Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Mr. Speaker, I have often spoken before about the need for 911 phone service in Yellowknife and the rest of the NWT. Members are likely aware that the City of Yellowknife this week received the results of a feasibility study for the implementation of 911 in the city and throughout our Territory. As an aside, it is important to note that the GNWT was a fully participating member of the study’s management committee. Not surprisingly, the recommendation from this report is that 911 service should be established in seven of our 33 communities to start and that it be expanded to the other 26 communities as soon as possible.

Hard on the heels of this report and its recommendation, I have to again state how crucial it is that this government recognize our duty to take part in the establishment of this service. The need for 911 has been talked about for over a decade now. The City of Yellowknife has completed not one but two studies as they try to solve the implementation riddle. The GNWT coroner in 2001 articulated the need for 911 service and attributed a death in 2000 to the lack of that service.

The NWT is one of only two jurisdictions in Canada who lacks this service. It is time for us, the GNWT, to get off the pot, so to speak, and accept that it is our responsibility in a moral and a financial sense to assist in the provision of 911 service.

Just last weekend, Mr. Speaker, I heard the Minister of MACA say that the government will only be involved in the implementation of 911 service if that service is provided to all communities in the NWT at the same time. Is that realistic? Not at all, in my opinion. The Minister cited a very real lack of phone infrastructure in most of our small communities and that one community should not have 911 service where another does not. This attitude will delay implementation of any 911

service by at least five to 10 years as we wait for our phone company to upgrade lines and provide the necessary telephone exchanges. That is unacceptable, Mr. Speaker. We must start now in those communities that already have the appropriate infrastructure and not deny the majority of NWT residents a much needed public safety service.

We are already beginning to think about our 2010-2011 budget and what our strategic investment priorities should be for that budget. A stated goal of this Assembly is sustainable, vibrant, safe communities. The best way for this Assembly to accomplish that goal is to plan for and fund the implementation of 911 service in the identified seven communities.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted.

We must stop making excuses for our lack of commitment to a 911 initiative. Stop dithering about our responsibility and our duty to participate in the provision of 911 service. We have to bite the bullet and do the right thing. The GNWT must partner with the City of Yellowknife and get the implementation of 911 service on its way. I will have questions for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs later on. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]

Mr. Speaker, the residents of Fort Simpson are concerned because with the closure of the old Deh Cho Hall, the John Tsetso Memorial Library is gone. Over the years, with one full-time staff member, the community library has been a place to browse, to pick up reading material for youth and adults. As well, the library has offered literacy programs and various activities including movie night, opportunities for adults to purchase books, to read to children, readings by visiting authors and access to computers and Internet.

I would also like to thank the members of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure who were visiting Fort Simpson. I took them on a short tour to see where the library had been and how our library is presently reduced to a resource centre. It offers only the use of computers and access to books on-line. Residents want at least the same standard of library that they had in the past. In the Public Library Act designation that came into force on April 15, 2009,

the John Tsetso Memorial Library continues to be designated as a public library.

A community of 1,200 people deserve a good library, especially since the community has made good use of it. We have benefited greatly in the past and we want our youth and adults to continue to enjoy the services of a public library. In fact, a region of our size -- about 4,200 residents -- could benefit from a regional library located centrally in Fort Simpson. Such a library could house a larger collection of books and these could be circulated to our smaller communities.

I continue to support and encourage the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to help Fort Simpson work towards a solution. I believe that having the John Tsetso Memorial Library designated as a regional library is the best solution. This will allow for proper planning of a permanent facility and for a solution for Fort Simpson and residents of the Deh Cho region. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In following my routine and in respect to a Member’s statement, the first day of every session will always be paying respect to the people who have passed away and their families and friends in my riding of Nunakput.

