SPEAKER. Thank you, Xx. Xxxxxx. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Xx. Xxxxx. Further Return to Question 152-14(4): Improving Remedial Programs XXX. XXXX XXXXX: Thank you, Mr. Xxxxxxx. The process that I would like to follow, and what we normally do, is to brief Cabinet on these matters first. Then, once I have Cabinet approval, we will no doubt be consulting with Members and proceeding from there. Thank you.
SPEAKER. Speaker’s Name: Company/Agency Name, if Applicable: Street Address: City/State/ZIP: (if not a resident of Wisconsin, note Item 5 below) Country: (if not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, note Item 6 below) Speaker’s SS# or TIN:
SPEAKER. Thank you, Xx. Xxx. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Xxx Xxx, Xx. XxXxxx. Member’s Statement on Recent Events in the Legislature (Ruled Out of Order) XX. XXXXXX: Thank you, Mr. Xxxxxxx. Mr. Xxxxxxx, I was intending to make my statement today on water quality, but I do not believe that anybody is listening to those types of issues anymore, so I am going to try to make a few comments on the events that have happened in the last little while, choosing my words very carefully, Mr. Xxxxxxx. I have watched with interest as this process has developed over the last while from a conflict complaint to a complaint of bias, to an investigation and to the report where we are today, Mr. Xxxxxxx. Mr. Xxxxxxx, this whole process has taken eight months. Eight months of our time where issues have been put on the backburner. During that whole time, I was of the opinion that we were heading to where common sense would take over. Since I have had an opportunity to review the recommendations of the special committee, I am of the opinion that we have to demonstrate that we support this government. I do not have a problem stating I do support. However, I have a problem with the process. I do not believe that we as Members of this House should be in a position where we have to publicly declare our position, especially if we are in a position where we would be announcing our candidacy or in a position as a potential candidate for Cabinet. Mr. Xxxxxxx, a confidence vote or non-confidence vote is a weapon that we have… MR. SPEAKER: Sorry, Xx. XxXxxx, you hit the wrong words there. You were not careful enough. I just have to remind Members that you cannot speak in anticipation of a motion that is before the House, as you are aware. Thank you. Item 3, Members’ statements. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Xxxxx. Member’s Statement on Efforts to Achieve Good Governance MR. NITAH: Xxxxx xxx, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Xxxxxxx, when we were all elected to this government, we were elected to this Legislature as a government that is unique in Canada. It is a consensus government, Mr. Xxxxxxx. A consensus government that the people of the Northwest Territories insisted that that is the style of government we want. October 29, 2001 NORTHWEST TERRITORIES HANSARD Page 481 Since I have been here, I have worked with my colleagues on this side of the House and my Cabinet colleagues on a number of different initiatives, some of them very worthwhile. I have been co-chairing the Cau...
SPEAKER. Thank you, Xx. XxXxxx. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Xx. Xxxxxxx. Return to Question 149-14(4): Commitments to Kakisa Fishermen XXX. XXX XXXXXXX: Thank you, Mr. Xxxxxxx. Yes, we have a Great Slave Lake Fisheries Strategy that is being considered by the fishermen. It includes provisions in there for the fishermen from Kakisa. I am waiting for the Fishermen's Association to get back to me on what they want to do with that strategy. In the meantime, I will continue to pursue the commitments I made to the people in Kakisa. Thank you.
