Alfred Moses

Thank you. In the budget address the Minister announced the establishment of the Western Arctic Centre for Geomatics in Inuvik. Aside from that, I want to ask the Minister, has he been talking with the Aurora Research Institute or Aurora College in looking at developing some kind of training program so that as the Fibre Optic Link becomes in place whether or not that type of training is available for people in the Northwest Territories? This is a new, different type of industry and gives our residents a chance to become educated in something else. Has he been having those talks? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last month Members of the Legislative Assembly and some Members from Cabinet had the opportunity to travel up to Inuvik for a very historical event. That was the groundbreaking and the ribbon cutting of the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Optic Link.

Speaking about the community of Inuvik and the location that it’s at, it’s in an area where it’s ideal for tracking the satellites that orbit the earth and collecting real-time data. These satellites monitor things like environmental monitoring, security, surveillance, resource development, as well as something that’s been big and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I too would like to welcome all Members and staff back into the House for our long operational budget session.

Today I’d like to talk about a commitment that this government has made since 2012, and that’s the tour that our Minister of Finance goes on every year and gets input from residents of the Northwest Territories, entitled the Budget Dialogue. In fact, there are three reports that are written and tabled in the House.

The most current Budget Dialogue was done on October 8, 2014. It lasted about two months. Some concern for me was that in a territory of about 42,000...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to report to the Assembly that the Standing Committee on Social Programs has reviewed Bill 38, An Act to Amend the Jury Act; and Bill 41, An Act to Amend the Partnership Act, and wish to report that Bills 38 and 41 are now ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

During the discussions, GNWT asked residents of the Northwest Territories, how can we manage our expenditures? Our operational budget has increased over the years to the tune of about one point six. We’ll be seeing and hearing tomorrow.

Some suggestions, back from the 2012 report, were how can we manage government expenditures better? One was duplication of programs, duplication between departments, or duplication between departments and non-government organizations.

Has any work or action been taken in this area to see how we could be more efficient in spending our dollars and even support non...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To my Member’s statement earlier in terms of the Budget Dialogue, as Members know we do go through our business planning session in September and as soon as that’s done, we have a really strong debate and try to get into the budget in terms of programs and services for the residents of the Northwest Territories. In some cases, it’s been pretty challenging and tough at times. Earlier in my Member’s statement, I did talk about how the Minister of Finance took his Budget Dialogue out on the road starting October 8th after the business planning session.

At what avenue and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With the operations budget as big as it is, questions out there are being asked whether or not this government can sustain such a high expenditure for operations. The Minister has been noted that we’re looking at trying to increase our debt ceiling.

If that doesn’t go through, can I ask the Minister, what is the plan of action should our debt ceiling not be increased? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

When I look at the document, as well as attending the meetings, there are very sound, practical recommendations that are made and they also come from this side of the House when we are looking at making investments into residents of the Northwest Territories and programs. I just want to know how after the business planning session that we had and getting reasons why we can’t get them in and the Minister stating that he’s hearing the same thing from the residents of the Northwest Territories.

I would like to ask him, I know he’s listening to our residents, but at what cost is it to the taxpayer...

The NWT Rec and Parks Association represents all of the Northwest Territories. So, in terms of that fact, I’d like to ensure that ITI or NWT Tourism does contact the office here in Yellowknife. It is a made-in-the-NWT event, and like I said, it can be highlighted at the national level.

Is the Minister’s office, working with NWT Tourism, willing to contact CBC broadcasting and see if we can actually get some of those spots during the special to air some of our Spectacular NWT commercials? Thank you

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier this week I talked about the NWTRPA becoming a national, I don’t want to say icon, but it will be promoted at the national level. It’s a great opportunity for this government to get messages out there to get tourism on the national front, much like we did with Arctic Air and we had those NWT Tourism Spectacular NWT during the commercials. So my questions today are for the Minister of ITI.

Is the department doing anything to promote tourism with CBC Television during that special in January like we did with Arctic Air? Is the department in talks with possibly the...