Floyd Roland

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, that drop is related to the implementation of our cost of living tax credit. So that’s why you see a significant change there. It’s the increase that we have put in place through our first budget process and gets implemented now. As that implementation occurs, we see the drop in our personal income tax. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, we do have programs and staff who track, as Ms. Melhorn stated, new businesses as well as older businesses in a number of ways. Without knowing the specifics of what the Member is raising, it is difficult to respond in a very specific fashion. There are times when an older company in the Northwest Territories changes ownership or registers a different portion of a company and receives a new GSN number, as we call it; a government services number, I believe is the term. That could get some calls happening. Again, initially to inform people that they...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, that Bill 21, An Act to Amend the Public Service Act, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill amends the Public Service Act to provide for an appointment of staffing review officers who will hear appeals of appointments made by competition, and to authorize the enactment of regulations governing such appeals. Provisions pertaining to the present Staffing Appeals Committee are repealed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In the area of the corporate income tax, the changes that we see from the main estimates to the revised main estimates are mainly due to the way the federal government had done its estimations. It has changed the way it has done its estimations on a national basis for the corporate income tax. As a result of that, it has improved our position substantially. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I guess a bit of history is our goal to try to make sure this gets done and get a legislative proposal back to Cabinet for April 2006. As laid out in the information we supplied, we hope to have this next review phase completed by 2005 for further review. Some of the things we are aware of and know that there’s significant work for impacts to people in the Northwest Territories around this area and the terms of reference as we’re going forward doesn’t necessarily just deal with the issue of finances or dollars and cents, in a sense, of what we do. But...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Liquor Commission is in one community right now and there’s no intention of breaking that further out, beyond what level of service is provided to date. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I guess just for the record as laid out in the budget address in the attached document and information to that, we’re looking at 2007-08 as going up to the $295 million total debt that we would have in place. It’s our goal as we follow through this process and as Members have endorsed their fiscal responsibility policy, to approach the federal Finance department and work with them on dismantling the debt wall and remove that arbitrary figure of $300 million and deal with our fiscal situation as a percentage of our revenues as lined out in that fiscal...

Thank you, Madam Chair. It is the Liquor Act that involves the Liquor Licensing Board and the process there. So, yes, that will look at it as we go through this process. As well, the review that’s happening will do a comparison to other jurisdictions, the practices in those other jurisdictions. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, since changing over -- it’s only been two years since we’ve done this change -- we’ve already noted there are considerable changes. For example, if we had not made the change from our previous policy for 2003-04, we would have been paying approximately over $5 million for our insurance, and to date it would have been in the area…I’ll get Ms. Melhorn to get into the detail.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess the big thing we have to do and commit to is working with our partners, in a sense, the Department of Health and Social Services. Right now, they have the mandate for the health side of it, with the addiction side, addictions programming, and work with them and how we may enhance that communication going forward. We are prepared to sit down as a government to look at this and deal with that. There are a number of examples right now where Health and Social Services has been at the forefront when it comes to addictions awareness, the impacts of drinking while...