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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - One argument used to support cabinet's now-stalled board reform policy was it would help government agencies more easily access a citizen's private records by removing departmental blocks.

On Friday, Great Slave MLA Glen Abernethy said that worried him.

"I guess the idea is that if nurses and teachers, as well as housing and income support officials, were co-located under one CEO, they could freely exchange personal information about their clients," he said.

"I for one don't think an income support worker should be able to access a client's medical records without his or her consent. This goes far beyond one worker dipping into a person's file or another worker," the MLA added. "This would start a move toward Big Brother of George Orwell's 1984: the government keeping a master file on its citizens.

"This is what the privacy laws are intended to prevent."

Later, Abernethy said he was open to looking into having necessary documents - like generic health care cards - shared more easily among departments.

Mackenzie Valley Highway urgently needed: MLAs

On Wednesday, all 16 MLAs present in the legislative assembly - including cabinet - voted to strongly urge the federal government to partner up with them on building a highway down the Mackenzie Valley.

Their motion asked Ottawa to "consider this project as a national stimulus initiative that would be a lasting legacy for all Canadians."

The 940 km of additional highway would link up communities along the Mackenzie River, from Wrigley to Inuvik, and Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk, and put them on the grid year-round, which MLAs said would lower the cost of living and doing business.

Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins and Education Minister Jackson Lafferty were not present for the vote.

MLA calls for ombudsman

Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins asked Premier Floyd Roland on Friday to look into setting up an ombudsman's office in the NWT to deal with complaints from residents.

"There are times when people believe very strongly that government has made a decision that is wrong, bad and even sometimes can be described as unfair and unbalanced," said Hawkins.

"If a person is denied public housing, there is no available appeal mechanism."

He said the independent and objective investigator could follow up on complaints that typically run into internal management or confidentiality roadblocks.

This statutory officer, said Hawkins, would be able to take privacy issues into consideration and get to the bottom of why a decision was made. He said the Yukon has established an ombudsman's office.

Roland said if it was the wish of MLAs, he would be prepared to sit down and discuss setting one up as part of the next business plan process.

Wild energy

In going through Environment and Natural Resources' draft budget on Wednesday, Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro asked Minister Michael Miltenberger to explain a new kind of energy.

"I guess it's a new type of energy that I am not aware of, but I wondered if the minister could explain what 'wild' energy is, please," she asked.

"It's a typo that never got caught," said Miltenberger. "You would replace the 'l' with an 'n'."