Floyd Roland

We as a government have looked at our subsidy programs, and there are quite a number of them. When you look at the overall public housing package, the Territorial Power Support Program, the Seniors’ Fuel Subsidy, Income Support and some of these other investments, we haven’t had an updated review in comparison to other jurisdictions. We know that on a lot of fronts we do have a better program than quite a number of jurisdictions in Canada. But, again, we’d be willing to sit down with committee members to go through that and have a look at that initiative.

The area of energy is, as we hear in our communities, having a huge impact on the lives of individuals, holding people back from their potential. The cost of goods in our small stores in the communities is huge. I shared, for example, a trip to Paulatuk. One tomato in that Northern Store in Paulatuk was four dollars and some cents. I’m sure it would be similar in Lutselk’e. We see it, for example, when the ice crossings go out. The stores automatically bump up their prices, because the transportation costs are there.

One of the things we’re doing, that is ongoing, is, for example, the...

I give notice that on Monday, May 26, 2008, I will move that Bill 9, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 4, 2007–2008, be read for the first time.

Let’s go back a little bit. When we first got elected, we sat down. I went to committee and said, Here’s the fiscal picture that we’re looking at; we’re going to need to reduce. I gave a target to Members, and based on that, we made the announcement.

Now, I heard from a lot of Members say that if there’s going to be an impact, you need to limit it on employees. If there’s going to be an impact, notify them early. In fact, the UNW.... I had meetings with the president, and he said that if there’s going to be impact, let the people know early.

We did make a mistake in the sense of the timing. The...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Monday, May 26, 2008, I will move the following motion.

Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Tabled Document 37-16(2), Main Estimates 2008–2009, Volumes 1 and 2, be referred to Committee of the Whole for consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I’m well aware the Member has serious concerns with process — that’s for the record. I’ve heard him a number of times saying that this government has done things differently from what was done in the past. I’ve been a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories for 12 years — as a Regular Member, as a Minister and in this present position. Our process we followed to build the budget has been the same process followed by other governments when it’s come about after an election year.

The thing we did differently this time is that we didn’t wait a whole year to try...

Mr. Speaker, as we’ve heard — and we’ve heard from a number of sources — this is a concern. The Minister of Human Resources has been working on the files to try to bring some clarity to it. We’ve had our discussions. We will continue to have those to look at some of that interpretation — the rules.

What we’ve come down to is, if we decide as a government — like the staff retention policy — a policy in place can be amended. And if we feel we should use our discretion to say…. Why not direct appoint some of these individuals into places where they do fit? We’re not going to take people who, as...

Through the Reducing the Cost of Living initiative we’ve discussed as Members of the Assembly — and Ms. Lee will be the lead on that file — we’re looking at a number of factors. Other things we’ve heard of, for example, are directives that are supposed to help the high-cost communities with a Food Mail Program that is there by the federal government. We need to look at that to see how it’s working. I’ve heard from a number of people and businesses who say it’s not working as it was designed to. We need to look at that to see if there’s a real, true impact on communities. It’s supposed to help...

Mr. Speaker, I know early on that notifications went out to potentially affected employees and that there were some issues about the retirement options. I’ve even heard of an example up in my community. I would say, through that process, that we should be willing to look at that. We should be flexible enough in our environment to do that. I think, as we proceed with this and have further discussion, that is being considered at this point. We have tools — for example, direct appointments. If we have somebody who wants to retire and they have somebody who’s in line with them — they’re ready to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are a number of initiatives we can undertake and are planning to undertake in the area of energy — the cost of energy and fuel costs in the Northwest Territories. We have some existing programs in place; for example, the Territorial Power Support Program. The Member is accurate when he talks about the increased costs. We have to keep growing that fund through our forced-growth initiatives. The price of oil going up as it is, as fast as it is, continues to have an impact on us. As we’re all aware, the Power Corporation has just got its last rate application...