Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve been working very closely with myself and the Minister of Transportation and Cabinet. By my rough estimation, I think I’ve spent about 10 hours this session before committee on various aspects of the bridge where we’re engaged fully with committee on a plan coming forward that we believe will help in due course and allow us to get this project on the final footing that needs to get completed, recognizing that it is going to be a self-liquidating investment. It will be paid back through the tolls that are raised. This is a huge priority, as the Member has pointed...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Bill 4, An Act to Amend the Social Assistance Act, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill includes amendments that would:

replace social assistance appeal committees with an administrative review group that will hear appeals of decisions made by social welfare officers or the director;

limit the jurisdiction of social welfare officers, the administrative review group and the appeal board in respect of issues pertaining to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms;

make other minor changes.

Thank you...

We are departments of the same government. We sit at the same Cabinet table. I will follow up on the commitment that I have made to make sure that... I’ll talk to the Minister of ITI, we’ll bring in our staff to make sure that we are doing all the appropriate things possible and if there are any avenues left to explore.

Happily. Happily.

We’ve distributed the proposal far and wide. It’s on our website. We’re looking for feedback that people may wish to give us. If there are specific requests, then we’ll definitely entertain those. We’re encouraging people to send us e-mails, to write, to talk to your MLA, talk to your mayor, talk to your Association of Communities, whoever they would like to carry the message for them. We’re not planning a major dog and pony show across the North. We will look at responding to specific requests. The timeline is April 30th. We’re looking forward to getting some very valuable feedback.

Thank you. I would agree that this is a consultation process and we are open to listen to and engage in discussion on any or all options, the same as we indicated at the revenue round table that we had in the fall. The focus then was to look at tax shifting. As we set up the Heritage Fund, looking forward into the future, a wide-ranging discussion would definitely be helpful as we decide on both the structure and what final decisions would be agreed to in terms of putting money into a Heritage Fund. Thank you.

Thank you. First, of course, we’re going to continue to work fully with all the Members and then as the days move forward here through this month we’ll be mapping out the full communication plan as we nail down the issues and steps that have to be addressed prior to the end of the timeline. Thank you.

Thank you. The Member is aware, fully aware of the steps we are taking in terms of making sure that the bridge project goes ahead and on solid footing to get the project complete. We are currently underway with some of those steps and we’re going to continue to work on those, and in due course we’ll be coming forward with a full plan and opportunity for a full public review and be made aware of all the steps that have been taken to make sure that this project succeeds. Thank you.

The Member is aware of the process that we have before us that we’ve agreed to. We will be coming forward once we finish the necessary work and take all the steps that are necessary for a full debate and discussion and disclosure. Until that time we need the time to be able to conclude that process in due course and in a manner that befits the complex nature of the process. We are fully intending to have that discussion. There is no hesitation. We just want to make sure it’s done appropriately when we have all the pieces in place that we can stand up and lay it all out.

Keeping in mind once again that the $165 million is for the most part self-liquidating, but, as the Member well knows, if we add that number to the debt that’s already available, it would put us past our borrowing limit if that was a worst-case scenario.