Kevin O'Reilly

Okay. Thanks, Mr. Chair. Can I get a commitment out of the Minister, then, to provide an update? I am looking at, I think, it's schedule 3 in the business plan, which does not seem to be correct anymore. This is from the Department of Finance website. Can I get a commitment out of the Minister, then, to provide a corrected version of this, where the reductions are shown and the proper categories, according to the reorganization of the department? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. So where are these 69 people actually going to be housed, which building? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank the Premier for that information. All MLAs received a copy of the submission from Alternatives North on the latest draft of the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework. Can the Premier confirm what other submissions have been received and how he intends to share them with MLAs and the general public while incorporating that input into the final speaker?

Thanks, Mr. Chair. That was my understanding, that there haven't actually been any signed during the life of the 18th Assembly. You can see it even on page 85 of the main estimates, where water partnerships and agreements has a $200,000 reduction between 2018-2019 and those proposed for 2019-2020. Even if you go back further in time, the budget was higher. Are these progressive cuts over time affecting our capability and capacity in terms of negotiating and signing these arrangements and implementing them? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. If I recall correctly, the last time there was a discussion about this, it was about changing the regulations that defined how the money in the Heritage Fund can be invested to make it so that the fund might actually start to earn money instead of losing money by having some perhaps more liberal investment policies around it. That is what we were told. Now, all of a sudden, I find out that the management is going to get contracted out. How do we go from changing regulations about the investment of the fund to contracting out its management without a Regular MLA, standing...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Well, I don't want to get into a debate with the Minister about the capability of his staff. I believe we have already settled that, that we agree that they work hard, they do good work. The problem is that they don't have the resources that are necessary to deliver on the mandate, and part of that mandate is to provide sound evidence for evidence-based decision making. If you cut contracted services, and that means outside expertise to help you deliver good technical advice to boards, it's not going to happen. In any event, I have one other question here. There is another...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. In the main estimates, on 149 is the number of active positions, and it only increases by eight people between the two years. Is this where this integrated shared services systems unit or whatever it's called, ISSS, is being moved into? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. On December 20, 2016, the Prime Minister announced that a new Arctic Policy Framework would be co-developed in collaboration with Indigenous, territorial, and provincial partners to replace the 2010 statement on Canada's Arctic Foreign Policy. The framework is also to be informed by Mary Simon's report from the Shared Arctic Leadership Model Engagement. Our Premier sent out the latest draft of what is now known as the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework to selected stakeholders with a request for comments by February 28th. I commend the Premier for continuing to...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the Minister's words, but the facts show that this department is not delivering on the mandate items that it was tasked with doing, only five of 25 completed. I think we are seeing the results of the continuing cuts with the lack of progress on this work. That is all I have, Mr. Chair. Thank you.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am trying to reconcile contracting out the management of our Heritage Fund with the mandate commitment that talks about stronger public governance. How is contracting out the management to a third party going to meet this mandate commitment of stronger public governance? Thanks, Mr. Chair.