Floyd Roland

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the fact is, as a representative government, I can’t defend what previous governments did or did not do. The fact is that when Ministers bring forward a request for direct appointment, it’s tied to some of our other initiatives. For example, when we talk about graduates from our Nursing Program, our Social Work Program, as well as some of the teachers, and as well the internship program that we have of people who’ve gone to school, receive some training in their area and have worked within the department for a year or so, we’ve used that tool as an avenue...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are a number of issues that would come up just sitting here thinking about it. So instead of getting into that detail in this forum and possibly making some errors in the response, what I would suggest is that I know there’s been ongoing discussions and we’ve had some meetings in the past, I will direct people from within our payroll systems to meet with the agency and try to come up with something that’s appropriate. Part of it could be, as I said, simply a matter of knowing in advance who is going to be working for what time period and that would...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the way our tax system works, all corporations in the Northwest Territories are eligible for the small business tax rate up to $300,000. In this case, now up to $400,000. So we’d have to provide information on all corporations in the Northwest Territories, not just those that had less income and only qualified for the small tax rate. We could maybe sit down with the Member and try to get more specific to what questions or answers she’d like to see in that area instead of providing a whole slew of information that might not be too useful. I’ll gladly sit...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the problem arises when we have an individual or, in this case, elders who would come to work for a school board or an agency and they would only come as and when, once every few weeks, once a month or maybe even less than that, depending on what information they were going to provide. That is a difficult portion because our systems right now, as we run our payroll system, do not adequately address that. That is an issue. We have been trying to work with Education around this area to accommodate the request. Part of the problem, as we work our system...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the area of finance, every year when we prepare our business plans we look at our options, all our tax rates, whether in fact the requirement for spending by this Assembly drives up the requirement for more cash, we would look at revenue opportunities as well as our competitive situation in the sense of possibly reducing our tax situation. The small business rate we have in the Northwest Territories, in fact, when we look at other jurisdictions and we do a comparison, is one of the lowest in Canada. Alberta government is in fact lower than us, yes, but...

Mr. Speaker, energy costs are a concern to all of us. The Department of Public Works and Services has an opportunity to test a cheaper alternative energy source this coming year at the North Slave Correctional Centre.

Public Works and Services and the Department of Justice recently received a proposal from a Yellowknife-based company, Arctic Green Energy, to provide a wood pellet boiler system at the North Slave Correctional Centre.

Providing heat for buildings using wood pellet boilers has been common practice in Europe for decades, with systems reliably heating numerous facilities such as...

Mr. Speaker, one of the things we have to look at as a government when we put out for positions to have filled by residents of the Northwest Territories is the type of function and other parameters we have to work within in having people be successful in applications when they apply for that position. We can’t just set targets and say there’s a 20 percent requirement here, let’s fill it with persons with a disability, or that are from a different part of the territory, or aboriginal descent, 1922-ers or whatever we call, as well. The fact is, first and foremost, as we put out positions that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct in his quoting of the numbers of the amount of people who have counted themselves as disabled when they’ve applied for positions or have positions within the Government of the Northwest Territories. The numbers, in fact, since our tracking from 1991, are very similar throughout the years. They haven’t changed much. Part of the issue, Mr. Speaker, is the fact that when somebody applies for a position within the government, they have to identify if in fact they are disabled or not and some people who are working within the government...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the way our tax system works, all corporations in the Northwest Territories are eligible for the small business tax rate up to $300,000. In this case, now up to $400,000. So we’d have to provide information on all corporations in the Northwest Territories, not just those that had less income and only qualified for the small tax rate. We could maybe sit down with the Member and try to get more specific to what questions or answers she’d like to see in that area instead of providing a whole slew of information that might not be too useful. I’ll gladly sit...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when we start branching into the area of contracts, that brings a whole new set of rules on its own. Part of the issue is that we had to go down this path of going onto one payroll system is that departments, boards and agencies had too many different systems out there causing a lot of grief for those that would get payroll and then have some changes that needed to be made. We had to go back after the fact. I think there is an opportunity here. If we can work out an arrangement with the Tlicho agency on the timing of when individuals come in, if we had...