Kevin O'Reilly

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Now that the clock has almost run out, I do have some bigger-picture concerns with the capital budget that I think have been articulated by some of my colleagues, as well. There's an overwhelming focus on roads again, and I understand that some of this is related to federal funding, but I notice, and I've said in the House, that our sister territory Nunavut has found ways to support public housing to a greater extent than we have through federal infrastructure funding. I'm concerned about the local government funding gap, the municipal funding gap, that we had identified...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I look forward to the Minister then finding a way to make that information public, whether he tables it in the House or posts it on the Department of Finance website. Those are my two suggestions.

I've heard some concerns from Regular MLAs, and I too have concerns about the amount of carry-overs. Can the Minister tell us: is there a percentage of the capital budget that really represents carry-overs or a dollar amount that would allow us to understand what the carry-overs are from previous years? Can the Minister provide that information? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I do have some general questions for the Minister, so I would like to start with whether there have been any calculations done to ensure that the capital budget fully complies with the fiscal responsibility policy. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Thanks to the Minister. I look forward to seeing this draft action plan.

The carbon tax plan released by the Minister in July does not contain any information or analysis of other scenarios or approaches, including the federal backstop. The federal government just announced how funds will be redistributed in jurisdictions that do not have a federally approved scheme. It is not clear to me whether our government has actually done any analysis on the federal backstop.

Can the Minister explain whether the work on an NWT carbon tax considered other scenarios, including...

Thanks to the Minister for that. I would be interested in seeing the written confirmation about how the feds have agreed to our approach.

The Minister released a plan for carbon tax in July. That approach would see large emitters getting all of the taxes back. It may involve some spending on greenhouse gas reduction measures, but while individuals, families, and small businesses will get some of the carbon tax back, the remaining amount is what will be used to subsidize GNWT investments into the Energy Strategy, including Taltson Hydro Expansion.

Can the Minister explain why large industrial...

I would like to thank the Minister for that information, but I don't think he really answered my question, which was whether we are going to complete this network of community-based victim services in all of the communities we have? It's my understanding, the victim services coordinators, they don't necessarily have access to funding to assist victims or to travel to victims to provide support for basic functions such as getting ready for court appearances. Expenditures seem to require approval of justice staff here, in Yellowknife, who don't seem to be available on a 24-7 basis. Can the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So maybe I'll start with: can the Minister or staff tell us what the federal amount is out of the $494,000? Or is that what it's going to cost our government? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le president. I have a couple of Aurora College students I want to recognize in the gallery. They are Frame Lake residents, Kyle MacPhee and Whitney Fisher. I also would like to recognize Mr. Andy Young. He is a resident of Yellowknife. He organized a successful fundraising hockey game that I got to play in on Saturday this past weekend. The game was for Eugene Roach and his family. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, it looks like there are a number of, perhaps, communications efforts, positions identified on this page in relation to cannabis implementation. Can the Minister or staff give us a summary on what this is all about? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Given that the Minister of Finance and Minister of Infrastructure are looking for an appropriation for 2018-2019, when is the specific work for, say, the Mount Gaudet access road supposed to start? Is the intention to start it in 2018-2019? Thanks, Mr. Chair.