David Krutko

Premier Roland, would you like to respond?

I’d like to ask the Premier if he’ll be introducing any witnesses

We’ll take a short recess and come back and deal with the sessional statement.

The Committee of the Whole took a short recess.

I call the Committee of the Whole to order.

We have Minister’s Statement 1-16(2), Sessional Statement. What is the wish of the committee? Mrs. Groenewegen?

Mr. Speaker, I think as a legacy of this Legislature and of the Premier, we can even name it the “Roland Tax Bill.”

Laughter.

Mr. Speaker, I believe we do have to take a close look at this. If you look at the profits of these mega-companies such as Exxon Mobil, which announced a $40 billion profit, and you look at the diamond companies, which are making billions of dollars of profits a year, they’re taking diamonds and oil and gas out of the Northwest Territories but not leaving anything behind to the real residents who should be benefitting from those resources.

I think, as a government, we have to seriously take these industries up on this matter. I know, Mr. Speaker, during the argument for the pipeline, we had to...

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Premier if he has a system in place to notify affected MLAs if there are going to be any vacancies in their ridings by way of positions. Then we can be informed ahead of time, and we will be able to react to our constituents when they find out there are notices given or that positions are going to be removed from our constituencies.

In light of the area where I believe we do have to cut, I also recall that coming into the 13th Assembly, we had some 4,500 employees in the Government of the Northwest Territories, which included Nunavut. Now we have almost 6,000 employees in the Government of the Northwest Territories, which is almost double the number of people in the public service, yet there are 3,000 employees here in Yellowknife.

I would just like to make it clear to the Premier that we are still suffering in the communities because of what happened in the 13th Assembly. We’ve never been able to catch up with the number...

Mr. Speaker, my question is in response to the Premier’s answers to questions asked by Mr. Hawkins in regard to the reductions that are coming forward, and also reductions in positions, programs and services. I’d like to make it clear to the Premier, as a Member who represents small aboriginal communities that are lacking basic programs and services from this government because of vacant positions that haven’t been filled for years in and years out….Yet we are again going through the cuts when these communities haven’t recovered from the cuts of the 13th Assembly.

I think it’s important as a...

So, Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Premier if maybe he could bring forward the legislation that was drafted, I believe, in the 13th Assembly. I don’t recall the tax, but there was legislation put forth, developed, that was ready to come forward — by way of looking at this alternative in the 13th Assembly.

So I’d like to ask the Premier: would you consider bringing that back to the table and allowing the Members of this House to take a look at that as an option?