David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, also the Minister responsible for lottery revenues in the territory. I know my colleague was talking about winning a billion dollars or if he had a billion dollars, but…The questions I had for the Minister I just wanted to understand a little bit about the lottery revenues here in the Northwest Territories. As I understand it, Sport North controls the lottery booths that are here in Yellowknife. I’ve heard from many people in Yellowknife that access to these lottery booths, and it’s a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can understand that the decision is a federal appointment, but in the spirit of good faith between the federal government and our government, I would expect that they would at least have the courtesy to phone our Premier and find out what the political agenda is here and work with that. I'm wondering if the Premier can let us know how the appointment was made. Was it Minister Scott's call directly, or was the Secretary of State for Northern Development involved, and that happens to be our MP, in this decision? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It states quite clearly, “The chairperson of a board shall be appointed by the federal Minister from persons nominated by a majority of the members.” It would appear obvious that Minister Scott didn’t get a chance to read this act. Where was our Member of Parliament in all of this? Does she work for us, the constituents who elected her, or does she work for Minister Scott in DIAND? Certainly, these are questions that all northerners have, and they should ask Minister Scott and Ms. Blondin-Andrew next week when they are here. Thank you.

---Applause

Mr. Zoe.

Thank you, Madam Chairperson. If I could, maybe the Minister of Health and Social Services has those numbers, but I am wondering what the accumulated deficit up to March 31, 2004, in the amount of $1.289 million; what makes up that number and how do we arrive at that number? If the Minister is saying that most of that is accrued ambulance costs, then can the Minister of Health and Social Services or the Finance Minister break that number down for us? Thank you.

Clause 4.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Is this something that the department would anticipate occurring on an annual basis going forward, or is this just a one time thing? Thank you.

Mr. Zoe.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I wanted to make a few general comments on the Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 3 that’s before us this evening. The first one I would just like to make mention of is the size of it. It’s quite sizeable, over $16 million and I know the government is forced to expend some of this money, but it seems to be a rather large number to be dealing with, extraordinary funding for this. The one thing I really wanted to zero in on is the Dogrib Community Services Board and its operation. The fact that it’s been running and operating a deficit for the past five out of seven...

Clause 2.