Bill Braden

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Part of our work here requires that we make tough decisions. Along with that responsibility and expectation, Mr. Speaker, comes the essential, the absolutely essential need in this House that we also have tough consultations to help make those decisions good ones that we can all accept and can all work with.

Mr. Speaker, in the matter of the relocation, the government now says done deal to move the Territorial Treatment Centre from Yellowknife to Hay River. We were denied that essential, that very essential expectation of coming to us and talking to us and helping us...

Mr. Speaker, I have a written question for the Minister of Finance regarding the federal contributions to the NWT.

A number of potential new federal initiatives have been proposed for the NWT, such as gas tax revenue, Northern Strategy, infrastructure investment, for this fiscal year. Most if not all of these measures are contingent on the federal budget passing.

Could the Minister provide a detailed list of potential sources of new federal investments for the NWT this fiscal year?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and colleagues, for indulging my request. There is something that was brought to our attention earlier today that really demands a review and it should start today. My question is for the Minister of Finance, Mr. Speaker. It regards the message that we received this afternoon in his statement of a $36 million clawback from Ottawa as a result of a corporate tax change some five years ago. I am wondering on this one, Mr. Speaker, do we call 911? Do we call a forensic accountant? What is going on here? This is a considerable turnaround in our financial fortunes here...

Mr. Speaker, one of the aspects that have been brought to light about this potential move -- and this is not a slight at all against the good people of Hay River -- are certain levels of support and treatment and professional care that are not established in Hay River. Is this business plan going to address the needs that these children have for as full a spectrum as possible of care, and how is that going to be established? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Then if something has been learned, how, Mr. Speaker, has that been manifested in this lightning-quick decision to move the treatment centre without bringing, as my colleague yesterday, the Member for Kam Lake, Dave Ramsay, said, where is the business plan? How are we to know what is going to be the effect on workers and on staff and on families? If the government has learned something, we’re not seeing it here, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to welcome all the youngsters and their parents and teachers from Hay River and hope that Yellowknife’s hospitality stands up to the test. Like my colleague from Kam Lake, I’d like to recognize the president of the NWT Teachers’ Association, Amanda Mallon. Welcome.

---Applause

Mr. Speaker, I can appreciate the Minister is looking at the resources available and having a split service might not right now look feasible, but I would like to challenge the Minister on this one. Initially, we took a look at the requirements to renovate an old building and the option to put it into another one seemed the best way to go. I would really like to revisit the potential of establishing two centres, one where half the population can be served here in Yellowknife in the North Slave region and another at the potential new operation in Hay River. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, my questions, too, are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. The information that he provided earlier today indicated that about half of the residents of the TTC right now are from Yellowknife and perhaps the North Slave region, and half are from elsewhere in the NWT. That would seem to indicate that with Yellowknife as approximately half the population of the NWT, there is a local and a resident need it will be here and may continue to grow. Could the Minister, Mr. Speaker, give some indication of whether or not there is justification for establishing not only a home...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the information from the Minister. One of the questions that I received from a parent was to get some sense, Mr. Speaker, of where the residents at the TTC are from. We are trying to get a sense of what parts of the North are served by this facility in its present capacity. Could the Minister provide some sense, on a regional or territorial basis, where the residents are from who are now served by TTC? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up on messages and statements today about the proposal to relocate the Territorial Treatment Centre operated by Bosco Homes in Yellowknife, my questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Could the Minister update the Assembly on the status of the plan for the potential relocation of the TTC? Thank you.