Michael Miltenberger

The Member made reference in his statement to what sounded like what is referred to a base-plus approach to blended funding where you have a fixed amount, everybody receives a fixed amount and after that the calculations move to a per capita basis. That is an approach that is in use at every opportunity by every ministry of the government, and the territorial government as a whole supports that kind of approach. It has been put to use in some cases.

In regard to the health transfer, there’s a floor of no less than 3 percent. No province or territory is supposed to be disadvantaged using the...

I will look at Hansard. I agree with the Member that as we look to take over land, water, resource development, we want to be fully up to speed and up to date on all the rents, I think is how the Member referred to them. There are also other areas across the land, for example, where we want to look at are we putting the proper value on things like water. As we go forward as a territory looking at all these issue post-devolution, we will be looking at that and we will be having that discussion with Members, and I’m sure with Northerners as a whole.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In regard to the response to listening to the MLA feedback, we have been listening very carefully. This document has gone through extensive consultation work with committee. We went through interim appropriation to allow for that cycle to take place. In addition, we got feedback when we finished the review of business plans from committees, which we are going to respond to through the supplementary appropriation process and we’ll have that debate. I would point out the asks in that letter; the combined asks, of my recollection, were in the neighbourhood of $4.3 or so...

As I indicated in the budget address, there are no new taxes in this particular budget. We do have some projects that I think are going to be a real boon economically as well as for building the North, like the fibre optic line. We do know with the conclusion of devolution and the resource revenue money that will flow, the A base funding that will flow, that we will have some additional revenue there as well. If our projections stay on target and there’s not any kind of negative downturn in this fragile global economy that we’re still in, then we anticipate there’s going to be some continued...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the Member’s comments. The issue of the escalation of operating expenses of government, I mean, that is a stark reality. As I laid out in the budget address, we are committed to restraining and constraining the growth of government and ensuring that our revenues exceed our expenditures so that, in fact, we can do the replenishment of our cash reserves and look for efficiencies within government. We are committed to, as I’ve already indicated, decentralization. The Premier has made that commitment in the House today. The Member is indicating that we should...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That’s still work to be done. We’ve structured and set up a Heritage Fund. We’re waiting for resources to put into that. A lot of work is going to be done between now in the fiscal years one and two here, as I’ve indicated, as we look at managing our resources and building up our cash reserves and where we can anticipate things in two years or so down the road where we get additional revenue from devolution, then we’ll be in a position to be able to decide in the interim what we want to do and how we want to structure it and then be in a position to actually have...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I’ll just go through the list as I made notes. The issue of the tradition of no shoes or not having new shoes and breaking with tradition, in fact I thank Mr. Bouchard, the Member for Hay River North. He sent me over a couple of printouts that he obviously got off the Internet that shows in fact over the last 40 or 50 years the majority of the federal Finance Ministers didn’t in fact get new shoes. In fact, nobody is quite sure where this tradition started, it seems. In regard to the tradition here, I know it is a tradition but it was my sense that we are asking people...

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that I will deliver the budget address on Thursday, May 24, 2012. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that Bill 4, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2011-2012, be read for the third time. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, that Bill 4, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 3, 2011-2012, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill makes supplementary appropriations for infrastructure expenditures for the Government of the Northwest Territories for the 2011-2012 fiscal year. Thank you.