Government’s failure to listen to the public has slowed the process tremendously and caused expensive and repeated re-workings of policy that never got implemented. The people on the land suffer the consequences, and we know it is expensive as well. There is an opportunity to do better, and I know this Minister has good intentions. It will require full participation of my colleagues and the public to achieve that.

Mr. Speaker, I will have questions. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is the second of several very costly events. We’ve still to deal with the third one, the Mackenzie River water levels and what that’s costing us. But this is the third event that is completely consistent and in line with the impacts and consequences of climate change. In the space of a few minutes here we’ve been discussing now $67,411 million. Sorry, it’s a little bit more than that. Twenty million, it’s actually more than $20 million. These are very serious numbers that we’ll be looking at today and in the future.

When we talk about a reduced cushion of $92 million...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, at the end of the three years, would we be going out for a competition on this contract?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I guess, am I correct in hearing in that answer that this will not be put out for competition in the future?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Am I right in believing that this is an extension of a past, I believe, three-year contract, and if so, was that provided for in the original contract and when would this go out for RFP for competition to see if we could reduce this cost?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’m wondering what incremental cost actually refers to on the implementation of the three-year Education Renewal and Innovation Action Plan.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. I’m hearing something different than I heard recently, that we don’t have an inventory and we can’t afford to make one, and that we have some indication of what’s legal, and that’s upwards of a couple hundred of unauthorized land users.

The Minister has indicated the mechanism for members of the public to report suspected squatters when they come across them in their travels across our commons is a worthwhile action, in my communications with the Minister. Such a simple instrument of capturing public capacity should be operational today in order...

I appreciate the Minister’s commitment there. Devolution certainly gave control of most of the lands of the NWT to the territorial government, but control is more than writing regulations – they sound good on paper, obviously – it is also having the ability and the will the Minister has expressed to enforce them. Unenforced regulations might as well not exist, as we’ve learned from our federal management experience.

What resources, money and people does the Minister plan to put into addressing the burgeoning enforcement issue in relation to these new regulations? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is also my pleasure to welcome certainly all of the Culture and Heritage Award recipients to the House, a very distinguished bunch of Northerners.

I’d like to in particular recognize a few people today: Weledeh constituent Pat Braden, and also Nicole Garbutt and her parents, John and Patti Garbutt of Weledeh.

I’d also like to recognize Janelle Nitsiza, who gave some very passionate words in response to her award today that touched many people, I know. I would like to recognize, in particular, her family who was there in support. Again, in particular, her grandmother...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to focus in, as well, on the rather extraordinary request for an additional $40 million this fiscal year, tens of millions of dollars the following fiscal year to be brought forward in our capital budget. We have already heard about unexpected expenditures of $50 million and $20 million. That’s $70 million. Possibly it’s more than that in our operating supp here today. Now we are pushing this $210 million, $230 million in unexpected expenditures at this moment in time and with the schedule proposed.

I ask myself two questions. The first is: Is this a prudent...