Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d also like to take this opportunity and with pleasure to recognize Darrell Bohnet, one of the children of Al and Febula Bohnet, from Fort Smith originally. A good Metis boy. Many years with the government, vice-president with Diavik, now retired in Yellowknife. I’d like to thank him for coming to the Assembly. He’s lucky to have such parents as he does. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. An environment that will sustain present and future generations is one of the goals of this Legislative Assembly and how we manage caribou is a major part of achieving that goal. Actions taken by the Government of the Northwest Territories to deal with declining populations of barren-ground caribou herds have improved our environmental planning, protection monitoring and water management activities as envisioned in the Northerners Working Together plan.

The guiding document for our caribou stewardship actions was a 2006-2010 Barren-Ground Caribou Management Strategy...

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled Caribou Forever - Our Heritage, Our Responsibility, A Barren-Ground Caribou Management Strategy for the Northwest Territories 2011-2015, Draft, February 2011. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise in this House to recognize a special day. Albert Bohnet is 94; Febula Bohnet is 84. Today they have been married 66 years.

---Applause

She will always be the younger woman in his life.

The marriage started back in 1945. Just to give us a sense of scale and time, that was the last year of World War II. It’s a singular milestone.

Today they still live in their own home. They burn wood. They have a garden. Clearly a recipe for good health and a long life of love together is what they get as a result of their life together.

As we wish them well for the coming year...

His statement is the first awareness that I have, the first notice that I’ve had that the Hotel Association wants a tax imposed territory-wide. Unless I’ve missed it or I’ve forgotten it, I don’t recollect hearing this specifically before. He has raised this issue for the first time in the House. There was a different approach suggested by the Association of Communities. Once again, that alone, in terms of how it would be applied, is going to require some discussion. It’s not that we’re reluctant. There’s work being done. It has been done. We’ve indicated in this budget, in the House here a...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s not an issue of hesitation. It’s an issue of getting feedback, getting some initial direction and positive response through the revenue roundtables and then mapping out the way forward. In this case, it was recommended that the ability to have a hotel tax be delegated down to the community level. The Member is talking about something for the Hotel Association. This points to the need for doing the proper work to in fact decide upon what would be the right structure. I’ve indicated in this budget that there’s not going to be any tax increases, so that work would be...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just in our own political timeline, this particular session will go to the 7th of March. There will be a prorogation and on the 7th of March there will be a new session starting which will be an opportunity to bring into the House this bill and other legislation for first and second reading which gives the committee 120 days to do their work and report back to the House, which means in all probability the last session in August. If, in fact, we wait until May or June, then we will totally miss any opportunity in the life of this government to bring this bill to the...

Mr. Speaker, I would suggest to the Member that he’s received many answers from me over the life of this Assembly; he just may not have liked them all. That does not consist not getting an answer.

In this particular case, we have done consultation. There was a publication sent out in 2009 that laid out all the main principles, proposed changes followed since that time with ongoing consultation. This act is a good act. I think it meets the test and I will also submit to this House that no matter what assurances I would provide to the Member except delaying and killing the bill, would not satisfy...

As a matter of practice, I look seriously at every invitation that I get, especially ones that are put forward by Members of the Legislative Assembly, and I will, of course, give such an invitation, should it come from the Member, every full and due consideration that it deserves. Thank you.

The Member is correct. In fact, this hotel tax initiative did come before this House back in 2000 and was not successful in being approved by this House, the concern being driving up the cost of doing business and putting an extra burden on the tourism industry. In this particular case, the Member’s line of questioning versus what we heard at the roundtable in October points to, at the very least, a need for further discussion. The Association of Communities made the request and supported the request that it be delegated, at their request, to the communities. The Member’s talking about a...