Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 44, Forest Act, be read for the second time. This bill establishes a new framework for the management and protection of forests in the Northwest Territories. It sets out some general requirements with respect to the sustainable use of forests and forest resources. It enables the protection of forests through wildfire management and prevention and includes provisions to respond to forest insects, disease, and invasive plant species. The bill also authorizes the use of forest resources through...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled "Public Service Annual Report 2017/2018." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate all of the concerns and comments from Members opposite. There were some concerns that were raised with the bill and the way it was brought forward. We have had a lot of negative comments, and we take those as well as any positive comments that we can get.

We reached out to a lot of our partners yesterday and had some conversations with them. They shared some concerns. Four of them said that they will take part in the standing committee process, recognizing the standing committee's workload. It has been that way for the four Assemblies that I...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that, on Thursday, March 14, 2019, I will move the following motion: now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, that Ms. Colette Langlois be appointed as ombud for a term of five years, in accordance with the Ombud Act, by the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, as recommended by the Legislative Assembly; and further, that the appointment become effective April 8, 2019. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Yellowknife South, that Bill 47: Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures) 2019-2020, be read for the third time; and, Mr. Speaker, I would request a recorded vote. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Bill 47, Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), 2019-2020, be read for the first time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I don't have that information at my fingertips. I will get that information to the Member, so I will take the rest of his questions as notice.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River South, that Bill 47, Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), 2019-2020, be read for the second time. Mr. Speaker, this bill authorizes the Government of the Northwest Territories to make appropriations for operations expenditures for the 2019-2020 fiscal year. It also sets out limits on amounts that may be borrowed by the Commissioner on behalf of the government, including information with respect to all existing borrowing and all projected borrowing for the fiscal year, and authorizes the making of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following two documents entitled "Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 4, 2018-2019"; and "Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 4, 2018-2019." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government is opposed to any kind of tax, but this is one that the federal government, in their infinite wisdom, had decided that they were going to implement, regardless. So our challenge was to try to mitigate the impact that it was going to have on people across the Northwest Territories. Our folks at the department went across the Northwest Territories. They listened to people. They understood that a tax was coming. They did not like it. Everybody is opposed to a new tax. That is why this government has in our four years done very little as far as raising taxes...