Bill Braden

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister just mentioned item number two on the shopping list here, and that is the northern residents tax deduction. This Assembly passed a motion asking the Minister to take this up with his Nunavut and Yukon counterparts and then, of course, take it to Ottawa. Has the Minister now taken this request directly to Ottawa and what have they got to say about it, Mr. Speaker?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Next Monday, the federal Minister of Finance for Canada, Mr. Flaherty, is going to be delivering his budget. There are a few things on that list that I want to take one more opportunity to make sure Mr. Flaherty knows, from the point of view of northerners, we would sure like to see in that budget.

Mr. Speaker, at the very top of the list, of course, goes the desire and the very deserving proposals that we have been looking for resource revenue sharing, Mr. Speaker, and devolution of the control of those resources to the Northwest Territories. Bring those resources and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS the Official Languages Act gives Members of the Legislative Assembly the right to use any of the official languages of the Northwest Territories in its debates;

AND WHEREAS this Assembly is committed to the preservation, development and enhancement of its official languages;

AND WHEREAS there is currently no order of the day that allows Members to acknowledge significant milestones and accomplishments in the lives of their constituents;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Rule 36(3) and (4) be deleted in their entirety...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Friday, March 16, 2007, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Rule 36 (3) and (4) be deleted in their entirety and the following be substituted:

36

(3)

Statements made under Rule 36(1):

in the case of a Member speaking in one official language, shall not exceed two and one half minutes;

in the case of a Member speaking in more than one official language, shall not exceed three minutes, and that the Member shall speak at least thirty...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to report on the Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight’s Report of the Review of the Human Rights Commission 2005-2006 Annual Report.

The Standing Committee on Accountability and Oversight met on February 14, 2007, to review the 2005-2006 Annual Report of the NWT Human Rights Commission. The committee would like to thank Ms. Mary Pat Short, chair of the Human Rights Commission, and Ms. Thérèse Boullard, director of human rights, for appearing before us.

The 2005-2006 annual report does not include any recommendations, however, the committee...

Mr. Speaker, there was consternation across the land in the last few months with cuts to many front-line social service organizations, Mr. Speaker. Especially of concern here in the North were cuts to those agencies involved in literacy and volunteerism. Mr. Speaker, this government chose to do some backfilling there and they’re to be complimented for that. But it is intolerable, unacceptable, that this should be a download from Ottawa onto the provinces and the territories. Mr. Speaker, has the Minister taken these cuts and our objection to them directly to Ottawa to ask for the federal...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions this afternoon are for Mr. Roland, the Minister of Finance. It concerns the upcoming federal budget. Mr. Speaker, I would like to see if the Minister went to bat for tourism operators in the Northwest Territories who potentially face a major increase in the cost of their product sold overseas, because the Conservative government wants to apply the 6 percent GST to those packages, something that’s never been done before and creates an enormous barrier to these tourism operators. Did the Minister relay, on behalf of our tourism operators, objection to this...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, Mr. Lafferty. What we heard - committee's general comments to the report, Mr. Speaker.

The focus of our second annual pre-budget consultations was the cost of living. The high cost of living was one of the concerns we heard about the most during our 2005 hearings. It includes the cost of essentials such as housing, food, childcare, electricity, and fuel.

The GNWT already spends about $128 million, or roughly 13 percent of its total budget, on subsidies to help reduce the cost of living, including public housing, income assistance, and fuel and power...

Mr. Speaker, good regulation means that we have to have good legislation to back it up. Is the Minister aware of anything that this Assembly should be considering to enable the highest possible standard of regulatory monitoring and control of this project, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you for the answer, Mr. Speaker. Where I would like to go with this is in getting some assurance that there is adequate jurisdiction on the various kinds of lands in the Northwest Territories -- federal, municipal, Commissioner’s lands, aboriginal lands -- and the regulatory framework that is assigned to each of them. Is there a comprehensive and a cohesive regulatory framework that will enable this project to be properly regulated as it goes through these various types of lands and has various types of impacts, Mr. Speaker?