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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - GNWT paid out nearly $1.25 million in bonuses last year

The territorial government paid out $1,249,510.27 in bonuses to executive and senior management as well as excluded employees - or non-unionized workers - said Premier Floyd Roland on Monday, in response to a written question posed by Great Slave MLA Glen Abernethy.

Abernethy wanted to know what was paid to whom and what percentage of potential senior managers received bonuses. The MLA had raised concerns that the incentive provided by performance bonuses were meaningless if they were given to all employees.

More than $160,000 was paid out to 68 per cent of eligible deputy ministers and heads of departments and agencies.

Nearly $740,000 was paid out to 82 per cent of eligible senior managers, while just less than $350,000 was awarded to 18 per cent of excluded government employees.

Calls for animal cruelty laws grow louder

Following news that animal cruelty charges were dropped against Behchoko resident Archie Beaulieu because Crown prosecutors said it would have been unlikely to get a conviction, Kam Lake MLA Dave Ramsay called for the government to develop animal cruelty legislation.

"To me this is a very, very sad commentary on our current animal protection laws in the Northwest Territories and an indication that we must take action," Ramsay said on Tuesday.

News/North reported in late September that 44 of Beaulieu's dogs were put down because they were severely malnourished. Beaulieu was subsequently charged with animal cruelty.

"We have seen and heard far too many stories about animal neglect and abuse and are getting a bad name nationally and internationally for not protecting animals," said Ramsay.He said severe fines and incarceration must be looked at for serious offences. "At the same time, this new legislation should respect lawful and traditional pursuits, such as hunting, fishing and livestock."

Ramsay said the Yukon government came up with an action plan after a man shot 56 dogs on his property in Dawson City and law enforcement could not do anything about it.

Ramsay is the second MLA to bring up the issue this session. Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley pressed the government to look into adopting legislation. The present law - the Dog Act - only takes dogs into account and it has not been updated since the 1950s.

Justice Minister Jackson Lafferty said he has to work with the departments of Municipal and Community Affairs, as well as Environment and Natural Resources to draft legislation as well as get public consultation on any legislation. Lafferty said it was a priority of government and committed to bring information they collect to regular MLAs sometime this fall.

A piece of the pipeline

On Thursday, Kam Lake MLA Dave Ramsay said the territorial government needs to get an equity stake in the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline.

He said the government has poured millions into setting up offices and preparing for the pipeline but said it won't get any direct return from it.

"It is about time we start discussing what the returns will be to the residents here in the Northwest Territories," he said.

Ramsay said federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice announced in January the federal government will invest infrastructure money into the $16.2-billion project, to assume some risk and return from the pipeline.

"Like the oil companies and like the federal government are going to get, our government needs to get an equity position in the pipeline," he said.

Industry Minister Bob McLeod said since the territorial government does not have a resource revenue sharing agreement with Ottawa, the GNWT is focused on investing in training to get its residents ready for the pipeline. McLeod said the territorial government would have to cough up a substantial chunk of money to get a stake in the project.

"The only thing that's holding us up from getting an equity piece of the pipeline is money," he said.

Too much Olympic money

On Tuesday, Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro raised concerns to two ministers that she thought $2.5 million was too much money to invest in the NWT's presence at the Olympics.

"I'm having a really difficult time that this government is going to spend dollars on sending people from Yellowknife to Vancouver so they can volunteer as a whatever, a scorekeeper at the games," she said. "That to me is not a good use of our funds."

Robert McLeod, Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, defended the investment, saying it will be a once-in-a-lifetime event for kids to participate in.

Quote of the week

"I finally understand it. We have Stevie Wonder over there driving the car. That's why it's so banged up. No one knows where they're going."

- Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins hinting at the cause behind Premier Floyd Roland's analogy of the day: a car that needs major work, which he used to describe the Northwest Territories Power Corporation.