Mr. Speaker, since the last sitting of the Assembly there have been many deaths in our community, in our region. Tuktoyaktuk has experienced all of the losses. Today I give condolences to the family and friends of Jean Komeak and condolences to Jimmy and family; to Donna Steen and to her children, Charlene, Nicole, and William; to Christina Noksana, condolences to David and family; and to Kyler Jacobson, condolences to Jim Jacobson and his mother Mavis Adjun and family. The community of Tuktoyaktuk is close knit. The loss of one is deeply impacted by all of us, but the loss of four in such a short time has been much more difficult for all of us.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to give condolences to all of the people in the Northwest Territories who have lost loved ones in the past few months. Our thoughts and prayers are with your families. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to talk to Members about a relevant issue that happened two weeks ago in the New Brunswick Legislature. It all started when a retired school administrator, Frank Taylor, was forced to borrow $35,000 after he was diagnosed with cancer. The drug he needs is not covered by the provincial medical plan. Mr. Taylor collected almost 7,500 names on a petition, but when the Conservative health critic presented the petition to the Legislature, the acting Speaker was forced to reject it. The reason for the rejection was that more than 4,000 names were collected on-line. The Legislature’s rules require that petitions tabled include signatures. But with general agreement in the Legislature that Members would like to accept the on-line petition for tabling, the Liberal House Leader said it was about time to modernize their rules overseeing petitions. Thus, the antiquated rules will be discussed the next time the Legislature’s Procedures committee convenes.

Although it’s unclear how the technical aspects will be handled, the New Brunswick Legislature is willing to look at this in a modern context. Therefore, it is reasonable, here in the North, when we need to consider the vast distance and diversity, to consider, possibly, the idea of on-line petitions. Of course, it would take some updating of our rules to reflect that process.

Although in New Brunswick the petition was from a 71-year-old man, such a petition might come forward from younger northern people too. What do we do, for instance, if northern students wanted to exercise their concern about the cuts to the scholarship program in a method they are familiar with such as an on-line petition? Such a case exists now, Mr. Speaker, on Facebook with about 280 signatures that ask for the cuts to be reversed. However, rules, of course, say that we could not accept their petition. Our northern students are spread throughout Canada and, of course, the North, and just maybe an on-line petition is the only way they could rally their concern in a respectable, reasonable and certainly a timely way.

It’s been my experience that far too often people will criticize our young folks for not getting involved or even taking action. Perhaps part of the blame lies on this process in that it’s old, antiquated and it doesn’t reflect young people in a meaningful way.

Mr. Speaker, I hope someday soon this House will be willing to begin research and examine the guidelines and consider on-line petitions, because when people, young or old, feel strongly about a matter, they should be heard, regardless if it’s an on-line petition.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, if we don’t consider this issue, the voice of democracy will fall silent on a

generation that demands to be heard. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased to recognize my biggest supporter and wife of 35-plus years, Melody McLeod. Also, my sister-in-law, Evelyn McLeod, former long-time resident of Yellowknife who now lives in Cambellford, Ontario. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s my pleasure today to recognize a constituent of Frame Lake, Ms. Barb Wyness, who is up behind me in the gallery representing the UNW, I believe. If there are any other constituents of mine up there who I can’t see, welcome to the Leg.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Member for Deh Cho, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the last while we’ve heard many comments about the number of McLeods in the House. So I’d like to welcome a few more reinforcements. Two of my sisters-in-law are here. I’d like to welcome them both: Melody and Evelyn. Thank you for coming. I’d also like to recognize Rocky Simpson from Hay River. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to recognize my constituent, Mr. Rocky Simpson. In a time of economic downturn, he’s fighting the odds and expanding his business at a great pace in Hay River. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Mr. Byrne Richards, a constituent, who is with us in the gallery today. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to take the time to recognize one of our Pages, Ms. Paige Elkin. She’s a constituent in Yellowknife

Centre as well as my kids’ favourite babysitter. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to recognize Blake Lyons, who is president of the Yellowknife Seniors’ Society. I’d also like to recognize Byrne Richards, who is executive director of Aurora Osprey Society, and Heidi-Ann Wild, who is a constituent of Range Lake.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.