Michael Miltenberger

Mr. Speaker, later this session I will be presenting Bill 1, An Act to Amend the Borrowing Authorization Act. The purpose of this act is to increase the short-term authority to borrow provided in section 1(2) of the act from $175 million to $275 million.

This should not be confused with the federally set borrowing limit of $575 million. The Government of the Northwest Territories continues to discuss an increase to that limit with the federal Finance Minister so we will have more flexibility to invest in the long term. We have recently received a letter from Minister Flaherty assuring us that...

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Member is correct; the capital budget was passed in November and it was a very modest capital budget as we are all aware going into the deliberations given our fiscal circumstances. We do have some plans in the midterm to address that as we’ve been discussing in this House over the last number of days.

In regard to the specific timing and sequence of the use of the O and M money this coming spring, Madam Chair, with your concurrence I’d ask Minister Ramsay to speak to those specific program questions. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. In order to conclude this process, I would request permission to go to the witness table and bring in some witnesses.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Bill 1, An Act to Amend the Borrowing Authorization Act, be read for the second time.

This bill increases the allowance that may be borrowed by the Commissioner to ensure that the Consolidated Revenue Fund is sufficient to meet the lawful disbursements. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Bill 1, An Act to Amend the Borrowing Authorization Act, be read for the first time. Thank you.

In the fall of 2012, once the work has been done and the results are before us, we’ll make sure we collectively look at that information and make that determination. Thank you.

Yes, Madam Chair. The interim appropriation requests authority for appropriation of $404.121 million for operations expenditures in the 2012-13 fiscal year.

This interim budget provides the necessary resources for the government to operate in the first three months of the 2012-2013 fiscal year. As discussed with committees previously, the 2012-2013 Main Estimates, or full budget, will be presented during the May/June sitting of the Legislative Assembly.

I will explain the methodology of the interim appropriation development and clarify that the interim provides for only a portion of the full...

The cure for the broken heart the Member is referring to, of course, is to sign the Devolution Agreement, and the authorities and money will flow and he’ll feel much better.

In terms of his specific request on the Liquor Act, the Member is very well aware that the average timeline is about two years for amendments, but before we even get to that point we have to have the fundamental discussion about laws of general application and can we make laws of that nature in the Liquor Act. Can we tailor them region by region when people have broad rights that they have given to them under the Canadian...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m aware of the Member’s concerns and some of the folks in his constituency. The issue of the Liquor Act and changing it away from a law of general application to one of regional application is one that I am prepared to look at as Minister to see what’s possible. I’m prepared to sit down with the Member if he wants to have discussions or he wants to put his fingers to the keyboard and lay out the very specific question that he may be contemplating. We would, of course, give it our full attention.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. There were operation requirements. The positions weren’t hidden from view. They were reflected in the org charts. The fact that they were funded from within has now been sorted where they moved money, as Mr. Aumond said, from their operational budget into salary dollars. But the fact is they’ve had some other recent changes of staff, so they’ve re-profiled and re-classified some of the positions to do different things and it’s a normal business of government. It’s being shown here. They’ve moved the dollars out of O and M so that it’s going to be funded and it will be...