Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister’s desire to be on top of things, but if he really thinks that I’m going to be asking him questions about public information about a meeting that’s upcoming, I have a hard time understanding that.

I would like to know if there is any hope that the Minister might change this policy. I’m talking about public information, something that’s already in the public domain. It’s been released through a press release or a media advisory.

Is there any hope that he will change his policy and allow his staff to talk to my staff to confirm public information...

Mr. Speaker, thanks to the Minister, I think. I really am struggling to understand why public information must be routed through the Minister’s office. Were I a general citizen and not an elected official, I could phone the name on the press release and ask for the confirmation of the information directly.

So, I need to ask the Minister why he feels that information that is publically available must be requested through his office and why my office cannot go directly to his department and ask for it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to speak about what is perhaps the most important part of our job: serving our constituents. We all do it differently and that’s no surprise. Our ridings are each unique and different from each other. One tool that I use to do the job is social media. I use it to share information, news items, media releases, upcoming events, funding opportunities, youth exchanges and so on.

Recently, I wanted to share information about an upcoming public meeting, information previously published by the Cabinet press secretary in a news release several months ago. I wanted...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. The Minister mentioned, in answer to one of my previous questions, that the budget is now before us and that we will be deliberating the budget, and I heard a suggestion that there can’t be changes to the budget. So if there was a motion to come to this House, and the motion stated that 25 percent of our resource revenues for this ‘14-15 budget and onwards should go to the Heritage Fund, will the Minister take that as the will of the House and adopt the budget that way? Thank you.

I understand the Minister is saying that one side proposes and this side disposes. Understood, but there has been an awful lot of conversation about resource revenues over the last year, and there has been a lot of information to the Minister and to Cabinet. There was public consultation. There was a motion passed in this House last June. I want to say that… Well, I’ll say what I said in my statement, that that input was ignored.

I’d like to ask the Minister how he can justify the cost of the consultation, and I can’t remember how many thousands it was but it was a goodly amount of money –...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I have to start off by saying go, Brendan, go!

I would like to congratulate the Finance Minister on the 2014-15 budget he presented yesterday. It’s the culmination of many, many man and woman hours of work across the government, and I look forward to debating the budget in the coming weeks. But there were disappointments in the budget, most notably the lack of any significant new revenues again, and that only 5 percent of our brand new resource revenues will go to the Heritage Fund. It’s not like the Finance Minister and his Cabinet colleagues were never advised that 5...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. The 2014-2015 budget address states that there will be “a reallocation of $1.8 million in 2014-2015” to implement junior kindergarten in the “smallest NWT communities.” Please provide the following information:

a breakdown, by department, showing from where the reallocated $1.8 million will come;

if reallocated funds will come from ECE, from which line of the department budget the reallocated funds will come and the amount for that budget line; and

if reallocated funds will come from education...

The Minister has gone to my next question. I was going to presume that he was going to consult again and I’m glad to hear that he will, but I guess my question goes to – and I think it’s one that residents are asking as well – if you’re going to consult again next year, whether it be on the budget or whether it be on some other financial matter, will you take the views of the residents of the NWT into account when you develop the ‘15-16 budget? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My questions today are addressed to the Minister of Finance. I would like to follow up on my Member’s statement and ask him some questions about the amount of money that is not going into the Heritage Fund.

My first question to the Minister is a question that I asked in my statement. I’d like to know from the Minister, where was the opportunity for Regular Members to take part in a vote to determine how much of the budget – the 5 percent, 25 percent, whatever – how much of our resource revenues for this year’s budget would be going into the Heritage Fund. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that we report progress.

---Carried