Kevin O'Reilly

Frame Lake

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 25)

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Any complaints or issues from NWTAC with the reduced funding level? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 25)

Thanks. I look forward to getting the list. That is all I have. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 25)

Thanks, Mr. Chair. In the Minister’s opening remarks, he mentions that there is an increase in funding of $2.2 million for the NWT Housing Corporation. I am just trying to see, when I see the line here, NWT Housing Corporation, and I compare what the mains said in 2015-16 to 2016-17, that doesn’t really show a $2.2 million increase. In fact, it shows almost $3.5 million dollar decrease. Can the Minister or someone explain what is happening here? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 25)

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I know it’s not a big decrease, but it looks like there’s $10,000 less for contributions here. It looks like this money is going to NWTAC, LGANT, and Arctic Energy Alliance. The $10,000 reduction, is that any of those specific organizations? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 25)

Thanks, Mr. Chair. That might help cut this discussion short next time around. I had one other question about the $25 million hit that we took in 2014-15 for sites. Is there a list of what those liabilities are? Is Giant Mine amongst that list? Can the Minister and his staff provide a listing of the liability that we assumed in that year? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 25)

Thanks, Mr. Chair. That sounds like a good way of increasing the predictability. I was also hoping, though, that the department might be looking at other forms of taxation, like a capital asset or capital investment tax and so on to try to have a more stable source of revenue, but I think that’s a debate for another day. I have one other question about taxation. I was at a meeting recently with the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority, and people there raised the issue of a tax on sugary drinks and noted that, in Mexico, when such a tax was brought in, it reduced consumption by 15...

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 25)

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I don’t want to prolong this, so communities can use the funding that they get from MACA, which has incrementally increased, and that’s a good thing, and I know even in this budget, but they can use those funds to support their participation in water licensing and whatever? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 25)

Thanks, Mr. Chair. That is helpful. I notice in the notes over on page 160 that it talks about an Environmental Liability Fund. Further down, there is a Liquor Revolving Fund. There is a report on that. It is $26 million. Should there be a page for this Environmental Liability Fund so that we could understand what our liabilities are? How we are paying them off, so to speak, by paying money to remediate sites? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 25)

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Even though the property is not in production, they still have all their assets there, the valuation of the assets have changed because they’re not in production? I understood that property taxes were assessed based on your assets on the ground, not whether the facility is operating or not. Could I just ask whether that assumption is correct? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Debates of , 18th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 25)

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I notice that there is a contribution that took place in 2014-15, Management of drinking water in the NWT for $50,000, but there’s no further funding provided for that purpose. Was that money that we received from another order of government, or are we continuing to support the function in some other way? Thanks, Mr. Chair.