Vince McKay

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Motion 47-20(1), State of Emergency for Humanitarian Reasons for Norman Wells. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Back in the day, pre-cell phones and phones and everything else, we used smoke signals. No, we would have to go back, honestly, and look and find out from the other agencies, like in Alberta, what they do and how they layer their systems in order to have backups in their systems. So I'll ask the department to see what other jurisdictional scans we can do to see how we can backup our systems when our main telecommunications system is out. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I feel you stole my list. I want to echo the recognition of visitors in the gallery, same people there, but I would also like to add the YK city councillor Tom McLennan. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to provide an update on marine transportation service operation for the 2025 sailing season. Every spring, residents and businesses across the territory are eager to plan shipments for their essential goods and equipment by our barges along the Mackenzie River, Great Slave Lake, and all the communities in the Western Arctic.

As people are aware, in 2024 marine transportation services operations were affected by record low water levels. This created unnavigable conditions along the Mackenzie River and presented a challenge to the Canadian Coast Guard, who were unable to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will commit to working with anybody to try to solve this problem. When, like I said, it's Northwestel is the one that does the network system, they're the ones that control the telecommunications in the Northwest Territories. Again, we'll look at options, we'll -- I'll ask the department to do a jurisdictional scan to see what they do for backup systems in other parts of the country. But, again, we can work with other departments in order to find out what a solution might be. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would assume that the point they were trying to get across is that if you were looking for help, you could go anywhere that provides the help, like the emergency department, RCMP detachment, or the fire service in your communities to get the help that you need. You know, when the NorthwesTel takes out these lines for their modernization of equipment, it's kind of out of our hands so, you know, they're -- what could be put in place, something we could look into but at the present time, when they take out these services, it knocks down all of our communication. So that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a member -- an active member of a volunteer ambulance service that was pretty busy back in the day, you know, I was able to form many relationships with doctors and nurses currently in the territories, around the territories, and throughout Canada. You know, I do appreciate the work that's been done to this; however, I do feel for me, it's very Yellowknife focused and very focused on what the issues are in Yellowknife where, for me, if we took care of our regions, if we took care of our communities, the strain on Yellowknife would not be as much as it is. And we not...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for the Sahtu, that Bill 17, Municipal and Community Affairs Statutes Amendment Act, be read for the third time. And, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The GNWT has commissioned several technical studies. The PUB has directed the use of existing studies also. We're not just putting them on the shelf. So we're using them. The PUB established its own process of implementing each directive. For example, while the GNWT has directed the PUB to establish an independent power producer policy, the exact design will be based on evidence and consultation through the PUB process. So the PUB can commission additional studies, if needed, but it's been using existing ones also. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Saturday, tomorrow, the community of Hay River will be hosting its annual lobster do. It's a much-anticipated event in Hay River. It's an opportunity for the community to get together. After a long cold winter, it's one of our first big annual events.

I would like to take a moment to thank all the volunteers, as much of the people that are going, it takes that amount of people of volunteers in the background to host this event, preparing and cooking hundreds and hundreds of lobsters for the community that go. It is sold out, so that's a good thing. Hopefully, there...