Kieron Testart

Thanks for the clarification of process. I think that is a much better option than the current approach. Nothing further, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is more a question or comment on process, but my understanding is that, notwithstanding the excellent exchange of questions between the Minister and the Member for Frame Lake, special warrants are not something that this House need approve. They are already at the discretion of the Financial Management Board or Executive Council. I’m just wondering if there is any further requirement to address this by this committee.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I do understand that the transfer was made and it's just continuing through with the traditional economy activities. I'm just wondering why that decision was made from a structural viewpoint, why ITI's no longer responsible for the traditional economy activities and why that's moved over to ENR and further to that, what the benefit of that to government operations is in moving the transfer of traditional economy from ITI, which is responsible for most of our economic programs, over to ENR. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Perhaps I might encourage the Minister to ask our friends in Ottawa if they can provide $27 million to fund our communities that are badly in need of it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yesterday, this House adopted the mandate of the Northwest Territories for 2016 to 2019. In that, there is a commitment that we will develop a strategy to close the gap in funding levels to meet municipal core needs. The Minister just alluded to that. Can we have some timelines on when that strategy will be prepared for consideration by the government or this House?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Conference Board of Canada released its economic forecast for the Northwest Territories, and while much of this information is not news to this government, there are some good news stories. The resources revenues are expected to increase and there should be more revenue in the future to invest in. I don't want to talk too much about that today. What I'm more interested in is the need for infrastructure in our communities and the equal need for economic activity in our communities. The Government of Canada has made a bold decision to spend more than $10...

That's fair. I guess I object to that special warrant existing in here, because, even if we disagree, the money is still allocated. It's more a comment on process. I recognize that it is a change to debate and talk about it, but there are other avenues for that as well.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. In times of economic uncertainty, it is incumbent on this government to provide support to the areas of our economy that work hard to support the activities in our community, create jobs, and continue to provide economic boosts to our local economies. A tax cut on small business is exactly the kind of thing we need to start looking at and start implementing to encourage business growth and to further diversify our economy. This is a small measure, but it will go a long way in helping those who work hard.

Many of my constituents and voters during the election raised this...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to return to the “Economy, Environment and Climate Change” section.

Thank you to the Minister for making a commitment to involve this side of the House in a very transparent and collaborative fashion. Will he make the same commitment to members of the public?