Floyd Roland

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, as a government we can tally up all the areas that we fund to deal with the impacts of drug and alcohol. It is, as the Member puts it, a crying shame that we have to spend as much money as we do to deal with the impacts of something like drugs and alcohol. It is a problem in the Northwest Territories. We do spend a lot of money. Just look at the fact that if we have to deal with just one child that has FASD, it’s a cost to the government throughout the life of that child that’s 100 percent preventable. We do, as I was stating earlier, take the...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, there are four active cutting and polishing facilities in the city of Yellowknife. Two of them are operated by the same shareholders. Two of the agreements that we are involved with have the same proponents to them, with quite a big difference. Number one, this deal goes ahead with no further loan guarantees attached. The previous operation that was involved when we began reviewing our involvement in this still has a loan guarantee in place. They are the same shareholders, but they are different agreements and we're operating on that basis to ensure...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, when you take in the total scope of where we went with Sirius Diamonds NWT, we had to incur a number of factors that add up to this, and this includes going through the interim receiver process and having them manage the facility to the point of sale where we've gone to the courts and are waiting for that 30-day period to come to a close, which will be in June. The total cost to us as the GNWT, we're looking at approximately $10.7 million, and then you throw against that the estimated proceeds from the sale of the assets and what we have there at $4.5...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we would be able to supply information to committee members with the breakdown of it. It's not just one number, there are a couple of factors thrown in there that make a difference for future years. There is an offset to that loss of future sales of diamonds that are marked with the polar bear trademark, as through this process we have entered into an agreement that would see the GNWT receiving a fee for each diamond that is solely under the polar bear trademark. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, with me I have the secretary to the FMB, Mr. Lew Voytilla.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am here to introduce Bill 2, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 4, 2004-2005. This bill requests authority for additional appropriations of $20.520 million for operations expenditures for departmental over-expenditures in the 2004-05 fiscal year.

The request is being made to comply with the authorization process for over-expenditure of appropriations as provided for in the Financial Administration Act. Details of the over-expenditures are as follows:

$620,000 for the Department of the Executive, Financial Management Board Secretariat, that represents the over...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I believe there were 22 or 23 employees; it's one of those numbers. Twenty-two were employed there and as the new owners have taken over, I don't have the latest information if they have added or changed any of that. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Weledeh, that Bill 10, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act, be read for the second time.

Madam Speaker, this bill amends provisions of the Income Tax Act to make them consistent with parallel provisions in the Income Tax Act (Canada) that relate to tuition and education credits, foreign tax credits, child tax benefits, deductions from tax and capital gains refunds for mutual fund corporations. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the receiver was Deloitte and Touche who does business in the North but does not have its operations here in the North, and their legal people that they used for some of this work, as well, are companies that are not headquartered here or stationed here. They do work in the North, but the majority, if not all this money, has gone to those companies that are outside the Territories.

As well, once you go to the courts and ask for a receiver and one is appointed, it is done. When we took this action, it was fairly new to us as the Government of the...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 2, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 4, 2004-2005, be read for the first time.