Michael Miltenberger

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 24, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2011-2012, read for the third time.

They work, in many cases, more with the small community funds, working with communities outside of Yellowknife, in many cases, responding on a one-off basis to situations that arise in different communities dealing with homelessness or some hard-to-house issues. The broader idea and need for government planning across departments is one that there needs to be more work done. At one point in the 15th Assembly there was a Social Programs Ministers Committee that came together on a regular basis because of issues such as this, seniors, as well, because of cross-departmental mandates and the need...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The government will not be proceeding with Bill 9 at this point.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Yellowknife Homelessness Coalition provides a valuable service in Yellowknife. There is also an interdepartmental working group when it comes to the issues within the Government of the Northwest Territories and shared jurisdiction by different departments in dealing with this issue. So to the question from the Member, the answer would be, in my opinion, no.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 24, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 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 2011-12 fiscal year. Thank you.

Ultimately the broad issues, the broad decisions, the review, the voting of the public money comes to the floor of this House. There are MLAs elected, there are committees put together, there’s a government selected, business plans are done based on the initial fundamental direction that comes out of the Legislative Assembly.

As we’ve attempted to do in the 16th Assembly in terms of program reviews, the government, working with the committees and MLAs, has the fundamental task of ensuring that the money is spent, and that the program priorities are the right ones, and that there is value for...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 24, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2011-2012, be read for the first time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is an important planning document. It comes out in five-year increments. It’s one of the core pieces of information that we use as a department and Legislature to look at where do we focus our attention, what’s working, what’s not working, what are some of the alarming trends, as the Member pointed out. We get back to the inevitable return to the issue of prevention and the abuse of alcohol, smoking, improper diet, lack of exercise; fundamental things that we have not yet instilled into the people of the Northwest Territories; personal choice issues that have not...

That is a question best put to the Premier. I would indicate to the Member that, of course, the opportunity will be taken full advantage of and that the Premier will be speaking on issues of great significant importance to the people of the Northwest Territories.

If there are any questions about that particular issue, I would suggest that the Premier would be best suited to respond.

Yes. As the cuts proceed, as the federal government continues with its deficit reduction plans, we’ll be monitoring, as we are right now, the impact of what we know, what we’ve heard, what the actual final configuration looks like and who’s left after the cuts are concluded.

As we negotiate devolution, we started devolution negotiations at a certain point in time with certain resources available. Clearly, there’s been a change or will have been a change. We’re going to have to adapt as we go on down that road as well. At the same time we are going to see what we can do and how do we adjust so...