Sandy Lee

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would just like to make a very short comment on this amendment. I will not be supporting this amendment, Mr. Speaker, for two reasons. The first one is that it basically does away with the intent of the motion. So it is a very strong amendment and if the Members support the amendment, basically they could vote against the first one. The reason why I think that is more preferable than supporting this amendment is it does away with the work of the Striking Committee, which I think is a very important element to consider, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. To put it another way, does the review of the Liquor Act that is currently underway, that the Minister has mentioned in his opening statement, does that review include reviewing the role and mandate of the Liquor Commission as it currently exists? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the questions and answers on this topic suggest already, there are so many things about this program and this debate that we need to know and talk about. I’d like to know from the Minister if you could advise us as to who is advising him about what the GNWT’s position is. Has he done consultation with the stakeholders out there? This has been pretty quiet until he snuck up in the national media and he went to Vancouver over the weekend. Where is he getting his position from? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Just to shed some light on this issue and why the committee members felt that it was important to make this motion, is that during the discussions we were informed that in some communities people do not know why people knock on the door and they’re asking who lives in your house and who you are and such. This is private information and strangers’ questions that might be construed in the wrong way and we have to be sensitive to community concerns, and the people in our communities who are not always trusting of outsiders coming in to ask questions about private information. We felt...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don’t believe that I disagree with the elements of what the Minister has said. I do believe that this is a debate larger than just day care, as in babysitting or day care units. I am glad that the federal government and provincial governments are engaged in bigger discussions overall about what we as a society and the government is prepared to do in terms of taking care of our children and how much funding and the role that the government can play. I think that the Quebec model is an example that we should try to follow to the extent as much as possible.

I...

Could I just ask a question on how many people are employed by the government who actually look at making sure that people pay taxes? I don’t know what they are called; inspectors. How many people are actually employed full time to make sure that employers pay the taxes that they are supposed to?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are so many questions to this and the details to work out and the debates to have, perhaps the Minister could make a statement in the House about where the government’s position is. But in the interim, could I get the information from the Minister as to whether we’re looking at a nationally run child day care program, or are we looking at tax benefits or are we looking at 50/50 funding? Putting aside the dollar commitments that the federal government is willing to give, because we do hear numbers flowing around, what is this government’s position...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a question on the collection of payroll taxes and other taxes that the department is responsible for in just general terms. Can the Minister tell us about what sort of mechanisms are in place to make sure that those who are supposed to pay taxes pay, and those employers who are supposed to hand in those taxes do? What mechanisms do we have to know that if somebody is not doing it, that they are notified in an expeditious manner? Last fall I had two calls; I can’t give names of the employers or the companies because they don’t want to be revealed. In one...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I can appreciate that the money might be a factor in something like this, but putting that aside I would like to get a more clear picture from the Minister as to what the GNWT’s position is as to what this National Childcare Program should look like. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Sorry; I didn’t hear there from the Minister, on balance, if the government is ahead or not. I think our findings are that the insurance premium did still go up. It’s just probably not as much as it could of if the change in the policy did come about. But is it possible for the government, or is the government engaged in doing a cost-benefit analysis where we say okay we take this much on premiums, these things happen over the years that cost us this much, and if we had a different kind of insurance package there’s X amount being covered? So now that we have this new kind of package we...