SPEAKER. Thank you, Mr. Xxxxx. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Health and Social Services, Xx. Xxxxxxx. Return to Question 150-14(4): GNWT Response to Cuff Recommendations XXX. XXX XXXXXXX: Xxxxx, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Xxxxxxx, I have taken over the portfolio of Health and Social Services in the last few days. I had a briefing with the deputy minis ter. I have been working with the previous Minister of Health and Social Services. She has been working very hard on this initiative, of looking at health, the health boards and the way we deliver health in the Northwest Territories. There has been a lot of work since the Cuff report. I know the department has been working towards a revitalization of an action plan. The Minister was on the verge of tabling a draft action plan when the events of last week unfolded. As a result, I have since been briefed with the deputy minister and his staff. Their work should continue. The draft action plan is not ready to be tabled. I would prefer to hold off until the events that started to unfold last week run their course, hopefully the end of the week, and we know who is going to take full responsibility for this portfolio. It is a major initiative. I think that whoever is going to take over the responsibility should be hands-on. In the meantime, I have instructed the department to carry on with the work that the prev ious Minister was doing. At this point in time, there is not going to be any draft action plan tabled. At the appropriate time, it will probably be actioned. Thank you.
SPEAKER. Thank you, Xx. Xxxxxx. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Xx. Xxxxx. Further Return to Question 151-14(4): Rent Ceiling for Income Support Clients XXX. XXXX XXXXX: Thank you, Mr. Xxxxxxx. To the best of my knowledge, Mr. Xxxxxxx, we do not have an intent of limiting the amount of the housing allowance for income support clients. Naturally, we do try to adjust in terms of space available for families, the size of a family and so forth, and for others -- large families, small families -- it depends on the availability of units, of course. We are naturally not prepared to put a mother with one child into a four-bedroom house, for example. However, Mr. Xxxxxxx, the intent -- if there was such and I am not familiar with it -- is certainly not to cap it. Thank you.
SPEAKER. Thank you, Xx. Xxxxxx. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Xx. Xxxxx. Return to Question 152-14(4): Improving Remedial Programs XXX. XXXX XXXXX: Thank you, Mr. Xxxxxxx. Yes, we worked over the summer and into the past month and a half to look at the whole issue of pathways and the strength of those programs and the versatility for students to be able to use the programs so that they can continue on in high school and complete high school with a diploma that allows them to stream into the appropriate areas, such as perhaps university or college, into apprenticeships or into the workforce, Mr. Xxxxxxx. Thank you.
SPEAKER. Thank you, Xx. Xxxxxx. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Xx. Xxxxx. Further Return to Question 152-14(4): Improving Remedial Programs XXX. XXXX XXXXX: Thank you, Mr. Xxxxxxx. I cannot elaborate in terms of the details but I can certainly get that for the Member. My officials were working on it to bring forward a strengthened process that students have the ability to move on throughout high school so that we do not have the dropout situation that is occurring now and the ability to stream into specific areas, pathways. Thank you.
SPEAKER. Thank you, Xx. XxXxxx. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Xx. Xxxxx. Further Return to Question 154-14(4): Service Delivery Survey in Enterprise XXX. XXXXX XXXXX: Thank you, Mr. Xxxxxxx. I do not have the details as to why it may have gone outside our borders, but I will confirm that back to the Member. Thank you.
SPEAKER. Thank you, Mr. Xxxxx. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development, Xx. Xxxxxxx. There were a few questions there, all related. Two, at least. Further Return to Question 157-14(4): National and International Fur Markets XXX. XXX XXXXXXX: Mr. Xxxxxxx, the purpose of the review is to try to ensure that our trappers are getting the maximum price possible for their fur. The department, for the last few years, has been selling northern fur where trappers agreed to participate in a program through a firm in Montreal who sold it as genuine Mackenzie Valley fur. We are looking at that program to see whether we are getting the prices we need. We are also subsidizing and working very closely with a number of subsidiaries of the Northwest Territories Development Corporation, who are in the business of trying to make value-added products from northern fur. We hope that will also provide a market. There are a number of initiatives going on there. The main one is with D'Arcy Moses, but also in the Aklavik and Tuktoyaktuk areas as well. Mr. Xxxxxxx, in terms of when do we complete it, I can certainly give the Member a progress report of what we have done but I think this is an ongoing exercise that will continue. This past year has been a particularly busy one because of the need to review how we were selling fur through the Montreal firm. Thank you.
