Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a few questions here. I’ll start with the emergency preparedness. The Minister heard a number of people, in their general comments, talk about emergency preparedness and our need to have capacity for communities and the government as well, but communities and the government to be able to deal with things that happen, either major items within the community but also on our highways which, unfortunately, we had evidence of in the last little while.

My first question has to do with staff, and we did have a larger complement of staff in the emergency preparedness...

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Page 11-21, Transportation, activity summary, highways, operations expenditure summary, $64.766 million.

Thank you, committee. Sergeant-at-Arms, if you would please escort the witnesses into the Chamber.

Minister McLeod, please introduce your witnesses for the House.

Thanks to the Minister. I guess if the Minister is looking to be efficient and to reduce work, I really don’t understand why he’s establishing a committee. We are committed to death, I think, in this government.

I’d like to know from the Minister why we would not simply do something as simple as tying minimum wage to the cost of living and do increases to the minimum wage when our cost of living increases. Thank you.

We move on to page 11-30, Transportation, activity summary, Community Access Program, grants and contributions, contributions, $980,000.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I just have one question here and it involves the Arctic Energy Alliance. We, and I can’t remember in how many other budgets, but I think certainly within ENR the government provides a contribution to the Arctic Energy Alliance. So I’m trying to understand why we have a contribution here under MACA and another contribution under ENR and maybe somewhere else. I can’t quite remember; it might be in ITI as well. Why do we as a government not make one contribution to Arctic Energy Alliance in one place, one department for wherever the government decides it should be? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. You’re done, Mr. Dolynny? Mr. Bouchard.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. Do you have witnesses you wish to bring into the Chamber?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask a few more questions to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment and try to clarify what he’s describing in terms of steady increases to our minimum wage. On that process, I’m a little confused.

I think the Minister has explained that there will be a committee and that this committee will do some investigation. They will then make a recommendation to the Minister. If that is correct, he can clarify that for me and confirm that.

The other question I have is: Who will be on this committee? He said it’s a small and efficient group, but how many...

Thank you. Page 11-26, Transportation, information item, marine, active positions. Are there any questions?