Sandy Lee

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would also like to offer a few comments on the budget. Yesterday I made a statement about the fact that this is overall a good budget. It certainly is not as gloomy as the one we heard last year. It was very depressing to watch the Minister of Finance last year going on and on about what a dire situation we were in. But to his credit he’s worked hard, and Cabinet and everyone else, to get to where we are, and the fact that we got some extra money from the federal government and that took a lot of work on the part of the Cabinet Members, as well as the Premier and the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the Minister has the need to lump this project with every other capital project need and I think that is where the mistake is, Mr. Speaker. We are talking about a very few communities in the Territories with no indoor facility, and even I know, as a Member from the largest city in the Territories, that an indoor gym is more than an indoor gym in communities. That is where they have tea dances and they have their meetings and it’s where the communities gather. So I am saying don’t lump them up with the big places like Wha Ti and Gameti in this context. We are...

...it’s a necessity and we are talking about some $46 million dollar surplus.

…and the lack of representation of youth from small communities in big sporting games. Now he has all the power in the world. He's a Minister of sport.

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He's the Minister of MACA. It's about time that he put his money where his mouth is and build a gym next year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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A young offenders centre in Yellowknife has a gym, Mr. Speaker. We've spent millions on saving the secondary diamond industry that we're talking about, and offices in Yellowknife spend millions renovating. What do the children of Nahanni Butte think when they look at the Legislative Assembly and say we have no place to play soccer, and look at these MLAs? Mr. Speaker, I would like to know the government standard. Couldn't there be a rule that says every community should have a school, hospital, and an indoor gym?

Oh, my God, that is such a compliment. Mr. Speaker, I know that this is not a comfort to those who are adversely affected by this budget and I want to acknowledge that as well, but I cannot just stop with a compliment. I do want to give another assignment to the Minister of Finance who has done a fine job in coming up with a budget for this round. One thing that I want to see more of next year is that we enhance the money for education. One thing I noticed on page 10, it mentions a very brief statement about changing the curriculum for trade in our schools, in high schools, but I think we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister of Education is well aware of this. We did improve the funding for special needs to 15 percent, but it’s not anywhere near enough because I think even a layperson's observation will show that there is a lot more need for special needs funding right across the board in the Territories and 15 percent is not enough. I would like the Minister of Finance to work on getting 20 percent. I support the government’s move to try to fund kindergarten full time because I think that would lessen the pressure on the budget, and I believe that if we do this we could...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to take this opportunity to make a few comments about the budget that was delivered by the Minister of Finance. First of all, just a general comment. Being part of this huge bureaucracy of government, I’m sort of jaded to think that it really doesn’t matter what one individual thinks and I must tell you when I was listening to this budget I could not believe how much of Floyd Roland I saw in this document and I’m thinking individuals do make a difference. I may be wrong, maybe I shouldn’t bet dollars on it, but I think the second paragraph of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for what he’s suggesting. Mr. Speaker, the Minister has indicated that autopsies are being done, but the final reports are not out. It is encouraging to hear that the RCMP has decided, after a few moments of hesitation, to work with the SPCA and such. Would the Minister commit to work with Minister McLeod and with these two agencies to see how we can tighten up what we have and how to improve what we have? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am looking forward to hearing from the Minister when the investigations are concluded. I’m not sure if this will result in someone being charged or anything like that, but just to get an update on the case. But, Mr. Speaker, I don’t believe that this issue only has to do with those six dogs that were found. I had made a reference to those two puppies that were found frozen to death in a dump in Hay River. We’ve also had a report in Tuktoyaktuk where there were some animals frozen in the ice storm. I think really there is a role for the government to...