Alfred Moses

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also stand here in the House and use my Member’s statement to talk about the NGO Stabilization Fund.

In my work in doing a lot of volunteering, working on committees, past government work, working in actually offering some of these programs through some of the departments that I have worked for, we have a lot of really great NGOs out in the Territories who are doing excellent work. Coming into the government, I see the process of how long it takes to get a budget passed to support some of these organizations that we put policies in place that prevent them from actually...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Finance continue to work with the Auditor General of Canada and GNWT departments, boards and agencies towards the completion of both the interim and final public accounts at the earliest possible date each year. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

GNWT Consolidated Statement of Financial Position as at March 31, 2012

The statement of financial position is the government’s “balance sheet.” Four key figures describe the financial position of the GNWT: cash resources, net debt position, non-financial assets, and the accumulated surplus.

Cash resources

The Standing Committee on Government Operations noted that for 2011-12, the total for cash and cash equivalents or short-term investments, as reported under financial assets, decreased to $68 million as at March 31, 2012, from $117 million in 2011. The committee learned...

Just for clarity, I’d like to ask the Minister how he is going to fund those organizations, NGOs. Specifically, is it going to be an application-based program, is it going to be something new, or is it going to be something that’s built on something like the Health Promotion Fund? Can he be more specific on how these organizations can apply for this extra funding, and if he can still answer part of my first question, which was how much of these dollars have not been allocated for this fiscal year yet that we still have on the budget? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up from my Members statement, I actually wanted to get this question in yesterday, but I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services with regard to the funding this government worked on getting for prevention and promotion through our most recent budget session on operations.

Has all of the funding been allocated for what we fought for in terms of prevention and promotion activities? Has that funding been allocated, and if not, what is the exact number of dollars that still has to be allocated in this fiscal year for prevention and promotion...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am obviously trying to stay on top of this project here, as well as getting concerns from some of the local contractors as well as local residents in terms of how the asbestos is being discarded, those kinds of things.

Just by seeing what is happening in the community, what is the percentage of local workforce on this project in terms of the employees on the job site? What is the percentage of our local workforce? Does the Minister have those details? If not, can he provide them so I can make another statement in the House before the session is done...

There are a couple concerns here. Obviously, one from our local contractors not getting the awarded bid under some discrepancies with the Business Incentive Policy, but then also coming back, in their eyes or their perception, the southern contractors getting a change order without…(inaudible)…details. I’m glad that the Minister made reference to the Hazmat assessment, because right now we’re going to be going through some more demolitions with the Sir Alexander Mackenzie School, not to mention the Aurora College family housing units.

Will the Minister agree to fixing up the Hazmat assessment...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On Friday I had the opportunity to attend a ceremony here at the Legislative Assembly, which was near and dear to my heart, and that was the World No Tobacco Day on May 31st of every year. It was really nice to see, although I missed part of the ceremony. It was nice to see that the Department of Health and Social Services and its partners were promoting not only talking about the commercial uses of tobacco but promoting the cultural and traditional uses of tobacco that we have in the Northwest Territories, and promoting spirituality, healing, respect, offering prayers...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The three northern territories are the only Canadian jurisdictions which do not have information and privacy legislation for municipalities. Municipalities collect and retain significant amounts of personal information about citizens and employees. There is no recourse in the NWT for citizens when this information is improperly used, nor are there any rules governing citizens’ access to municipal information.

The Information and Privacy Commissioner says she is receiving an increasing number of letters from people who are concerned about municipal access and privacy...

Mr. Speaker, in regard to this project, the timeline, I wanted to ask the Minister in the initial contract that was awarded, is this company on time to get the demolition work done or are they progressing beyond the timeline that was allocated that they had mentioned when they put in the tender bid? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.