Norman Yakeleya

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask this question to the Minister of Finance. With the discussion of all the vacancies and when they’re going to be filled and the amount of money we approve each year, for the last 10 years I’ve been standing here and I’m still standing here asking when will the communities without RCMP or nurses have those positions filled. Each year I bring that forward and there’s no money, there’s no money. Just recently we find out there are vacant positions and still there’s no money.

When will this government have the flexibility of letting this Cabinet say, listen...

In our planning for our elders and our long-term care facility in Norman Wells, which is going to happen for a territorial long-term care facility, we also have this additional independent senior housing unit in Fort Good Hope.

Can the Minister inform me if it makes sense to look at the training or this training happens in the upcoming years, that the residents in Fort Good Hope will also have the opportunity if the training is assessed and that they can also be tagged on to the training program that is scheduled for the territorial long-term care facility that is going to be located in Norman...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Would the Minister say that it will be within a year, within a few months shy of us calling our next election? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement I talked about the mechanics of the Heritage Fund. I want to ask the Minister of Finance, within the life of this government, will the government consider an option to look at considering having an independent body type of framework to manage the Heritage Fund?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, too, hope one day we will have some discussions on Highway No. 9.

---Laughter

Hearing the Minister and just listening to my two colleagues, up in the region where the Mackenzie Valley winter road is still active and we still have our ice winter paving program there, we’d like to look at the infrastructure, but also to do with the O and M on the Mackenzie Valley winter road is the bridging. One of the major bottlenecks to continue our work is the Bear River Bridge. Just hearing some of the good news, I’m hopefully crossing my fingers on the federal infrastructure budget...

That’s an additional $228,000 that we have to look for somewhere within our small government to take on the devolution, I guess, of some of the responsibilities now that we’ve taken on that the federal government has downloaded to the provinces and the territories.

Is there any type of flexibility when you negotiate the renewal of the RCMP’s agreement with the federal government to bring in some of these costs that now we are seeing within our own territorial health dollars?

I guess you could spin this however you want to spin it, but the fact of the matter is that we’re taking on additional responsibilities and along with that it becomes an economic cost to us.

Are we going to somehow recoup or receive additional dollars because of these additional responsibilities now that come along with this act here?

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, February 13, 2014, I will move the following motion: I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that, notwithstanding Rule 4, when this House adjourns on February 13, 2014, it shall be adjourned until Monday, February 17, 2014;

And further, at any time prior to February 17, 2014, if the Speaker is satisfied, after consultation with the Executive Council and Members of the Legislative Assembly, that the public interest requires that the House should meet at an earlier time during the adjournment, the Speaker may give notice and thereupon...

Within the life of this government, would the Minister look at a discussion paper where he could bring forward to the Assembly to say where we could start having discussion on the Heritage Fund and the government framework for the fund? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My Member’s statement is on the mechanics of the Heritage Fund. It’s fine and dandy if you have a Heritage Fund, and colleagues have talked about the amount of money going in and how it’s going to be administrated. I wanted to look at the mechanics. Should the Heritage Fund come to a full-blown discussion with the people in the Northwest Territories, what is the purpose with the Heritage Fund and how it’s to be set up within the government structure, independent, arm’s length from the government and have people who would administrate it and look after it for us, and...