Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I congratulate you on your cagey use of procedure. Committee would like to consider Committee Report 2-18(3), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on the Review of the 2015-2016 Public Accounts of the Government of the Northwest Territories, and Committee Report 3-18(3), Standing Committee on Social Development Report on Motion 32-18(2), Referral of Petition 6-18(2): Elimination of Time Change in the Northwest Territories to the Standing Committee on Social Development. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I stand in support of this motion and I'd like to commend the honourable Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh for bringing this forward. A reconciliation is more than words. It requires real action from governments; not just ours, but governments across Canada and, of course, the federal government. We've seen a lot of movement towards repairing the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in the country. It's a long road ahead. It may take hundreds of years to get us to a place where we have healed the wounds of colonization, and restored the balance in this...

Mr. Speaker, the longer the government waits to figure this out, the more pressure is going to be put on our communities who are in those deficit positions. The residents of Yellowknife are short-changed by $1 million in funding from this government, and the taxpayers have to foot the bill with the most recent City of Yellowknife budget increasing taxes because there is not enough money to pay for these essential programs the city is working on. Does the Minister think that is fair?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, during debate in this esteemed House, some Honourable Members took our unique form of consensus government to task in its failure to deliver a binding result of non-confidence in a Member of the Executive Council.

Mr. Speaker, I want to be clear in stating my opinion that events surrounding the Mid-Term Review do not represent a failure of consensus government. Rather, it was a failure of good governance. Consensus government is not defined by how we choose our leaders or how we hold them accountable. Our system is based on the role of Honourable...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I support this motion. In fact, it was in my electoral platform that this was a change that I thought would be beneficial. Over the course of the election, I spoke to many residents of Kam Lake who had just moved to the riding. Kam Lake is a community on the grow, and some people were not able to vote because they did not meet that 12-month threshold. It is a curious thing that the three northern jurisdictions have a year-long residency that is required. I was just reading in the press the other day that there was a candidate in Nunavut who sought to run in the previous...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that consideration of Tabled Document 3-18(3), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2018-2019 be now concluded and that Tabled Document 3-18(3) be reported and recommended as ready for further consideration in formal session in the form of an appropriation bill. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So my recollection is that the maximum amount of the fund is $35 million. Does the Minister believe that this will be sufficient and the current inflow of revenue is sufficient to fund future infrastructure projects, or will we ever be in the situation where we'll require additional funding from general revenue to pay for MTS operations or infrastructure? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to ask the Minister to respond to my previous comment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to ask the Minister about the $400,000 decrease for the Syncrolift project. This is something we discussed in our review of the capital budget estimates. I would like to know if the Minister could just explain how this $400,000 project appeared in the capital when it was supposed to be paid out of the revolving fund just for our clarification. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Your committee would like to consider Tabled Document 2-18(3), Supplementary Estimates (Operations Expenditures), No. 3, 2017-2018; Tabled Document 3-18(3), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2018-2019; and Committee Report 1-18, Standing Committee on Rules and Procedures Report on the Review of the Chief Electoral Officer's Report on the Administration of the 2015 Territorial General Elections, Supplementary Recommendations, and the White Paper on the Independence and Accountability of Election Administration in the Northwest Territories. Thank...