Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m here to present Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2010-2011. This document outlines an increase of $17.471 million in operations expenditures for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

The supplementary estimates include the necessary transfer of the appropriations from the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to the NWT Housing Corporation as a contribution from the Department of Finance for the Public Housing Rental Subsidy Program and its associated administrative costs.

The other major items in the supplementary estimates include:

$7.5...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If the Member for Kam Lake tells me what his favourite restaurant is, we can have that dinner, but I would suggest based on the things I’m anticipating, he’s going to be breaking new ground.

The issue of board reform, hesitant as I am to use that word in this Assembly, is probably something that is going to carry on to the life of the next government.

One of the main points of the consolidated clinic here in Yellowknife was to deal with the 14 or 18 percent of missed appointments that are, as the Member has indicated, costly and very inefficient.

Bulk purchasing, the...

We’ve listened closely to the Member’s concerns and cautions and accept them in the spirit in which they were intended.

I appreciate the Member’s comments and we do over time look at base budgets. We don’t just keep them pegged at last century’s costs or that type of thing. When we look, the Health budget has grown since 1999. It’s doubled. With the THSSI money from the feds, part of which was dedicated to medical travel, there is going to be a bump-up in this coming fiscal year.

In keeping with the Member’s comments, recognizing that the cost drivers are going to be there, some of the biggest being on an upward climb. For example, just the cost of fuel. Then the demand.

I appreciate the Member’s comments and...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have Ms. Margaret Melhorn, deputy minister of Finance; and Sandy Kalgutkar, deputy secretary to the FMB.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In terms of Health being off limits and questions being discouraged, I would suggest that if we checked Hansard, speaking as a Minister of Health for five years, my recollection, as it is today, is just in this House, on a constant basis, the Health Minister tends to top the questions in this House on an ongoing basis. It doesn’t matter which Minister you pick, which Assembly you pick.

We have a circumstance. We are talking about how do we budget. The debate is, do you budget on actual or do you budget on estimates. The Member talks about accountabilities and you want...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am here to present Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 4, 2009-2010. This document outlines an increase of $29.284 million for operations expenditures for departmental over-expenditures in the 2009-2010 fiscal year.

During the year-end process to finalize the GNWT financial statements, adjustments are typically made to department expenditures to ensure the statements are prepared in accordance with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles. The 2009-2010 year-end process identified a number of adjustments that result in departments exceeding...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is an issue that is consistently before the House. There is a requirement to come back, because there’s the issue of costs that tend to constantly escalate. There is work being done, as the Minister of Health has indicated, with her Foundation for Change. There’s a review through the program review office right now taking a look at the medical travel costs and drivers and structures and processes to see if there are ways to deal with this. Some of the consistent pressures are that we have, in a lot of areas on a national basis, a fairly rapidly aging population...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Monday, November 1, 2010, I will move that Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act, be read for the first time.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to address a key element of the draft devolution agreement-in-principle: the net fiscal benefit that would accrue to Northwest Territories governments and residents once a final agreement has been reached and implemented.

Once devolution is achieved, 100 percent of the resource royalties that are currently paid to the federal government will stay in the Northwest Territories, However, our government’s transfer payments from Canada under formula financing will be reduced, but not dollar for dollar. The difference represents the net fiscal benefit. The draft devolution...