Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Darrell Beaulieu, a resident of the Weledeh riding, and any other residents of Weledeh that might be in the gallery that I haven’t seen yet.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Member for Monfwi, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to just highlight those Pages that are in here doing a fabulous job. More specifically,

those two students from Jean Wetrade Gameti School: Ms. Brenda Wedawin and Falicia McGee. I’d like to thank them for their hard work here.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like my colleague from Great Slave, I’d like to recognize the work of all of the Pages that served the House during this sitting. Specifically, I’ve got a constituent, Miss Caleigh Matheson, who I would like to point out the work that Caleigh’s done. Appreciate that.

I’d also like to recognize the members of the Jacobson family who are in the gallery and my favourite little girl from Tuktoyaktuk, Mikayla Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m pleased to recognize two representatives from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business: Corinne Pohlmann, the vice-president of national affairs from Ottawa, and Mr. Richard Truscott, the director of provincial affairs from Edmonton. I should point out that the Canadian Federation of Independent Business is celebrating their 40

th

anniversary this year. Welcome to the Assembly.

I’d also like to recognize Darrell Beaulieu, the chairman of our Business Development Investment Corporation.

Like all the other Members here, I want to recognize all the Pages; specifically the Page from Yellowknife South, Justin Krause.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s my great pleasure today to recognize a resident of Range Lake, but he happens to go to school in the Frame Lake riding. Mr. Tim Riviere is up in the gallery here and I wanted to note Tim is a grade 7 student at William Mac. He is shaving his head for cancer for the fourth year in a row and it’s his second year as a Relay for Life team member. He is the team captain for the Relay Rink Rats. He’s been the top youth fundraiser for three years in a row and has raised over $9,600 in those three years. This year Tim wants to raise $5,400 to bring his four-year total to $15,000. I want to say that if anybody can’t get a hold of Tim and wants to give me the money, I’m happy to pass it on. I challenge all Members to assist him in his goal.

Tim is accompanied today by Ms. Bianca Jorgenson from the Canadian Cancer Society. She’s the revenue development coordinator within Yellowknife and she’s the backbone of the Relay for Life event.

Last but not least, Heather Riviere is accompanying Tim and Bianca, and Heather is our very own legislative officer here.

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

I am also pleased to welcome Erin Nadli from my riding and my hometown of Fort Providence, who is now here with us as Premier for the day. Erin, along with many students throughout the North, entered an essay contest explaining why she wanted to be Premier for the day. She was quite surprised to find out she won. Her essay was about the importance of protecting the Dene land, about animals and climate change. The honourable Erin Nadli is a grade 10 student from Deh Gah School in Fort Providence. Erin plans to continue her education in the North and plans to further education and continue on to environmental law or social sciences. When we asked her about how she found her first few hours here in the Legislative Assembly, she said it was good and she was happy to find out that Premier Floyd Roland isn’t all that scary. I think she was a little bit apprehensive when she first got here. I want to say congratulations to Erin and welcome her to the Assembly.

I also wanted to recognize Paschalina Nadli, her mother, and Edith, who are here as chaperones with Erin. Thank you and have a safe trip home.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, want to recognize all the Pages; specifically the two Pages from the Sahtu and the community of Deline: Raymond Bernarde and Jordon Kenny.

I also want to recognize the support in the House for Members, especially for Mr. Jacobson and his family. It’s nice to see them here and to know that the real boss is in the House.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to as well recognize Victoria Velez. She’s the intern here with communications. She’s a constituent of Yellowknife Centre.

I, too, would like to recognize the Jacobson family. The longer I work with Jackie Jacobson, the more I feel for them. Very good to see them all here.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just want to say likewise to Mr. Hawkins in regards to look who it’s coming from.

Anyway, I’m honoured today to have my wife in the House. It’s spring break in Tuk and she’s working at the school now and not down here as much as I’d like her to be with me. My son Matthew and my daughter Mikayla, it’s good to have you here. I look forward to the day ending today.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. If we’ve missed anyone in the gallery today, welcome to the Chamber. I hope you’re enjoying the proceedings. It’s always nice to have an audience in here.

Item 7, acknowledgements. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to acknowledge the former MP of Western Arctic Mrs. Ethel Blondin-Andrew. She was recently recognized as a contributor to the building of our education system in the North. Mrs. Blondin-Andrew was given the honour of her name to stand beside others who were also named to the Hall of Fame in Education.

Mrs. Blondin-Andrew was the first Aboriginal MP to sit in the House of Parliament in Ottawa. Today Mrs. Blondin-Andrew continues to support our education system by representing the Sahtu on the Aurora College Board of Governors and representing the seven land claim organizations through the Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated.

I salute Mrs. Blondin-Andrew for her continuing efforts.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 8, oral questions. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This morning I received an excellent briefing from officials of Municipal and Community Affairs updating the work being done on the Recreational Leasing Policy Framework in the Yellowknife block land transfer area. Control of squatting and protection of the watershed of the Yellowknife drinking water supply are major issues for my constituents. Here again the biggest obstacle, though, is how to get comprehensive action in the negligent federal government on this issue.

The GNWT can hardly control squatting or protect our waters when the federal government does

nothing on immediately adjacent lands within the watershed. For example, 26 squatters are on the east side of Prosperous alone.

I’ve asked before and I’ll ask again, is this government demanding action from our federal overlords. Will he write the new AAND Minister and demand action?

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister responsible for Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My understanding is that briefing went very well. We do have some concerns that have been raised before with the squatters on the INAC side of it. Or I’m not sure what it’s called now, AAND? On the AAND side of it. I can commit to the Member that at the first possible opportunity I will communicate to the federal Minister our desire to see them try to be a little more stringent on their part. This just goes to show another excellent opportunity as to why the devolution would work in the Northwest Territories, because we would be in control of the land and decision-making authority on those lands.

Thanks for the Minister’s commitment there. I did expect to hear the response that this is why we need devolution, of course, but obviously that will be then and this is now.

We control the lands on the west side of Prosperous, they control it on the east, and they’re not doing anything. I’m wondering, though, since the Minister mentions devolution, the federal government has indicated to the Premier and this government that they will give GNWT more involvement, at least now that an AIP is signed. How will the Minister of MACA use this opportunity to exert our influence, use our example, and get control of this intolerable situation?