Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. But surely to goodness we have some sort of sense of whether this is a good thing or not before we have to go and consult with everybody. But I know that the time decision's up to the Minister of Northern Affairs. You know, geographic scope and name for this initiative are probably still up for grabs but hopefully we can avoid the colonial and racist term "slave."

Can the Minister tell us whether GNWT's taken a position on the name and geographic scope of a regional study? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Madam Chair. This is something I already do as a Member, and I'm just trying to weigh whether this is something we want to put into the rules or not, in one way or another. But that's what I do already. Well, I guess given that I generally try to come down on the side of workers, I am going to support this. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. Of course the difficulty with the annual reporting requirements of the Public Land Act is that that act is not actually in force yet. So we're waiting for regulations. So is there a way in which this information on financial security held by our government can be made available even on an annual basis in advance of the Public Land Act coming into effect. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that information. And of course the reason why I raise this is our government, when we had the surface lease for the Giant Mine, we had zero dollars in financial security, zero dollars, which we actually we ended up on the hook for $26 million in an agreement with the federal government as our contribution because we had zero dollars for financial security on that property. Ptarmigan Mine, zero dollars for financial security for the surface. It's going to probably cost us more millions of dollars.

So can the Minister tell us when...

Against.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. I mentioned in my statement that inflation is expected to continue at record levels probably for the foreseeable future. I'm starting to get concerns from constituents about the impact of inflation on their quality of life, particularly those on fixed incomes.

Can the Minister tell us whether there will be increases to any NWT tax credits, increases to income support programs, or other measures to assist those NWT residents on fixed incomes as part of the budget 20232024? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

For.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I love when I get announcements in the House. It is good news, and I thank the Minister for that. But, however, I have been disappointed over the last six years at the lack of analysis and serious consideration of new revenues for the NWT.

Can the Minister tell us whether she will revise the revenue options paper with more recent numbers, especially in light of inflation and some of the factors that I had discussed in my Member's statement, and ensure it has a more balanced approach for these budget 20232024 consultations. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Madame le President. The committee wishes to consider Committee Report 3119(2) and Committee Report 3019(2). Mahsi.

Merci, Monsieur le President. In July 2021, the Minister of Finance was undertaking public budget consultations. I want to compliment the Minister for this important initiative, which has happened in each of the last three years. Despite urging from Regular MLAs, the last Minister did not do this.

For the 2021 budget consultation or dialogue, the Minister of Finance posted a revenue options discussion paper just the day before public engagements. I would certainly encourage that the discussion paper be refreshed, with a more balanced approach to taxation, and be released well in advance of any...