Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It was done in conjunction with the Protected Areas Strategy, which has been in the process, in development since 1999, so that’s a very long process. It’s been many years of work and also many partners involved in the Protected Areas Strategy. I’d like to ask the Minister some questions about this draft Conservation Plan which came out, what some of the changes are, what it is intending for our territory, in terms of conservation.

I’d like to know first of all from the Minister, I know that we have lands right now which currently prohibit any and all forms of industrial...

I think I may have forgotten my question. Oh, we have two vehicles, as I understand it, in Yellowknife, two sheriff’s vehicles in Yellowknife. So I understand that this one that is being replaced is the one that is used to transport the court party. Does the other vehicle need to be of the same size and the same expense, or is it a bit more of a light-duty vehicle for travel in and around Yellowknife? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Later today I will table a draft act to establish an office of the ombudsman. You and all Members will know that I have been pursuing the issue since I was first elected eight years ago. It’s not a new issue by any means. MLAs have been talking about establishing an ombudsman office since 1992, five Assemblies ago. The general public has been looking for such an office long before that.

There have been numerous motions passed in this House recommending the establishment of an ombudsman office. The Standing Committee on Government Operations was mandated by the House to...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I wanted to ask a question about the sheriff’s vehicle. What kind of a vehicle is it that is required? This says a suburban or similar full-size to transport court party. I guess, how big is the court party? How big does this vehicle need to be? Are we looking at a fairly expensive vehicle or is it, you know, similar price to something you or I would buy off the lot that isn’t going to break the bank? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Next in line is Health and Social Services. We would like to leave Health and go to the Department of Transportation.

So, to relate it to something I understand within Prelude Lake Park, it would be the same sort of a road as from the highway to get to Prelude Lake itself. Would that be a good comparison? Thank you.

Good to hear that. I know that building definitely needs it. That helps me understand the expense.

The other question I have is the next item in the list and it’s public housing, or PH, public housing, housing replacement reserve. I don’t remember seeing that in other descriptions of expenditures. I wonder if I could get an explanation or is this a normal practice for us to have a reserve situation and what is this referencing in Yellowknife?

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Are we including page 50 as well?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to make a general comment and reiterate the comments I made in my opening remarks to the budget itself. In general, we don’t have enough public housing units in the NWT in any of our communities. Particularly here in Yellowknife, we have a huge wait-list for public housing, we have a huge wait-list for assisted living housing and so on. I would encourage the Housing Corporation to seriously consider finding a way to increase the number of units of public housing that we have. I know that we are losing money through the CMHC declining funding, but we need...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I have a question here with regard to the type of lab equipment. I seem to recall that we spent some money on the Taiga Lab last year. Because of devolution, we took over the lab, took over the federal responsibility.

Could I get an explanation, if my recollection is correct? If it is, what equipment are we upgrading and replacing when we spent money just last year on the lab? Thank you.