Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 26)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you to the Minister for the response. I think it's always important we always continually have that feedback with all our policies because things are always changing, always evolving. It's always keeping things up to date always. That is good to know. My next question is: when are we going to expect to see this overarching review of this policy? Thank you.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 26)

Marsi cho, Madam Chair. Committee would like to consider Tabled Document 30-19(2), Main Estimates 2020-2021, Department of ITI.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 26)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for those responses. I did have another question, but I would just try to navigate my way through this. Just from hearing your responses, I think it's important that we need to know what is being done now to fix this problem. I want to hear what the Minister has to say to fix this problem now. Marsi cho.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 26)

Thank you to the Minister for that response. I guess, for the other part of my Member's statement, I mentioned the fibre optic link. I was just wondering why Lutselk'e was bypassed as part of this plan.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 26)

Marsi cho, Mr. Speaker. I'll be brief. The average Internet connection speed around the world, one of the fastest in the world is Taiwan, so that's pretty fast. The Canadian average is 30 megabytes per second. Comparatively, just to give a glimpse of what it's like in the North, in Alberta, their fibre 300-plus package is 300 megabytes per second, and that's unlimited. One of the kind of mid-range packages for Northwestel, their 50 package, is 50 megabytes per second, and that's not unlimited, so you're only allowed 200 gigabytes. So, if we get more unlimited packages in the North, that would...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 26)

Marsi cho, Madam Chair. I move that this committee defer further consideration of the estimates for the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment at this time. Marsi cho, Madam Chair.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 26)

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for the response. Just one more little, technical question from a line item on page 202, fees and payments. Actuals a couple years back on fees and payments were $277,000. Now, they are only $60,000. Why is that number a lot less than it was before? Marsi cho.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 26)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to say a few words about the Film Industry Rebate Program on 203. I just listened to some of the comments from the Member for Yellowknife North, and they are good comments. When I looked at this, I circled this line item, and I covered all the numbers, looked at it, and thought, "I wonder what type of supports. How do we attract filmmakers? It's a good way to bring people to the North." I am like, "Okay. This might be a good opportunity here." We are always looking for opportunities to stimulate our economy to bring people, attract people, and bring people...

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 25)

Marsi cho, Madam Chair. Just to clarify, those assets could be, like you mentioned, buildings, equipment, and those sorts of items. Correct? Marsi cho.

Debates of , 19th Assembly, 2nd Session (day 25)

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have a couple of questions. One of the things that kind of stood out for me was the line item on amortization. For 2021, it's at $58.4 million. I looked through the entire book just to make sure, and it's quite high; it's almost pushing half of the entire GNWT's expenditures. I'm just wondering why that is. I'll start with that, and then we'll keep on going. Thanks, Madam Chair.