Floyd Roland

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the first thing we need to do is to calculate the total losses of the situation we’re in right now. Again, a fair bit depends on what the receiver can come together with in the sense of another deal. Once we have those numbers and things proceed, we will be able to calculate the total amount that we will have to come forward to this House and seek approval for. That would come through a supplementary appropriation, as we have not booked that within our budget at this time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the program, as it’s laid out, is based on Yellowknife rates, so those that receive the subsidy would be paying higher than the Yellowknife rate and that is the program and we’ll stay on that. The changes in dealing with the rate rider will work on the same principle. If we find, for example, the Yellowknife base rate goes up, then so will everybody else’s rate go up accordingly, because Yellowknife, again, is used as the base rate and if it goes up then the subsidy will kick in from that rate up. So the rest of the residents of the North will feel, if...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the amount we’ve identified here for going forward with this budget that’s before Members, $174,000 for travel includes, for example, superintendent’s travel to headquarters for the meetings that are required. As well, there is a new human resource assistant deputy minister and the traveling for the staff directly involved in that process. So we know there’s going to be that requirement and that’s why you don’t see the corresponding 25 percent reduction process, because we’ve added further responsibilities to this that were not there before and that’s...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, first of all, for the record, let's state that the accounting that took place of the loss as required by the Financial Administration Act was done so according to the Financial Administration Act, and through that supplementary document showed the loss as we have to account for it. So it was public, it was transparent. Just a portion of that was paid from within an appropriation amount we had within FMBS.

The other area; what we’re going to conclude here is the waivers to ensure that the receiver can go out now and make contact with other interested...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The review that’s ongoing is one that we’re doing from within FMBS. It’s ongoing now. At this time I’m not anticipating that we would change the work that’s going to include other work. What I did state was if Members of this Assembly felt that it was an area that we need to address and make that recommendation, then we would definitely look at that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We can get that information for the Members. Again, the way it was budgeted for has changed since the actuals to the 2004-05 mains is what we built in for the year we’re in and we’re about the same as what we are planning for, expenditure wise, for this budget exercise here. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I believe this exercise we’re doing is about making sure that we’re doing the job right. That’s the first stage we were involved in, in a sense, is getting the mechanics right. Making sure that the organization, the design job descriptions are fitting and able to work well. Then as we go through that and develop that, the second phase of that would be the policy end, how things need to work together and get that end together. That’s definitely where we’re going to be needing the input of Members, to ensure that we’re on the right footing as we go forward.

I believe that...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, as the program is laid out now, anybody who has a household that is paying higher than the Yellowknife base rate, as we call it, would qualify for a subsidy. So elders, if they have their own home and their rate is higher than the Yellowknife rate would qualify for subsidy. If there are other problems around income and not being able to afford that, then we have some other programs within government that could be looked into. But specifically in this area as it would apply today, elders would be a part of the package when you look at the existing...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the difference the Member is speaking to is that in that year the budgeting was done to support the self-government process that we were involved with from the department, and it has changed since then. The demand for us to be at all the tables, and we found that the travel portion of it wasn’t required at that amount and it’s also accounted somewhat differently. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I agree with what the Member stated around the area of our technology and the enhancements and changes that have come as a result of that. At one time, when computers first came out, there was much discussion about how they would make our lives much easier. We haven’t found that to be the case. There are continuing changes and programs and platforms that we must adapt to and make necessary changes. As a government, we’re working and trying to stay updated on those things. For example, government-wide, we spend approximately $5 million a year in the area of...