Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, two vehicles were purchased for the communities of Aklavik and Tuktoyaktuk.

That is correct, Mr. Chair.

Yes. Again, we will confirm that and share it with committee.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we decided to purchase it because the bids that came in were all very low. They were very low. We then purchased the property, and Canada agreed to be responsible for the remediation. Should the price of tungsten ever rise, we are sitting on a piece of property that could potentially be worth a few dollars. That's why the decision was made. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We own that particular piece of property now, so there would be no lease payments in the future.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the financial assurances and liabilities division was established to help manage and coordinate the GNWT's current responsibilities in the modern integrated resource management regime that we have in the NWT. The financial assurances and liabilities division played an advisory role in the water licensing process that happened with North American Tungsten Company Ltd. was going into insolvency. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, to my left I have Mr. Mike Aumond, who is the secretary to the Financial Management Board and deputy minister of Finance; to my right I have Mr. Sandy Kalgutkar, who is the deputy secretary to the Financial Management Board.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, much like Giant Mine, Canada has accepted the responsibility to remediate this site as far as the liabilities go. I will work with my Department of Lands, and confirm and have them identify some of the liabilities, and I will share that information with committee. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll use my Deputy Premier voice.

---Laughter

We're not totally opposed to this motion. Just a couple things. The motion, as I read it here, is basically something that the government already does in working with communities. I noticed that there was a motion passed in 2013 from the NWT Association of Communities. We've given the communities a lot of responsibility, and they've taken on that responsibility with the construction of a lot of their infrastructure in their communities to make sure it's energy efficient and all that, but I look forward to having further...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, a one per cent reduction in small business rate is equivalent to about $700,000 in revenue in the total GNWT, as I've been saying the last little while, that is used to fund programs and services are projected to decline over the next five years. The reduction itself would only impact a small number of businesses in the NWT, and this reduction would not cause anyone to start a small business. The number of small businesses operating in the NWT has been declining over the last few years due to various factors impacting our regional economies, for example down in...