Jane Groenewegen

Legislative Assembly photo

Roles

In the Legislative Assembly

Elsewhere

Crucial Fact

  • Her favourite word was hay.
Historical Information Jane Groenewegen is no longer a member of the Legislative Assembly.

Last in the Legislative Assembly November 2015, as MLA for Hay River South

Lost her last election, in 2015, with 35% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Bill 2: An Act To Amend The Public Service Act February 20th, 1996

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would like to make general comments on the bill. First of all, I would like to speak with respect to the 110 names I received today from my constituents opposing the passage of the bill to amend the Public Service Act. I want to assure all those people that I will be available to discuss this process that lead to the bill being brought to the House today. I will have a meeting with all concerned parties upon my return to Hay River.

The bottom line is that we have a projected deficit of $150 million. We put this bill into committee and we consulted with the union representatives. I feel that the government moved considerably on the concerns that were raised by the unions. I sat in on every meeting possible to hear both sides of that because I wanted to obtain a certain level of comfort with what was being said and what was being done. We do not want the public service to be unduly or unequally treated in the process of implementing the reductions. I want to say that there is nothing that I will expect the unions to take at the negotiating table that I, personally, as an MLA, would not be prepared to take in terms of reductions in the area of salaries and benefits.

The reductions in our budget have to come from many sources. The warning bells have been sounding for some time that this government was in difficulty financially. I would be surprised if the unions did not fully expect that there would be reductions coming. Now I believe it is time that the union and the government come to the table and negotiate collective agreements in good faith.

I would be acting irresponsibly as a representative of all my constituents if I asked this government to fairly and compassionately identify $150 million in reductions but exclude the public service. These are difficult fiscal times and difficult decisions are going to have to be made. We have no choice but to proceed with those difficult decisions. Thank you.

Item 10: Petitions February 20th, 1996

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I would like to present Petition No. 13-13(2) that I received today signed by 110 unionized public service workers in Hay River, objecting to the passage of Bill 2, An Act to Amend the Public Service Act. Thank you.

Item 5: Recognition Of Visitors In The Gallery February 20th, 1996

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize today Mayor Jack Rowe from Hay River; Terry Camsell, the president of the Hay River Metis Nation; and, Gwen Robak-Lepine with the Metis Development Corporation in Hay River. Thank you.

---Applause

Education Week And Congratulations To New Nwtta President February 20th, 1996

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In recognition of Education Week, which is coming up from March 16th to 22nd, I would like to take this opportunity to inform the House of the outstanding record of service from the teachers in the community of Hay River. I had research check this out for me and we have 53 public school teachers in Hay River and their accumulated years of service in Hay River is 630 years amongst 53 teachers. That speaks very well of their commitment to education arid their commitment to Hay River. So I would like to recognize them today and I would also like to offer congratulations to Ms. Pat Thomas who is the recently newly-elected president of the Northwest Territories Teachers' Association.

---Applause

Question 72-13(2): Financial Assistance For Housing Tenants February 19th, 1996

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I'm aware that there are tenant relation officers in several of the housing authority offices. They would attempt to counsel the tenants, but if there is some other factor that is affecting the tenant's ability or willingness to pay their rent, I don't know if the tenant relations officer would delve into things like household budgeting or say if the person had a problem with alcohol or gambling or something like that, I don't think the tenant relations officer would delve into those areas. Is there any cooperation between the Housing Corporation and the department's services in addressing some of those broader issues which might affect their ability to pay their rent? Thank you.

Question 72-13(2): Financial Assistance For Housing Tenants February 19th, 1996

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week in the House, I asked the Minister of Housing what the outstanding arrears are owed to the Housing Corporation through the local housing authorities. He took my question as notice, so I'm going to continue on with my questioning today on that subject.

The Minister reported that the amount was over $5 million, so I would assume from that that from time to time, people living in public housing have difficulty paying their rent. I think we could also assume that some tenants in public housing have personal problems which preclude them from paying their rent, and those problems could be any number of things.

Recently, a situation in Hay River arose where a tenant in public housing had to be evicted from their unit through the courts. The point was that the tenant ended up having to be accommodated in other housing in Hay River at the expense of the Department of Social Services. Is there anything that can be done within the department to assist people in paying their rent so that they don't lose their rental unit because of personal problems? Is there some initiative that can be taken to deal with that, prior to it coming to the housing authorities having to take legal action to evict tenants? I want to add one footnote on there, that the other side of that is that we do have a $5 million debt and the people in the housing authorities are doing their jobs in trying to collect those rental arrears, I understand that. But is there anything that can be done before it gets to that adversarial and court-type eviction? Thank you.

Item 20: Report Of Committee Of The Whole February 19th, 1996

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Bill 1 and would like to report progress, and that Bill 1 is ready for third reading. Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you.

Bill 2: An Act To Amend The Public Service Act February 18th, 1996

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The document we are talking about only became public information this past Friday and as a Member representing Hay River and having many respected representatives of various unions in my community, I have not had a chance to go back to them to discuss this with them to hear what other options there may be to this. Unfortunately, when it comes to the recorded vote, I will have to abstain. Thank you.

Item 20: Report Of Committee Of The Whole February 14th, 1996

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Minister's Statement 1-13(2), and I would like to report that consideration of the Minister's statement is concluded. Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with.

Question 33-13(2): Amount Of Outstanding Rental Arrears Owed To GNWT February 14th, 1996

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to address my question to the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. I think that Mr. Dent told me that rental arrears owed to local housing authorities are not an eligible benefit any longer under social assistance. I think that is the answer I got. How much money is owed by public housing tenants to this government at this point in time?