Floyd Roland

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the plan for reopening of the Samuel Hearne Secondary High School is for about the middle of December, but our goal is to have the classes back in operation in the high school after the Christmas break. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Friday, October 14, 2005, I will move that Bill 11, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 2, 2005-2006, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can’t take claim to the performance appraisals of deputy ministers. That falls in the hands of the Premier. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as we look at our budgeting exercise when departments come forward with requests for the amount of money they feel they will need to operate their programs and services, we look at issues of forced growth. We also look at the overall budget picture. We allow some of the requests to come forward and some we send back to say they have to look at it again to live within the fiscal environment we operate in. That’s one of the ways we do it. We specifically don't, as a budgeting exercise, require them to show us a savings, whether it’s Municipal and Community...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the area of human resources and how we deal with boards and agencies, and in this situation now with the Tlicho Government and the arrangement that they’re looking to make, is something that is not new to us. We have, on a number of occasions in the past as a government, tried to work with the boards out there that had hired staff outside the public service. That became an issue when we looked at our union agreements and how we operate as a government, and we had to make some changes in that area. So our hand has had to be changed in how we looked at...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it has been identified quite some time ago that with the reduction scenarios that the previous governments had gone through and reduced expenditures in certain areas, and the area of the Capital Replacement Program was one of those areas that took a hit. If we did not bring that capital back up, we would indeed find ourselves in problems. The particular facility in Inuvik as well as the other school in Inuvik have been on the capital plan for quite some time and have been bumped for a number of years. As we know, the planning is proceeding with a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If I understood the Member’s question properly, what are we going to do to get the maximum conservation out of our departments and staff? There’s a fair bit of work that’s already been undertaken, as I have said, work that’s been ongoing. Results are coming in, but we are pooling that work right now to make sure that we are aware of what all departments are up to in this area. As we gather this information, we will be better able to direct departments in areas that can see further savings to this government. As a government, we will and continue to work to make sure...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I stated as well in a previous response to the Member on this issue, the departments have already undergone some work to look at their own initiatives. One of the things we have done within Cabinet under the direction of the Premier is we started looking at what all departments are doing. We are pooling the resources to see what initiatives are being undertaken.

Some of the things we are already involved with, Mr. Speaker, are the EnerGuide program, furnace and boiler maintenance programs; as well, one of the issues we have been working on is thermal...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, once again, the Member initially started saying, “in his opinion,” but again he has clearly stated not just now about the Finance Minister but Cabinet has circumvented the rules. I believe that’s inaccurate. We have laid down the specific situation in this House to the public about the situation. There may be feelings of certain Members that they don’t like the result of what happened, that we’ve circumvented the rules, we have broken the rules that are in place, I don’t believe we have done that and I look forward to your decision on this. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am pleased to announce that the GNWT and the Northwest Territories Teachers' Association have negotiated and ratified a new three-year collective agreement.

This new agreement will improve the competitiveness of the GNWT in recruiting and retaining teachers and administrators, while also focusing attention on key issues such as aboriginal languages.

The new agreement will result in a restructuring of the teachers' pay grid over three years to provide more consistency. The minimum pay increase will be three percent. Additionally, employees with more experience and...