Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to congratulate all Members of this House for being strong voices of their people over what has been a long and often, as other honourable Members have pointed out, arduous session, but the debate in this House and differences of opinion ultimately make us a stronger Assembly and a better government for the people of the Northwest Territories.

We've seen a great deal of success in the passing of the budget that was a compromise between two viewpoints and, again, is a stronger budget because of it. We have new funding for homecare, for mental health support...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommend that the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs include indicators in its action plan which measure progress in implementing identified actions as a means of achieving improvements in essential service delivery at the community level. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommend that the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs consult with local government administrators of the Northwest Territories and the Northwest Territories Association of Municipalities on the proposed actions contained in the action plan before finalizing it. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommends that any GNWT department selected in the future for an audit provide the Standing Committee on Government Operations with a copy of its action or implementation plan in draft format; and further that this document not be finalized until the department has had an opportunity to consider the recommendations made as a result of the standing committee's review. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommend that, in future, any GNWT department being audited provide the Standing Committee on Government Operations with a copy of its actions or implementation plan at the earliest possible opportunity and no later than three business days prior to the public review on the Auditor General's report, consistent with the Process Convention on Communications Between Cabinet Ministers, Standing Committees, and Regular Members. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this Assembly recommend that the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs take the steps necessary to ensure that the 13 recommendations made by the Office of the Auditor General in Tabled Document 173-18(2) are implemented in a timely manner. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I know that the Minister of Finance has no plans to lower the tax on small business any time soon, but I’d like to ask him today if he will commit to implementing a small investment tax credit by next budget which would give a 25 per cent non-refundable personal income tax credit up to a maximum of $25,000 a year. This would reduce financial risk to investors and encourage investment in our economy. Will the Minister commit to introducing a small business investment tax credit by next budget? Thank you.

Again, I might not have all the answers. Clearly, the Minister does not have many answers that I will like today, but I think there are people out there in our business community who are very concerned about these issues and want to be heard. I would like the Minister to hear from them directly. Will the Minister commit to engaging them in a comprehensive conversation around procurement?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is a more technical issue that the committee has taken with the report. It relates in particular to the contribution agreements with designated authorities and also adjusting the target dates of the priority actions undertaken therein. There is still a lot of grey area related to designated authorities and who is actually responsible. The department struggles with their relationship with these entities. The committee is quite concerned about this and would like to ensure that how we are proceeding on them is clear and specific to what the department wants to achieve...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am not sure if my understanding of this is that it is a replacement of the Code of Conduct, but it is rather linking the Oath of Office to the Code of Conduct, so we are, as Members, after we swear our Oaths, we will be held accountable to the Code of Conduct. A great deal of discussion was had about how to give the Code of Conduct teeth, more or less actual, enforceable, and tangible results, and that was a discussion that we had in Caucus early on, and we all agreed was important, so the motion was more than aspirational, but actually had some impact on our behavior...