Bob Bromley

I appreciate the Minister’s commitment there. These are modest dollars, I’ll note right away. Although federal leases to property improvements on these lots are taxable land improvements relative to services provided, the tax revenues are a windfall to the GNWT. Once these leaseholders become territorial tenants surrounded by territorial lands, we can reasonably expect they will be seeking an increased degree of territorial services given the taxes they pay.

In preparation for devolution, has the Department of Transportation begun working with other departments such as MACA to consider the new...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Transportation. The Minister of Transportation is aware of the condition of roads leading to and from recreational properties along the Ingraham Trail. These leases have been in existence for almost three decades. The roads from the properties to the trail traverse federal Crown lands. In many cases the roads accessing these lots have fallen into disrepair. Since they aren’t an official part of the territorial road system, the GNWT doesn’t maintain them, at least not all of them. I realize this is a complicated situation of...

Mr. Speaker, the data I quoted was through early parts of this fiscal year. I certainly don’t see those figures. I only see figures for the Ministers’ travel, but I stand to be corrected. I would appreciate if the Minister could confirm that, by doing a little bit of research. The travel figures are a good start, but only report the expenses incurred by the Minister.

We know Ministers seldom travel alone. They are accompanied by their executive assistants, often by one or many department officials who wouldn’t normally be travelling without the Minister. Their costs should be included.

Will the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to welcome David Brock, a resident of Weledeh, to the House today.

Do we typically have staff lawyers? What would the component be that we have on staff?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Monday, November 5, 2012, I will move the following motion: I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that the Government of the Northwest Territories inform the federal government of our dissatisfaction both with the dismantling of the federal environmental protection regime and with the federal government’s failure to consult and inform this government on changes directly affecting our interests, the ensured integrity of our environment and the content of devolution negotiations that are currently underway;

And further, that the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks for the comments from the Minister. These leaseholders are a hardy bunch with a record of considerable work to maintain these access roads. Unfortunately, they lack the heavy duty equipment and volume of materials rarely needed but critical to replace, say, a culvert or deal with the consequences of major weather events.

Does the Minister think investing a few hours with a caterpillar or a few loads of gravel would go a long ways towards supporting our residents and preventing greater costs down the road?

I know that includes some exceptions to the general rule. For example, into Prelude East and so on that are clearly Crown land. The reality is here, however, territorial citizens and residents have cabins with long-term leases. After devolution we will adopt responsibility for these lands and land routes, bringing forward the issue of incorporating the roads into the official road system and beginning to maintain them. Obviously, a modicum of support now would go a long ways to avoiding further deterioration in roads we will inherit. Can the Minister tell us that he will begin dialogues with...

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Deputy Premier’s remarks there. They are right on. I appreciate that commitment. I am, indeed, interested in all MLAs’ travel but, once again, many things are left out frequently. For example, when the Minister travels, there are events hosted by the Minister and also, of course, when that happens, there are consultants there to help arrange those and so on.

Will the Premier commit to also looking at including all of those costs so that when we report Ministerial travel costs, we really do have the full costs? I ask this because constituents and the public are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the interests of transparency and accountability for the expense of major public dollars, I will ask the Deputy Premier questions on the significant cost of travel by elected officials and public servants.

Travel by Ministers alone in 2009-2010, in the first three months of 2012 totalled three-quarters of a million dollars. Quarterly reports are publicly available, which document the travel costs of Ministers, but we know that committee members also travel with Ministers. Whether these costs come from ministerial or committee budgets is all the same to the taxpayer...