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Legislative Assembly Briefs GNWT to consider regulating gas prices Motion passed with nine MLAs for, none against, cabinet and two MLAs abstaining
Katherine Hudson Northern News Services Published Monday, March 04, 2013 Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins proposed the move and received nine votes of support, with Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley, Frame Lake MLA Wendy Bisaro and cabinet ministers opting to abstain from voting.
"We should do our part to show the people the transparency of how they set prices," said Nahendeh MLA Kevin Menicoche as he seconded the motion. He said he sees no harm in using the government's resources to get answers for the people.
"We should do our part to show the people the transparency of how they set prices and just to ensure, once again, that people aren't being gouged at the pumps," he said.
While Bisaro said she felt the issue was mainly a Yellowknife problem, where gas prices are at about $1.389 per litre while Hay River has being paying closer to $1.129 per litre, Mackenzie Delta MLA Frederick Blake said his constituents pay upwards of $1.80 per litre in Tsiigehtchic.
MLAs want dredging in Hay River
Hay River South MLA Jane Groenewegen asked to see action and not studies to bring a dredging program back to Hay River since the service was discontinued in the mid-1990s, she said in the legislative assembly on Feb. 28.
The previous day, Hay River North MLA Robert Bouchard said in the spring, residents on Vale Island have to consider what they're going to do when the river breaks up and there is the potential for a flood.
Transportation Minister David Ramsay said $60,000 is in this year's budget for dredging, and $3 million to $4 million is needed to start a program in the port of Hay River. Premier Bob McLeod said on Feb. 28 that the GNWT will be doing some work this summer via a "small dredging program." He said the government is prepared to contribute some funding in the future but ultimately, dredging is a federal responsibility.
Joe Greenland Centre to be replaced
Last week in the legislative assembly, NWT Housing Corporation Minister Robert C. McLeod announced it would be more cost-effective to replace the Joe Greenland Centre than to renovate, and the department will begin planning the new facility with the community of Aklavik in the near future. The Joe Greenland Centre was shut down in 2011.
McLeod also stated that four new seniors facilities will be constructed in the communities of Fort McPherson, Fort Good Hope, Fort Liard and Whati that will contain eight independent housing units each. Construction on the facilities will begin in 2014, said
McLeod.
Highway emergency services questioned
After a fatal crash involving two transport trucks 84 km north of Fort Providence Feb. 19 on Highway 3, questions have arisen about the lack of protocol concerning air rescue services in the territory, as well as a lack of ambulance services in the communities.
Nahendeh MLA Kevin Menicoche said Fort Liard is one community that has no ambulance service and asked Municipal and Community Affairs Minister Robert C. McLeod how emergency services are addressed on the highways, especially when dealing with communities without ambulances.
McLeod said when communities realize there is a liability when community members are not qualified as a first responders, "many of them quit taking us up" on the ground ambulance and highway rescue money available.
McLeod said training people in the communities as first responders is the first step towards more emergency response services in the North.
He said an internal committee is looking at "something that works for all communities in the Northwest Territories, especially the ones that are on the highway system."
Elder abuse is bullying, too
Feb. 27 was Pink Shirt Day - a day to create awareness that bullying is prevalent in schools, the workplace and elsewhere and must be stopped. Many members in the legislative assembly spoke about the need for teachers and parents to help ensure the school environment is bully-free, while others asked for anti-bullying legislation.
Inuvik Book Lake MLA Alfred Moses spoke about elder abuse, which is an issue throughout the territory. Elder abuse can be present in many forms, he said, including financial, physical, verbal or emotional.
"It is not fair to the elders later on in their lives not being able to live a healthy, independent lifestyle," he said.
Communities ask for reintegration programs
Colville Lake and Fort Good Hope are two communities that have made requests to Sahtu MLA Norman Yakeleya for either a wilderness camp or a reintegration program for prisoners.
On Feb. 28, Justice Minister Glen Abernethy said the NWT only has one wilderness camp - Kozo Lake camp in the South Slave and he said the department is having discussions with Fort Good Hope to "re-engage" a wilderness camp that used to be in the Sahtu area.
Colville Lake, Abernethy said, is asking for a reintegration program, which he said the department is very excited about.
Abernethy said it would be advantageous for him to visit the Kozo Lake camp to "get a sense of the valuable services" the camp can provide.
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