Michael Miltenberger

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Monfwi, that Bill 11, Financial Administration and Public Agency Statutes (Borrowing Provisions) Amendment Act, be read for the second time.

This bill amends the Financial Administration Act as well as statutes respecting five public agencies to enhance Financial Management Board oversight of activities of the government and public agencies that constitute borrowing for the purposes of the Northwest Territories borrowing limit regulations made under the Northwest Territories Act.

The savings issue would be, I believe, addressed through the cost avoidance of the inefficiencies we’ve just talked about and the better use of our manpower that we’ve discussed would be some of the key areas where you can equate the two, I believe. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document, entitled “Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2013-2014.” Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. These offices will provide a location in those communities listed for the site of the financial shared services where, as we’ve laid out to committee and we got committee support to bring these services together, so that we could hopefully be more coordinated and effective as a government. On the financial management side and the very many services that had previously been dispersed out among various departments, now we’ve taken a step starting with Inuvik and moving on to these other communities to integrate those services. I’ll ask, Mr. Chairman, your indulgence if...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is work being done by the government. There are discussions among the co-management boards. There is a recognition that those types of thresholds, as the Member has pointed out, have value as we have seen from the successful application of the Porcupine caribou herd management approach where they have those thresholds and triggers.

As we have the discussions, we make sure we have the baseline information that gives us some common comfort that we have a clear number for a particular herd and herd size that work is being done. We expect to come forward here in the...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The costs are, of course, predicated on the assumption that the liquid natural gas prices are going to stay within the range that we have budgeted for, so yes, we anticipate that there will be less costs compared to synthetic natural gas compared to diesel. Should the day come when natural gas is available locally that is appropriate for use, then yes there could be another lowering of costs.

We are committed to the biomass piece. Seven hundred thousand dollars was voted in this last budget for Housing to do the work to determine and sort out some of the technical and...

Mr. Speaker, as a government, we have to balance many things, and we need to balance the environment and economic development and resource development. We have taken the appropriate steps to ensure we have the policy base that work is underway. We are, at the same time, recognizing that the world is not going to stand still and we need to maintain that balance as we catch up with our policy work. We are going to do that. We have looked very carefully, very thoroughly at the ConocoPhillips application and we are, once again, confident of what ConocoPhillips have put in their application in...

All the money that we haven’t already been given will flow at that point, yes. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the government is hard at work, along with working with community members, on the whole issue to do with fracking. We have been doing work now for the last six months or so. We have come up with a draft. It is a best practices policy paper which is being shared within governments and is being shared with the regulators. It is going to come back and be shared with committee. It identifies a lot of the critical best practices across industry. We believe that if they are complied with and they are clear, unequivocal and understandable, we will be able to manage and protect the...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 23, Supplementary Appropriation (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2013-2014, be read for the third time.