Bob McLeod

Yes, I do, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the comments on the single window offices. As I said earlier, it is been a real benefit.

On devolution, we had a very hardworking team for the past two or three years and we will be showing our appreciation for our devolution workers, we are going to have a bit of an event before the end of the fiscal year to recognize their efforts and their hard work.

The Status of Women advisor, we will make sure that its importance is recognized and that it continues to be elevated. The biggest issue that we saw was the need for administrative support and for events and...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On my left I have Penny Ballantyne, secretary to Cabinet and deputy minister of the Executive. To my right I have Lisa Turner, manager of corporate services.

Yes, I do, Mr. Chair. I am pleased to present the 2014-2015 Main Estimates for the Department of Executive.

The proposed budget for the Department of Executive in 2014-15 is $11.563 million. This represents a reduction of $8.901 million, or 43 percent, from the department’s 2013-14 budget. The department’s staff complement will also be reduced from 71 to 66.

As Members know, the department has had responsibility for devolution negotiations and implementation planning, coordinating the efforts of participating departments and providing overall leadership and project management for this complex...

I certainly agree that this is an area that could benefit from additional funding. In 2013-14 we had 16 applications and 11 organizations received a grant from the NGO Stabilization Fund and for this fiscal year, the funding we had, we put into GSOs, but in future years we will look at putting it into NGO stabilization. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess I have the luxury of just choosing an answer to one of them. No. I will answer all of the points that the Member raised because they are all very important points.

On the matter of general service officers, we now have 18. If this budget is approved, we’ll have 18 of them. We found that we benefited significantly by having them very active in the community. Also, it has helped us with decentralization because we’ve had to go to communities, we’ve had to find office space, we’ve had to work with them on accommodations, so I think we found a winner in this program...

Mr. Speaker, I seek consent to waive Rule 69(2) and have Bill 14, Waters Act, moved into Committee of the Whole.

---Consent granted

Mr. Speaker, I seek consent to waive Rule 69(2) and have Bill 13, Devolution Measures Act, moved into Committee of the Whole.

---Consent granted

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Wednesday, March 5, 2014, I will move that Bill 15, Oil and Gas Operations Act; Bill 16, Northwest Territories Intergovernmental Agreement on Lands and Resources Management Act; and Bill 17, Northwest Territories Intergovernmental Agreement on Resource Revenue Sharing Agreement Act, be read for the first time.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Bill 14, Waters Act, be read for the second time.

This bill substantially mirrors the Northwest Territories Waters Act of Canada in accordance with the requirements of the Northwest Territories Lands and Resources Devolution Agreement.