Michael Miltenberger

Mr. Speaker, the Water Strategy looks at the whole hydrological cycle, our water concerns in the Northwest Territories, our water concerns within the Mackenzie River Basin Watershed. It’s been achieved through extensive consultation and involvement with the aboriginal governments. It lays out all the elements that we want to make sure we have addressed when we talk about water issues, be it development in the Northwest Territories or dealing with transboundary issues. It’s going to be an absolutely critical piece of work, which is why we have invested so much time and money, to give us that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re aware of the proposed Site C project. The work has been underway for, actually, a number of years and they’re moving through their environmental process. We have been registered on their list of concerned parties. I agree with the Member that there are things we have to pay close attention to. We have a call scheduled with the Minister from B.C., the Environment Minister, to discuss some of the concerns. For example, there are a lot of downstream issues.

For us, as a jurisdiction, we have yet to conclude our bilateral agreement with B.C. under the Mackenzie River...

Mr. Speaker, we, within the Northwest Territories, recognize fully and have had full involvement of the aboriginal governments and respect the land claims, treaties and self-government agreements that are there. Part of the challenge is going to be to make sure that those issues come to the table when we look at transboundary issues. Many of the aboriginal governments in other jurisdictions, in fact, are very concerned about that.

As we speak, there has been planning underway, as we reach the end point of the actual development of the Water Strategy, that we have people at work, I’ve been...

If I can use a military term: we are going to be all hands on deck for when the Water Strategy is tabled in this House. We’ve got things underway to make sure that we are at the tables. The bilateral negotiations, I think, are very critical and will give us the vehicle and the opportunity to make the concern about the impact. I would suggest, in fact, that the natural flow of the Peace ceased to really exist when the Bennett Dam went in and the Peace-Athabasca Delta, for the most part, was dramatically impacted and it’s never really recovered. We want to deal with integrated watershed...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We, I believe, commenced similar related discussions when we all gathered at Blachford. That issue was discussed and the recognition that the June session, 2011, probably will be the last substantive session of this government, of this Assembly and the recognition of the period that the Member talks about. Those discussions, I believe, have already been broached. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, in my opinion, if we continue to do business as usual and if we continue just to accept the fact that we’re going to have continued expansion to programs like this, supplementary ones, when we know that we’re not meeting all our core services, that if we don’t come up with creative ways and if we don’t recognize that the issue of universality in areas like supplementary programs is not affordable in any jurisdiction including ours, then it will limit our ability to meet the needs that we have in the core service areas that currently we are struggling to meet. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, like every jurisdiction in the country and probably in the world, we are facing an increasing and consistent rise in our health expenditures. Member Bromley said it should be at the top of our list when it comes to our priorities, but when it comes to our expenditures it definitely is and it continues to be.

We have, on the supplementary health side, a growing demand for the service. Plus we know, as the Minister has pointed out, we’re trying to capture those folks that aren’t currently captured, about 2,300 people.

As we have every budget, we are going to...

Mr. Speaker, I believe that this is a topic that is before Caucus. As we look at gathering in August, an opportunity to come to an agreement as a Legislature on any related issues would be the appropriate venue. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to advise Members that the Honourable Floyd Roland will be absent from the House today and tomorrow to attend the Northern Premiers’ Conference in Whitehorse. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, The Government of the Northwest Territories has responsibility that covers 360 degrees of the compass. We have to allocate money. We have legal responsibilities, mandated responsibilities. We have responsibilities that are there by choice and by need. Our challenge is going to be, as we do for every business planning process, to make those choices. There is discussion in the House that the Member for Kam Lake pointed out. We have many challenges ahead of us, unmet needs, pressures to contain our costs and control our expenditures at the same time, trying to look at revenues but...