Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I'm going to talk about the employment training and recruitment and procurement. Mr. Speaker, a joint review panel has been conducting hearings across the Northwest Territories over the past year and a half. Last week they held hearings in Yellowknife to discuss employment, training, recruitment and procurement. Mr. Speaker, I had an opportunity to attend on one occasion to listen to what the interveners and proponents had to say. I noticed that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment was one of the many interveners in attendance to discuss employment training, recruitment and procurement.
Mr. Speaker, earlier this week, CBC reported on the involvement of government and interveners' involvement to question the proponents on the employment training and recruitment and the procurement of the upcoming pipeline. Mr. Speaker, the chair of the JRP asked each interviewer if they had any questions for the proponents. Unfortunately, there was no response by the interveners, including the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. Mr. Speaker, is this because the hearings are dragging along or is it because government has all the information that it requires to make the decisions that they can make to address all the answers for the rest of the Northwest Territories?
Mr. Speaker, employment, training, recruitment, and procurement are important issues that need to be addressed and planned to ensure that our people are ready for fulfilling these qualified jobs if the pipeline is approved. The government needs to be proactive on the JRP on any proceedings for the benefit of the people of the Northwest Territories.
In closing, Mr. Speaker, in future public hearings I would expect more involvement by the government in questioning the proponents, because they represent the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause