Bill Braden

Would the Minister commit to developing and putting to this Assembly and the business community some list of criteria that would help the business community make some judgments about when it is or is not a good idea to get into business with this government? I’m not getting a whole lot of security really that this Cabinet wants to do business on a level playing field. Can you tell us how you might go about setting out those rules more clearly? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Alright, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Obviously I am here and Mr. Voytilla is there doing the math. The rate at which this subsidy is increasing has been a concern of mine for some time, and I think in the course of the budget that we just passed we asked the government to come back with ways to help stabilize, look at options to how we can stabilize the cost of this program. It is a good program, but we need to be careful how we manage it. I won’t dwell on that anymore, we will be dealing with that hopefully in the very near future.

I would like to ask for the coming year are we anticipating...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That’s a helpful discussion of the fluid realm in which policy is stated. I’m not challenging that Cabinet should have the authority at times to make exception. I think that is a valuable part of our institution. However, as the Premier said yesterday, where we can warrant it. Principles like this come into play very dramatically, especially when you’re a business person. So, Mr. Speaker, what I’d like to ask now is, what criteria are in place. Can the Minister put some shape and some form and some scope to what the criteria are that would guide Cabinet when making an...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With this additional half a million dollars, what does this bring the total cost of the power subsidy program to for this fiscal year? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item 19. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

One of the things we all cope with in this age of technology is information overload. One of the prime duties of a good consultation and communication program is editing and narrowing the message, clarifying the questions. In this light, we also have all sorts of existing programs going on that are constantly being asked about or looked at in terms of evaluating. I would like to ask in this context, what kind of process or formula does the government use to monitor and check on existing programs and policies to make sure we are on the right track?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Premier this afternoon some questions in his capacity as the leader of the Executive. It’s about the general area of consultation and communication across the NWT. Mr. Speaker, in the last few days, I have asked various Ministers questions on topics including the national child benefit supplement and workers’ compensation. We are hearing this afternoon about consultation on Housing Corporation business. What I have heard is Ministers are reluctant to take issues out and get a sense of what kind of program policy should be developed. They said...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that information. I am going to see that I get a couple more details on this. How many people are involved in this? Is there a budget figure given? The point I am getting at, Mr. Speaker, is that existing organizations, and especially the territorial sporting organizations, are concerned that meagre levels of resources are going to be further eroded by this new organization. I don’t want to take away from the purposes the Minister has outlined. But I am looking for some securities and some stability so that our existing organizations are...

Mr. Speaker, my question this afternoon is for Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. It relates to the imminent creation of the NWT council of sport and recreation partners. Could the Minister advise what are the issues and problems that are going to be resolved with the creation of this new sport governing body in the NWT? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I can’t speak in favour of this motion. I guess where I am coming from on this is if we, as a government, and then through our various departments and agencies, have a reasonably good policy on travel, and if we go about passing our business plans and giving these people instruction and direction to go do a job on our behalf, then I think along with that comes sort of a degree of trust and integrity in their ability to make prudent decisions about where we are going to travel, and follow the policies that have been set under which they will do that. I think this...