This is page numbers 241 - 272 of the Hansard for the 13th Assembly, 7th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was chairman.

Further Return To Question 95-13(7): Fort Resolution Sawmill Industry
Question 95-13(7): Fort Resolution Sawmill Industry
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 251

Jim Antoine Nahendeh

Thank you. I would like to apologize to the honourable Member if there has been an oversight, but I understand that there was a message left for the honourable Member prior to the deputy minister going in there. We will make sure that he gets contacted in person in the future before any such trip is arranged for talking about the sawmill in Fort Resolution. Thank you.

Further Return To Question 95-13(7): Fort Resolution Sawmill Industry
Question 95-13(7): Fort Resolution Sawmill Industry
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 251

The Speaker Samuel Gargan

Oral questions. Supplementary. Mr. Morin.

Supplementary To Question 95-13(7): Fort Resolution Sawmill Industry
Question 95-13(7): Fort Resolution Sawmill Industry
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 251

Don Morin Tu Nedhe

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am watching the number of questions so I do not get out of hand. Mr. Premier, can I get a commitment from yourself as the Premier of this government to come to Fort Resolution and meet with the community as well as to see the logging operations and as well to see the Slave River lowlands where we have harvested in the past? Thank you.

Supplementary To Question 95-13(7): Fort Resolution Sawmill Industry
Question 95-13(7): Fort Resolution Sawmill Industry
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 251

The Speaker Samuel Gargan

Mr. Antoine.

Further Return To Question 95-13(7): Fort Resolution Sawmill Industry
Question 95-13(7): Fort Resolution Sawmill Industry
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 251

Jim Antoine Nahendeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think this will be a very good time of the year to go into anybody's country, and I certainly will accept that invitation. Thank you.

Further Return To Question 95-13(7): Fort Resolution Sawmill Industry
Question 95-13(7): Fort Resolution Sawmill Industry
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 251

The Speaker Samuel Gargan

Oral questions. Mr. Henry.

Question 96-13(7): Speed Limit On Highways
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 251

Seamus Henry Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is to Mr. Steen, the Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation. Last December, my private Member's bill to amend the Public Highways Act and the Motor Vehicles Act was passed in this Assembly. The amendments allow the Commissioner, and therefore the Minister, to set maximum speed limits of more than 98 kilometres per hour on highways where appropriate. Mr. Speaker, I introduced that bill because of the number of concerns that I had received from people who drive the highway and also from the tourists that come up the highway. They feel that it is just a little long to be at 90 kilometres an hour, even though we do have a lot of scenery.

My question to the Minister is, has the department given some consideration or has the Minister given direction to the department to follow the wishes of this legislature in increasing the speed limit on the highway comparable to Alberta for that portion of the highway that would it be acceptable to that speed limit? In other words, Mr. Speaker, I am just talking about the portion from the border to Fort Rae. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Question 96-13(7): Speed Limit On Highways
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 251

The Speaker Samuel Gargan

The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Steen.

Return To Question 96-13(7): Speed Limit On Highways
Question 96-13(7): Speed Limit On Highways
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 251

Vince Steen

Vince Steen Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member's question in regard to increasing the speed limit in reference to the motion passed in the House, the department is considering all aspects of the motion including the effects of increasing the speed limits on the highway. The department is including in the review the fact that there are buffalo on the highway, the fact that certain conditions of the highway are contributing towards accidents and the overall effect of increasing the speed limits on the general public. The department has advised me that they will have a report ready from the review early this summer. Thank you.

Return To Question 96-13(7): Speed Limit On Highways
Question 96-13(7): Speed Limit On Highways
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 251

The Speaker Samuel Gargan

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Henry.

Supplementary To Question 96-13(7): Speed Limit On Highways
Question 96-13(7): Speed Limit On Highways
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 251

Seamus Henry Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can certainly see why it takes so long to upgrade the highway between Yellowknife and Fort Rae, if it takes that long to get a report read after some legislation has been presented in this House. My question to the Minister is, is there no way of speeding this up, Mr. Speaker? If this type of report waits until the summertime, the tourist traffic will be up, we will have more tourists that will be bringing a sad message down south that it takes too long to get to the north at 90 kilometres per hour where you have the same caliber of road

that you do in any part of Alberta. Will the Minister commit to putting a little flame underneath the department personnel that are working on this report and bring it back to the House in a more timely fashion? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Supplementary To Question 96-13(7): Speed Limit On Highways
Question 96-13(7): Speed Limit On Highways
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 252

The Speaker Samuel Gargan

Mr. Steen.

Further Return To Question 96-13(7): Speed Limit On Highways
Question 96-13(7): Speed Limit On Highways
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 252

Vince Steen

Vince Steen Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I agree with the Member, the speed to respond seems to be related to the speed on the highway. So, I will commit to the Member, I will ask my department to see if it can speed this thing up to possibly have the speed limit increased or stay the same by the time tourist season starts. Thank you.

Further Return To Question 96-13(7): Speed Limit On Highways
Question 96-13(7): Speed Limit On Highways
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 252

The Speaker Samuel Gargan

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Henry.

