Floyd Roland

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There may have been a way to impact on some of the prices during the initial phase of the transfer when the assets would still be GNWT assets; where there may be an option to get back into it if the company found that it was not feasible or if the working agreement was not honoured. In the particular case…(inaudible)…the transfer of the facilities has happened, an agreement was reached on that and followed through with. Once we’ve devolved ourselves of the assets, it is very limited in what we might be able to do in affecting the price. That would be much the same as...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I had stated earlier, with the work we are undertaking now to bring forward a document for Members to review, at that point I would take that into consideration. At the present time, I think we need to do the work we are. We understand there are problems and we’re working to try to improve on that, but I’d like to bring the next piece of the work to Members from that point, then look at what we might do or not do. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is work performed on behalf of others. It is a cost recovery item that we provide to departments and boards. It is something that we do get our money back for. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the intention is to go through the whole affirmative action policy and address all the categories that we have, as well as the policy overall which we, as government, deal with. It has been one, ever since its inception, that has been tagged with some problems. The goal again is to try to have a representative workforce within the Northwest Territories and as we have moved forward, we have begun to review it. There have been a number of reviews, but we feel at this time that we should be able to bring something before the Members of this Assembly...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, what the Member has stated is correct. Once an operation has been privatized and it’s a private market, that is private business that is operating it, we have no ability to influence the price. The only thing that can then influence, and the Member has hit on it a bit here, is competition from another company. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the committee that the Member just spoke about hasn’t been in operation for quite some time now. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That is our estimate. It could be a little bit better than that, but that is the estimate that we have at this point. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in this second year, or second budget as Members of the 15th Assembly, even though the fiscal picture is somewhat turning around, we still have to manage the government in a way that would see us operating more efficiently with what resources we do have. We are not out of the woods yet, as they say; there is no guarantee that things won’t change as quick as they have changed in the last six months.

When we put this plan together, our fiscal picture was still the same, even after the fall meeting with Members. The picture didn’t change until late in that...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, again, once the project has been approved through the Assembly and the dollars are approved, the sponsored department -- in this case it would be Municipal and Community Affairs -- would look at the work. If they had the expertise and decided to follow through with their own process, we would have very limited involvement. They could call us in if they wanted to get some specific areas of information from us or they could call us in to manage the project, as well. So there are a number of different ways that can flow. But I guess I can commit to the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is referring to, I believe, the staff retention policy that we have as a government. When a term position comes up, it usually means that that job is no longer there for an employee or else there is a returning employee coming back to that position. We do, through staff retention, put affected employees on a list and when openings do come available, they would be slotted in, according to their work history and background, to see if in fact they could be fitted into a position that would become available to them. Thank you.