize it’s a double-edged sword. I totally understand if we cut taxes, we’re also going to be cutting our own revenue. I thank the Minister for that response.

With regard to the red tape, it is something which CFIB is on about, not just in the North but I think right across the country, and I appreciate the Minister’s explanation of all the things we do provide. But I believe it was over a year ago that this government, I think, through the Premier, made a statement that we were going to do something about cutting red tape. I didn’t hear from the Minister that we...

That is what I’m asking. I’m asking for an opportunity for Members who want to hear from you as Minister and from staff, what we are putting forward in this joint group that is developing a response, a federal response. We get briefings all the time, and what I’m asking is for a briefing on what the GNWT is saying at the table where this federal response is being developed.

Will the Minister commit to a briefing to myself, in particular, but to any other Members who wish to attend to know what we are saying at the table with the feds?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. I would like to ask the Minister some questions as a bit of a follow-up to the motion that this House passed the other day with regard to the Giant Mine Remediation Project. I think the Minister is well aware that Members on this side of the House, particularly Yellowknife Members, are very interested in the recommendations from that report and are very interested in knowing what the GNWT is going to say about that report.

So my first question to the Minister is to know from him how...

Okay, I didn’t really hear from the Minister when or if – I hope it’s when – there will be an increase to this infrastructure budget for communities. Is that in the future anywhere? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just have a few comments and questions and I’d like to reiterate Mr. Dolynny’s comments about the work that the department has been doing. I should say the corporation. The corporation has been doing a very good job of staying ahead of many of the problems that have existed for quite some time and they’re working very hard at trying to solve them. So it’s nice to see. Of course, I do have some concerns.

Mr. Dolynny mentioned the 168-people-long waiting list. My concern, and I’ve expressed it to the Minister many times before, is with transition housing, particularly in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Minister for the commitment to look into it. I would certainly hope that there would not be anything except perhaps a legal requirement that stands in the way of this kind of consultation. We are a consensus government. We share the responsibility with the federal government and we as Members share the responsibility with our Minister on this particular response. I think it is imperative that the Minister do everything he can to allow Members on this side of the House to have some input into what we’re saying to the feds. I’d like to know from the...

Thanks to the Minister. That’s unfortunately what I was expecting. I appreciate this is a federal response, but I also know that we as a government are sitting at a table and we are presenting a position. I think it is a responsibility of this government to allow Members to have some input into that position.

So I would like to know from the Minister, my question is whether or not I, as a Yellowknife Member, other Yellowknife Members, other Regular Members who want to, why can we not, or can we not have an opportunity to sit down with yourself, as Minister, or with other Members or staff of the...