Henry Zoe

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, although we agreed to schedules 1 and 2 of the bill, the total amounts have not been indicated. Therefore, I would just like to, for the record, indicate the total amount of assets being written off, schedule 1, $165,000 and when we get to clause 3, I will do the same for the debts written off.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in our vision for the 15th Legislative Assembly, we talk about people making productive lifestyle choices for themselves and their families and elders being supported by their community. The Government of the Northwest Territories has also included these goals in the strategic plan. Productive lifestyle choices and employment opportunities are nice words, Mr. Speaker, but these things are not going to happen if the system continues to discourage people from working.

Mr. Speaker, I want to give you a little example here. I am aware of an elderly couple in...

Again, for the record, Mr. Chairman, schedule 2 debts written off, the total was $411,096.10. Mr. Chairman, the combined total for the bill has been noted by the chair of AOC. The total was $576,096.10, as he reported in his opening remarks. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I realize that these are debts being written off from previous years. Nevertheless, just to follow up on my colleague from Nahendeh, when the department knows that the cultural organization hasn’t accounted for the previous year, I understand that in the new fiscal year they can ask for another grant and it could be done in a certain manner. If they could get some sort of funding in advance for the first quarter, to get their second quarter they should be able to provide accounting for the previous year so that it’s not a backlog. They should be reporting...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is good to see you and our colleagues here again. As others have said, Mr. Speaker, we do have a lot of work in front of us during this 15th Assembly. Mr. Speaker, I want to ensure my constituents and this House that I will be working diligently for them from this side of the House to keep our government accountable and to make sure they are fiscally responsible without cutting our core programs and services that are important to the Tlicho people and our communities across the Northwest Territories.

There are many important issues for the Tlicho...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am here on the prerogative of the House. This unfortunate incident has caused me a lot of difficulty, as you know by what happened all last week. I did make a commitment when I was first elected that I would do the best of my abilities to uphold office of Cabinet, and also to do the best I could in terms of the portfolio that was assigned to me. I indicated at that time, it didn’t matter which department I was given.

To my colleagues here, I appreciate Mr. McLeod. He doesn’t know the circumstances of what has happened, but I did, as Mr. McLeod indicated...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I listened to the debate in the House yesterday, and I would like to address a number of issues raised by Members. First of all, questions were raised about my attitude towards this matter in the House yesterday. I want to assure all Members that I consider this matter very serious. I would like to once again, Mr. Speaker, offer my sincere apology to the staff and members of the Royal Canadian Legion, and to any other people that I may have offended by my conduct on May 15th. I have also considered the concerns and questions raised by Members in...

Mr. Speaker, I have already provided all Members of the assembly the five-year capital activity plan that we outlined and developed with the Department of Transportation. All Members have that in their briefing book that I provided earlier, but I can assure the Member that for 2005-06, if we do have additional funding, I will try to convince my colleagues to see if we can enhance that particular program.

Mr. Speaker, on that particular infrastructure funding the Member made statements on, it pertains to various municipal infrastructure, and I will take it under advisement and get back to the Member in terms of whether the dust component falls under this particular program.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize the president of the Royal Canadian Legion, Yellowknife branch, Mr. Lloyd Lush.

---Applause