Vince McKay

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Motion 63-20(1): Creation of an Emergency Management Agency for the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Listen, I don't disagree with the Member. This is a commitment that has been -- with the Member, sorry. This is a commitment that's been made. It's been on the table for a long time. The department is continually working on it. Like I said, the priorities of the Legislative Assembly and legislative proposals are all -- yeah, they're all there, and sometimes these ones get pushed on the back burner a little bit. It depends on what the appetite of all the Members are, and apparently this one here has been slowed down a little bit. But, again, the commitment is to have...

Yes, we're committed to looking at getting it done.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Sorry, I was waiting for the light to come on there. That was last year's Minister. I can't commit to anything -- no. Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm not going to take away that commitment at all. I'll work with the department to commit to trying to make sure that we're completed that by the end of our Assembly as the previous Minister has done so also, and I share the same response there, that I think it's important that we finish that off there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the government is not responsible for agencies to make up their emergency plans. It's the responsibility of NGOs and agencies to make up their own emergency plans. And at the end of the day, we have to work with those NGOs to make sure that they're completely involved and that there's communication on what steps to take in case there is an emergency. For the finer detail of some of the questioning there, Mr. Speaker, I'd have to get back to the Member. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's always nice to try to commit but we all know how we work here in the government, and we get sidetracked with doing other lines of work and our priorities on legislative proposals change. And yeah, so, I mean, at the end of the day, the policies, the legislative work, and all the background's being worked on. Obviously, I should be clear; it's not a current priority but there is work being done to try to move this along as we know that this is an appetite for many Members of this government. So, again, the commitment is to continue to work on this and move it...

I don't know how else to word this. I've been pretty much agreeing with him but I don't know how else to -- yes, I guess so. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So I guess part of the problem is, is that we do have a lot of the work completed, and there's been a lot of background work going on with it; however, you know, we're not building a made-in-the-north standard building agreement. It is a Canadian one and, of course, with the things that have been changing, we're constantly updating it. So moving ahead, you know, there is a commitment to put it forward here the next year, and hopefully by the 21st Assembly we have it ready to go. So thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't run the chipping machine but we'll work on it, and hopefully we can commit to getting that done. As I stated, whatever the previous Minister said, I will try to stick with. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I have stated many times, a lot of this work is being done in a Canadian standard. We're not inventing our own wheel here and trying to make up our own plans. Working with agencies like that are, you know, collaborative approach. It's not about the department going to these NGOs and essentially forcing them to work with the government. They have their own needs, they have their own requirements, and at times it may not even involve the government support. So, again, there's multiple departments involved in this work, and we'll continue to work with the group to...