Sandy Lee

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I used the last opportunity I had to speak on generality, so I would like to try to focus on specifics here. It is in regards to the Novel housing which was mentioned in the Minister of Finance’s budget statement. Also, I had the opportunity to ask the corporation some specific written questions. I received a reply on that. I appreciate the answers. It was quite lengthy. It contained a lot of information, but I do still need some clarifications. The first one is -- and I will try to be brief in my questions -- one of the things that the Minister indicated is that...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Members of the Standing Committee on Social Programs, as Members of the Accountability and Oversight Committee, were involved in the new pre-budget consultation process with the people of the Northwest Territories in late August of 2005. Hearings were held north and south of the Lake, and gave ordinary northerners and non-governmental organizations the opportunity to provide input to MLAs on the priorities that the budget should focus on.

The committee then met with the Minister and his officials on Wednesday, September 21, 2005, to review the draft business plan of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can tell you that the plant operators have met with most of the Yellowknife MLAs, and certainly this is an issue that is important to us and that needs to be addressed. It seems to me that the core question is with respect to price for the core customers. So I think the diamond plant is not looking for a special privilege, but just to get a fair core customer price, and the question remains as to what that is and as to whether or not there is a premium being charged and, if so, how much. I guess what came out of my discussion of this that really surprised me is lack...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, over the weekend, I got thinking about this government’s negotiating tactics and strategies with the federal government. When I saw the headline going across the television screen that read something like, NWT and Newfoundland support or like the vision of the new Harper government, Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if the national viewers would appreciate the intricacies of the NWT consensus government in the North. For certainty, I don’t believe there is, or has been, such a generalized consensus on the NWT position.

Mr. Speaker, I, for one, have stated that I...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am quoting from his answers to me on Return to Written Question 19-15(4). In the last question it says here that we…I am reading here because he did not answer my question. “We estimate that Novel home delivery and conversions will begin in 2011 and be completed by 2014.” So now we are looking at a three-year turnaround. It also states that, “We estimate delivering 460 to 470 per year.” This is an entirely new figure. Prior to this, we had been talking about the Housing Corporation possibly delivering 100 units per year and I think everyone -- and I am asking a...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a couple more questions on the Novel project. Industry contribution, once again then, could I just ask the Minister if there is any money, any amount budgeted for $297 million that would come from the ATCO in any way, because I thought for some reason that they were going to make some kind of contribution? Will they make any contribution in-kind, for example? Thank you.

This project was estimated at about $200 million last year, but now it is up to almost $300 million. It is a huge project that I think the Minister would be well advised to put in writing. I am not sure that, this being a future project, should preclude that. My understanding also, Mr. Chair, is that the agreement that the former Minister Fontana gave is to the effect that the federal government will fund it at the back end, meaning that they would only invest whatever their portion is once the project is up and running, which tells me that the federal government is not ready to take those...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Sahtu, that the Report on the 2006-2007 Pre-Budget Review Process of the Standing Committee on Social Programs be deemed read and printed in Hansard in its entirety. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, just to be clear, then, can we speak with the same certainty about the housing money, $4 million under the Northern Strategy and $100 million over the next three years now that the legislation has been passed? Is it okay for us to expect that the new federal government would honour that legislation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just concentrating on the smaller items but still vital, obviously, the $100 million over the next three years for housing that the Minister mentioned and also there is $12 million budgeted for communities, including $4.5 million from the federal Gas Tax Agreement. We don’t know at this time if it’s going to be multi-year funding. Then we have money for the water treatment plants. There are lots of partnerships between the GNWT and community governments that community governments really are relying on. Is it safe or can we be safe that the budget we are passing this...