Bob Bromley

Okay, so just so I’m understanding this, there are other expenses that are covered elsewhere for these two categories. Is that correct and how do we fund them?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just to follow up on that, the hospital care and medical care for status Indians and Inuit, a couple pieces of revenue there. Is that not the Non-Insured Health Benefits revenue contribution?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to start by noting that, of course, this motion is in response to the crystal clear and unanimous voices of our Aboriginal partners, who between them constitute the greater part of the residents in the Northwest Territories. It’s in response to the many residents who have similarly spoken clearly through groups like Alternatives North, the unions and Ecology North and as individual citizens. It is in response to the Chamber of Mines who have nervously, though perhaps belatedly, acknowledged that the regional boards are indeed working well.

We could put forward a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks again to the Minister. It sounds more and more positive. We know that our forestry officials are highly qualified, so I assume we will be applying best practices as we develop our forest management plans.

The logical next question is Forest Stewardship Council certification is now the best known standard for sustainable forest products.

Will our wood pellets be able to take advantage of the FSC certification as we market them both here in the NWT and abroad? Mahsi.

Thanks to the Minister. That sounds like a very interesting project. I’d love to hear another announcement before the end of this session as we had yesterday with the Fort Providence people.

Some people are wondering how a pellet mill will compete with pellet mills in BC and Alberta that seem to have cheaper power, cheaper labour and practically free access to sawdust from onsite lumber mills. So, basically if we’re going to export wood pellets – and that’s basically what I’ve been hearing – what is our competitive advantage here? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize Bob Wilson, a long-standing member of the Weledeh riding. Welcome to the House. I’d also like to recognize a couple of hardworking Pages, Linnea Stephenson and Harvey Fells, and thanks to all of the Pages that are serving us here today.

That’s all I have. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks. I’m willing to accept an estimate. We certainly know what the department has increased each year; it’s reported in these big thick documents. So just apply that and compare that to the 2.2 percent with it. That would be good to know.

It’s something obviously we’ve been talking about for a long time. I know we were actively negotiating pushing in the 16th and I’d love to hear that we’re still getting serious with the federal government on this. Thank you.

I believe I heard that this represents 95 percent of the costs, these two figures added together, about $30 million of some costs and we pay the other 5 percent and perhaps that expense is listed in here somewhere. Maybe the Minister can give me a heads-up on where that shows up in our O and M on the other side of the equation here. But I’m assuming that there are other costs beyond these. How and where are they covered?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Okay, so it’s a different… It’s not related to Non-Insured Health Benefits, NIHB.

I know in the past we have been concerned because of transfers, I believe, for these expenses. I believe it’s an annual transfer that we receive and this department is up 8 percent this year and that’s not atypical, and that’s not atypical for hospital and medical care to go up at that rate in the Northwest Territories, yet the federal government only increased their contribution by 2 percent or 2.2 percent per year. This has been, obviously, a bone of contention. That’s a significant...