Floyd Roland

Mr. Speaker, I believe that would be good advice. We talk about it as Members. We shared that, our fiscal strategy, the years of projections, what goes into our projections and using our relationships. For example, our first year of budgeting comes from numbers we know we had from the federal government. We build on that with estimates. So yes, I can't see why we can’t put that in place.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m working with the Department of Executive, pulling all the dates, times and all of the process that unfolded, looking at our legislation, looking at the process and looking at how we can tighten it up. That work is ongoing. I’ll have to get an update here within days, and I can get back to the Member as to when we hope to bring on our responses forward to committee. The work is ongoing.

We have to be clear on this. We’re also trying to relook at history here. There were all kinds of meetings, as we tabled in this House back to Members, about meetings, times, events...

Mr. Speaker, as we put this plan in place, we looked at a $135 million overall reduction. Seventy-five million dollars of that would need to be reinvested in our priorities. As we put this plan together, it clearly shows we've not met our targets, and in the fact the budget still grows. So it's pretty hard to put it into the reduction scenarios that the unions have been talking about, and that's our initial language as well. We're having to manage our growth and find some dollars from in the system to reinvest. Of course, those who are affected in the delivery of those programs, as well as...

The fact is that we are trying to go down that path. I’ve offered to Members a different approach to take to the budgeting exercise. As I said yesterday, I was told to get the budget done; be ready for May–June. We’ve done that. I’ve said to Members that would put us back into the same old way of doing business as the Government of the Northwest Territories. We’re in that, and that process has not changed. I would like to see a change going forward. As I proposed to Members, when we do these strategic initiative committees, the lead chairs and deputies would be going to committee on a more...

Mr. Speaker, I'll work with the Member on the next Budget Address. Oh, wait. I won't be doing another. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of Cabinet committees that are established that look at budgetary issues, legislation, policy. There is no joint committee process. There are a number of areas we’ve worked with; for example, Members on the climate change piece have put that together. There has been the Mackenzie Gas Project joint committee. So those things we can be looking at to salvage.

There are some areas where, as we’re getting underway with the new way of doing our budgeting process, those strategic initiatives fit at this time. I’ve said to Members already that once we have that up and going...

Mr. Speaker, when we prepare our business plans and go to committees to get responses back — recommendations, input on how it’s being put together — in the end, when we sit down, Ministers, specifically, will have to explain the priorities and the criteria set. We’re continuing down that road in the sense of making sure they’re prepared and have the information and justification as to what happened.

The example the Member has used on chipsealing Highway No. 5, that’s not part of the Building Canada Fund; that’s a different fund that’s been in place for quite a number of years and was also in...

We are open to looking at ways where we can mitigate the impact of the cost of living in the Northwest Territories. What we do and the impact of what we do is something we have to look at.

The research we’ve done to date shows, in some of these cases, if you set up a structure that starts limiting the free market capability, we end up putting other pressure on ourselves. Jurisdictions have found that if you tighten up the market so much and regulate it as a government, you reduce that free market capability, and they go out and sell their product in other places where they do make their money...

I think the scientists are still looking for the missing link. The fact is, as we progress in our work, there is a process established. We are at one level in the sense of the first filter. Then we go to committee and put that on the table, and we react to the recommendations. There have been times when we’ve changed what we’ve presented based on committee recommendations and information. We’ll continue to do that.

This process, this Building Canada Fund, worked out of a number of other initiatives, and we’re still trying to get the final piece of that in place. Again we’re being told by the...

Mr. Speaker, I’ll have to redirect this to the Minister of Human Resources. He would have the most up-to-date information on this file. Thank you.