Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The involvement of the government and Health and Social Services was coordinated through the deputy minister’s office, who, as a former employee out of Alberta with extensive experience in the health system there, has sort of marshalled and coordinated all of our efforts. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’ll ask Minister Michael McLeod to respond to that.

We are fully committed to that process. We have a Federal Engagement Strategy that the Premier has laid out. We will re-engage as soon as we know who the players are going to be to in fact do that. We have four months left.

I indicated one of the keys for us going forward to manage our own affairs is going to be the clarity and the conclusion of the committed to process to resolve the borrowing limit. The broader issue of the federal budget, we will be there… We have to be very strategic in our asks. We can’t go there with a long list. We have to look at what our one or two or three top...

Yes, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to update Members and NWT residents on our territory’s economic and fiscal outlook.

April 1, 2011, marked the start of a new fiscal year. The measures included in our 2011-2012 budget are now being implemented, including over $1.3 billion in operating expenditures and more than $155 million in planned capital investments. These expenditures will be used to deliver needed public services and infrastructure to NWT residents and will continue to support our economy.

There is good news to report on the economy. In April the NWT employment rate rose...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don’t have a set date for the official opening, but when we do get one, I’d be happy to share that information with the Member. Thank you.

Once again I apologize to the Member for not catching the question the first time. It’s a very good, important question.

In the life left in this Assembly we have a number of priorities, as I indicated in my fiscal update. One of the key ones for us, of course, is going to be to get clarity on our borrowing limit. We also, like other jurisdictions, would like to know what’s going to be in the budget. We understand that they’ve committed to taking $11 billion out in terms of their efforts to fight the deficit and debts that they have as a federal government. We hear already that programs are...

There’s a range of intervention that we have possible and I believe that is one of them. We try to work collaboratively and proactively with those that are involved, so we’ll follow that process. If it comes down to that type of final decision, I believe that, yes, we have the authority to do that.

There are the two sites: the tank farm and the power plant. I will get the information, I will get an update, I will share that with the Member and then I’ll seek his feedback to see about if what’s being proposed looks like it’s going to meet the requirements or if there are other things that need to be included.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It’s a carry-over. Thank you.