Supplementary To Question 96-13(7): Speed Limit On Highways
Question 96-13(7): Speed Limit On Highways
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 252

Seamus Henry Yellowknife South

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that, I would also like it if the Minister as part of that report, could have some of the department personnel check to find out if there would be such things as buffalo on the highways in Alberta, too, where the speed limit is at 100 kilometres per hour. Thank you.

Supplementary To Question 96-13(7): Speed Limit On Highways
Question 96-13(7): Speed Limit On Highways
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 252

The Speaker Samuel Gargan

Mr. Steen.

Further Return To Question 96-13(7): Speed Limit On Highways
Question 96-13(7): Speed Limit On Highways
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 252

Vince Steen

Vince Steen Nunakput

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, part of the things we have to take into consideration is, simply because people drive over the speed limit does not necessarily mean it is a safe speed limit. All aspects of increasing the speed limit will have to be considered, including the suggestion that by making it a lower speed limit is a safer speed limit, particularly for tourists during the tourist season. However, all these aspects that are related to increasing the speed limit will be taken into consideration and the department will respond and I hope by the tourist season, the start of the tourist season, which I presume is the end of May. Thank you.

Further Return To Question 96-13(7): Speed Limit On Highways
Question 96-13(7): Speed Limit On Highways
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 252

The Speaker Samuel Gargan

Thank you. Again, just to remind the Members regarding question period and one of the guidelines for questions is, a question must not be trivial, vague or meaningless or frivolous. So, just to remind the Members. Oral questions. Final supplementary, Mr. Henry. Oral questions. Mr. Krutko.

Question 97-13(7): Meeting Education Demands
Item 6: Oral Questions

April 20th, 1999

Page 252

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Miltenberger. The Minister, when he was on the opposite side of the House, was pretty supportive of a motion passed in this legislature which called for an increase in funding to the Department of Education and also the increase of teachers in our classrooms. Mr. Speaker, I have made comments in this House about the problem that we are seeing in a lot of our smaller communities in regard to the reduction of teachers in a lot of our communities and the large class sizes that we have in our schools, as well as the need to have materials available to the students in the classrooms, especially the ones attending the high school grades. My question to the Minister is, what is he doing to ensure the communities have adequate teachers to meet the demand in regard to the high increases in students in our classrooms?

The Speaker Samuel Gargan

The Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Miltenberger.

Return To Question 97-13(7): Meeting Education Demands
Question 97-13(7): Meeting Education Demands
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 252

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my information is that they are projecting less than a 1 percent increase in enrolments across the territory. My Minister's statement today indicated that we have come up with, on a one-time basis, we are proposing to come up with $2 million, one for working with people, young students, and the other one for investing in people. The last few days, I have outlined the strategy that we are taking trying to address the issues in the ministerial forum to deal with issues. In the longer-term, if we ever do sign the Northern Accord and have increased revenues I will be jockeying for position with my much bigger, but hopefully not any stronger, colleague from Health and Social Services to make sure that we get access to much needed increases in revenues for our departments. Thank you.

Return To Question 97-13(7): Meeting Education Demands
Question 97-13(7): Meeting Education Demands
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 252

The Speaker Samuel Gargan

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Krutko.

Supplementary To Question 97-13(7): Meeting Education Demands
Question 97-13(7): Meeting Education Demands
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 252

David Krutko

David Krutko Mackenzie Delta

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think it is time that we basically start putting the money into action. We are seeing that there is large turnover of teachers in our schools because of the increased workload, the amount of stress that is on our teachers and also the students are not getting the education that they really require because of the increased number of students in our classrooms. I think it is imperative that we somehow streamline those numbers so that we could allow that we have a more regional-based class size than having class sizes where we are looking at 30 or 40 students in which one teacher is trying to control that. I would like to ask the Minister again, what is the department doing to basically offset those increases in our classrooms financially and also what support is being given to offset that problem?

Supplementary To Question 97-13(7): Meeting Education Demands
Question 97-13(7): Meeting Education Demands
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 252

The Speaker Samuel Gargan

Mr. Miltenberger.

Further Return To Question 97-13(7): Meeting Education Demands
Question 97-13(7): Meeting Education Demands
Item 6: Oral Questions

Page 252

Michael Miltenberger

Michael Miltenberger Thebacha

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In addition to the items I just outlined in my previous answer, I had also indicated previously that I was not convinced that as a department and as the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, that we were as efficient and as effective as we could be. What I meant by that was, the government has changed and downsized in a lot of areas, but one of the things that I think has unfortunately remained the same is the amount of red tape and policies and procedures that are possibly somewhat superfluous at this point, but add to the administrative burden. The teachers are saying it is a major impediment to

them being able to their jobs better. That is another issue that the department is looking at to try to see is, are there ways to streamline our procedural policy requirements so that we can do the work we need, but make sure that we do not burden the teachers and the principals and DEAs and DECs with any more paperwork than is absolutely necessary, thus freeing them up to be doing what they should be doing, which is teaching the children. Thank you.