Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 14, Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), 2017-2018 be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In the future, all reporting will be linked to SAM, which is our financial management system. So departments won't be maintaining separate systems.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, these were raised after some consultation, and we'd heard from the business community that because these hadn't been raised in 20 years, they thought it was time to raise them. The value that it brings to residents is that they will be able to then go out and secure some services right away without going going out for RFP, because that takes up a lot of time and money for $5,000. So this was made at the request of the business community and in consideration of the cost to administer small contracts. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the past two decades, caribou herds in the North have declined and are at or near historic low numbers. There are many factors contributing to this decline. Some, like climate change, are known; others we urgently need to understand better.

As Northerners, knowing what we can do to help the recovery of caribou in the North is important. ENR Regional and Headquarters staff, co-management partners and traditional user groups offer caribou education every year. This November, Regional ENR staff is making a special, coordinated effort to provide caribou...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Bill 14, Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), 2017-2018 be read for the second time. Mr. Speaker, this bill authorizes the Government of the Northwest Territories to make appropriation for infrastructure expenditures for the 2017-2018 fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 12, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2016-2017 be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and, Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded vote.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I too would like to recognize some constituents from Inuvik Twin Lakes. We have Mickey Ipana who I gave a tour of the Assembly for, and we have Eileen Allen who is better known in Inuvik as Bunik. We have Ellen Firth and Marilyn and her daughter, Myria. So welcome to the gallery. We appreciate your patience as we battled through our technical difficulties in the last two hours. Welcome.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 11, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 1, 2016-2017, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to proceed to item number 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair I move that Tabled Document 143-18(2): Capital Estimates 2017-2018, be amended by deleting the section of the document entitled "Infrastructure" found on pages 43 to 49. Thank you, Mr. Chair.