Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up on questions from my colleague for the Deh Cho last Friday, on the cost on agriculture. The cost of transportation is a major part of nutritious food costs in our communities. By cutting transportation costs, we cut a big and an unnecessary element of the cost. Local food production is clearly the answer.

My question for the Minister of ITI is: Given the community gardens and programs for commercial agriculture expansion and start-up are helpful beginnings, what are the Minister’s immediate plans for building on this success, putting needed...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I’d like to follow up where I left off with the Minister’s Forum on Addictions and hark back to my original point at the same time. The Minister invited Members to nominate people to this forum and we were pleased to do so. That work has been on the go for some months now, and this new money was just identified in the last few days. I’m asking the Minister is this, sort of sleight of hand or fancy footwork, in fact eroding any tentative sense of trust that might have been developing between Cabinet and committee?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, rise with great respect and honour to recognize a couple of outstanding Weledeh constituents. First, of course, is Marie Wilson, who is here representing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and all the wonderful work they do. Kudos to them. I’d also like to recognize, of course, Anthony Whitford, who you yourself have outlined his many credentials. Both Weledeh constituents outstanding in their public contributions.

I guess my question still stands there. I’m trying to figure out if we’re trying to reinvent the wheel or building on the costly work we’ve already done.

Thank you. What was their funding for this program in the past?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess my point is that it seems very inefficient to decide on priorities and start programs and expenditures and then drop them so that the next budget review you have to have the hassle of a battle to get dollars reinstated there, and they’re termed new dollars instead of existing dollars simply because they decided to drop it. So I guess I’m questioning the process here and suggesting it’s not helpful.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I respect your wishes there. Unfortunately, the Minister of ECE spoke the opposite of what the Minister of Finance said, but as this is the Minister of Finance’s budget, I will trust that he will work to ensure that that process is fulfilled through all our discussions on these new and re-profiled dollars and leave it at that.

Thank you, Madam Chair. My first question on the Healthy Families program, I see a healthy amount is budgeted for an expansion of the Healthy Families program. I believe late in the 16th Assembly, the commitment was made to expand the Healthy Families program every year and I assume that that was on the schedule to be expanded again this year. I’m happy to see that, but I’m wondering why we’re pulling this from new dollars when I think that was a plan to do it within the budget and these new dollars were to actually expand what was intended in the budget.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just continuing on from where we left off there, my point stands. As the Minister of ECE said, these new dollars are proposed for expenditure on items we were clearly assured during business plans would be addressed through existing dollars. How could we not do our inspections on day care centres? The Minister agreed and said that would be funded. The other one was the early childhood framework. We were well along on that. That was a work in progress. Obviously, there were dollars for that. Now, these new dollars we identified for new additive work in early childhood...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am very happy to see this money being submitted to the fund, contributed to the fund this year. I think the Minister would agree it’s a sort of token amount. We want to get started. Will the Minister be coming forward with a program of more significant contributions starting next year? Thank you.