Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are following up on my Member’s statement directed to the Minister of ITI. When we were reviewing the budget for ITI a couple of weeks ago, the Minister promised to look into the policy requiring that commercial gardeners have at least one-sixth of an acre to be eligible for funding.

Given that only one commercial producer of these operating producers might actually meet this bar, is the Minister now able to explain the reasoning behind this policy? Mahsi.

I guess the obvious question is, to connect the two issues, will land designations be moved back and forth either to ensure that financial security is provided or not and will that mechanism tend to delay merging these two pieces of legislation? I’m hoping the Premier will tell me that, in fact, the review is meant to get these two pieces of legislation merged as quickly as possible, so we don’t have the confusing situation out there. Thank you.

There is a lot of enthusiasm for this in the Northwest Territories and I get messages and updates from constituents and others every week. With planting season starting now and wrapping up quickly, let’s get rid of barriers and make sure our programs readily support small-scale market gardens and the food security we want.

I will have questions for the Minister of ITI. Mahsi.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I’d say if there was any place we could be generating confusion, this could be it given that we now have two lands acts, once we have this in place, the NWT Lands Act and the Commissioner’s Lands Act. Not only that, but, as I understand it, this legislation, Commissioner’s lands, it reaches out to the Commissioner’s Lands Act, changes it to allow Commissioner’s land to be considered under this NWT Lands Act and vice-versa, it provides for Territorial lands to be considered and regulated under the Commissioner’s Lands Act. How or when this will be happening, I haven’t...

I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Frame Lake, that Motion 16-17(5) be amended by adding the following to the resolution portion of the motion: “AND FURTHERMORE, that should federal legislation be enacted as requested, the Board of Management of the Legislative Assembly propose a bill at the earliest opportunity to defer the election to a date within the month of October 2015 that maximizes coordination of concurrent elections and voter turnout.” Mahsi.

I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Frame Lake, that Motion 16-17(5) be amended by adding the following to the resolution portion of the motion: “AND FURTHERMORE, that should federal legislation be enacted as requested, the Board of Management of the Legislative Assembly propose a bill at the earliest opportunity to defer the election to a date within the month of October 2015 that maximizes coordination of concurrent elections and voter turnout.” Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do want to say that I respect this House and the voice of your authority.

As I was saying, almost all were very concerned about the lack of voice they had and the failure to give people their due in terms of consulting with the electorate.

The issue has come up far too suddenly for ordinary citizens to give it due consideration. We would ask the Assembly to delay or table a vote on this motion until sufficient time has passed for a reasonable public debate, if it is possible to do so.

Mr. Speaker, another voice: “This move is anti-democratic…”

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the first whereas mentioned in the motion, it’s noted that the federal Bill C-15 already provides flexibility on extending the Legislative Assembly’s length of term for the 18th and subsequent Legislative Assemblies and this is the crux of the matter. To avoid questions of ethics and avoid undemocratic stances, we as politicians should not be changing legislation that might provide benefits to ourselves, especially without clear direction from the electorate.

Yet this motion proposes that we circumvent normal public process and change both territorial and federal...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. I almost have no question left here.

Fresh produce is one of the largest contributors to the high cost of living, as I know the Minister is aware of in the North. We’ve got some very good people finding ways to make this happen and these are new ways.

Will the Minister commit to supporting the actual people and organizations that are, indeed, in place right now and making it happen and dealing with these disabling barriers in time for this season? Mahsi.

Thanks to the Minister. I will remind the Minister, it is planting season, believe it or not, as we speak. When he spoke on the 25th of February, the Minister said it is important we maximize any opportunity we have to get people involved with the agricultural sector here in the NWT.

Recognizing that new approaches and technology could substantially increase production from small, intensively farmed plots and especially given our modest markets, how does refusing to help people because their operations are too small help maximize opportunities for them? Mahsi.