Statements in Debates
I do appreciate the response and the work of the Minister. In an article that I'm going to table later today in the House it talks about how our territorial government, along with some provincial governments, caved in on the issue of the new healthcare agreement. As I understand it, the offer that was on the table in December was better than what we signed off for in January. So can the Minister responsible for the future of healthcare funding tell us why we signed this deal that offers us less money and will contribute very little towards our long-term care needs?
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the response from the Minister, but I'm just not sure how he can commit to bringing forward legislation while he's cutting the budget for it. I will just leave it at that for that one.
I have a further question under the expenditure category. I see where contract services is once again, last year, not all of the money was spent, and this year, there's a reduction in that. Can the Minister or his staff explain what's going on with the money allocated for contract services? Now, I presume that some of this might be used to help bring forward some of the legislation...
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I want to congratulate the Minister for doing that. That's something I raised in the last review of the main estimates during the business plans as well. The need to make sure that the organizational chart actually reflects a concrete effort at economic diversification, because we've got these big stuff and big sections in here for mining and oil and gas but nothing really concrete on the economic diversification side. So congratulations to the new leadership in the department. Thank you.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to my colleagues. Cabinet seems to be able to find money for its priorities, but when we will get serious about our social infrastructure deficit? Later today I'll have questions for the Minister of Health. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. I have some questions about the organizational charts on 190-191. Is this the appropriate time to talk about those, or will they come at the end when we look at the departmental total? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thanks, Mr. Chair. So as I understand it then there's no new money in this budget for anything that might come out of the agricultural policy; is that the case? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thanks, Mr. Chair, and I appreciate the answer. I just have one other question on 156, if I may. It says regulatory revenue, and then there's professional licence fees and environmental health fees and vital statistics fees. What's our sort of regular cycle for reviewing these and whether there should be any sort of increases even to keep pace with inflation? Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the comments from the Minister, but if we do not continue to provide support for the industry, I do not think it will continue to grow. I do want to move on, if I could. I think it is 204, the active positions page. Is that something I can do at this point, Mr. Chair? Yes.
As I understand it, there are two positions that are going to be lost in the department as a result of this budget. The only two positions seem to be in economic diversification and business support. Can the Minister explain to me how this supports our mandate of economic diversification...
Thank you. I appreciate the clarification from the departmental staff. Does this represent good value for money? Are we going to just rely on SEED to do this, or are we going to invest some of our own money in this as well? More directly, Mr. Chair, can the Minister answer that? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am looking at a figure of $100,000, but if the Minister wants to bump it up to $160,000, I would be very happy with that. Is he proposing an increase? Thank you, Mr. Chair.