Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address an issue that is of great concern to the residents of Hay River; that being the recent announcement of the location of the new Human Rights Commission office.
Mr. Speaker, the Board of Management of the Legislative Assembly has decided to place the Human Rights Commission office in Yellowknife, much to the chagrin of other communities. Earlier this year, Mr. Speaker, the Board of Management wrote to Members asking them to put forward appropriate locations for this new commission. The criteria was that there was to be professional office space available, good transportation facilities, in-town access to office support services, and computer banking and accounting services readily available in the potential community. At that time, Mr. Speaker, I wrote a letter to the Board of Management emphatically stating that Hay River would be an ideal location for the new commission.
Mr. Speaker, the report prepared for the implementation of the Human Rights Act stated that the office should be placed in a regional centre. Again, I fully believe that Hay River was an ideal location.
Mr. Speaker, the announcement that Yellowknife was chosen to be the best location appears to have been a preordained decision. I do believe they put the cart before the horse on this one, Mr. Speaker. I believe that the assumptions made in this regard were wrong.
Mr. Speaker, I did speak to an owner of an ideal office space in Hay River, and he informed me that DPW was way off base when they reached their conclusion as to the appropriate location. Mr. Speaker, DPW stated that this particular office space in Hay River would not be up to spec as far as being wheelchair accessible within the timeframe. Mr. Speaker, the landlord stated that it would have taken no more than 60 days to have the office space up to spec, which was well within the aforementioned timeframe.
Mr. Speaker, I don't believe the information and arguments put forward by the Board of Management justifies the decision to assign the Human Rights Commission office to Yellowknife. Mr. Speaker, had the Human Rights Commission office been placed in Hay River, I do believe staffing would not have been an issue for this new commission, and there would have been an upheaval to no one. Mr. Speaker, this would have been a perfect opportunity for this government to follow through on their commitment to empower communities.
Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I would just like to state that it appears that the vacuum that I have brought up on many occasions in this House has successfully sucked up another one for Yellowknife. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause