Michael Miltenberger

The key issue with the Heritage Fund has been the political debates over the amount that goes into the Heritage Fund. We came forward with 5 percent. We’ve had the debate. Clearly, the money is not going to flow into our coffers where we’ll actually have the cash until 2015, but the critical decision as a government was what we are going to put in, as a Legislature, what we are going to agree to earmark to go into that Heritage Fund. If we would have waited until next year, then the 5 percent in the budget would have gone into the fund. So there was a need to have that political debate, even...

The activities that the Member talks about are set out, as he’s pointed out, in Section 31.1 of the Financial Administration Act. Under that act, as well, deputy ministers, under the delegation of authority of regulations, have been delegated authority by the FMB to transfer funds among activities. Departments are required to report to the Department of Finance detailed monthly reports of all budget adjustments and transfers affecting operations, expenditures and capital expenditure appropriations. This includes transfers between expenditure categories, such as compensation and benefits...

Yes, we will endeavor to have a document on the books within the timelines outlined by the Member. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, nobody has been led down the garden path. What we’ve had here in this House over the last few days is a very fundamental debate about what amount of money is going to be put into the Heritage Fund on a go-forward basis that will eventually be put into legislation. There was a critical first step and that’s what we’ve had.

We had listed in our budget address, in the budget, 5 percent, and if the House would have just concurred with that, 5 percent would be what would be driving us, as a government, on a go-forward basis in the Legislative Assembly. Now we have clarified that very...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I thank the Member for his comments on the Heritage Fund. We just remind the folks that are listening that this is what we do agree on. We agree on a Heritage Fund because we spent three years in the 16th Assembly putting a bill into place that would give us the legal authority and looking forward to the day that devolution would be upon us. We know we have to put money aside and the one figure that the Member didn’t say, and there were some folks that said it, more than one, and more than one community, that we shouldn’t put any aside, that we need it all today, but...

The government, of course, stands ready to work with the affected communities in the affected areas where there have been fires in the previous year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

ITI has put on, and will continue to put on, workshops to assist communities and interested individuals on the ins and outs of the morel mushroom harvest, both in terms of the actual harvesting and then looking to the secondary piece, which of course is marketing the product. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Given the common theme of many of the opening comments, it seems to me the issue of process would be a fine item for August’s Caucus agenda to spend at least one time going around on protocols and those types of things which are important. If we need to have that discussion, I think that would be the place collectively to do it and see where we end up. Of course, we can always learn from the processes as we work our way through them.

The issue of the traditional economy and the challenges, I appreciate the Member’s comments, and we are committed in many areas to try to...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’d like to thank the Member for his comments. I appreciate the comment that it’s not a bad budget, and then he woke up and realized that it was true, it was not a bad budget. I appreciate those comments. We do share the sense of success that we’re the only jurisdiction in the country that has worked out a renewable resource sharing agreement with Aboriginal governments where a share goes from the gross revenues of 25 percent.

The Member and I have had many discussions about how long it takes to move government and how long it takes to change things or get things added...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The fundamental question that keeps coming up, even though it’s in our consensus system, is the concern by some Members that somehow they don’t feel that this budget process is inclusive enough, that the budget doesn’t have clear and visible handprints of the Regular Members, when I would suggest to you that things like all day kindergarten was an initiative pushed by the Members, or on-the-land programs. If you want, I have a list on my desk upstairs of the things in this budget alone, let alone every other budget that we have reviewed, where we have tried to work...