Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my reply to the budget will be a bit different from the one I was working on this past Thursday. Working behind the scenes has brought us closer to a final agreement on the budget. It has been a long process, from closely reviewing the business plans to finding common ground, and finally getting closer to a budget that we can agree to pass. I realize there is still some work to be done, but I feel we can reach a final agreement that meet the needs of the residents of the NWT. This being the third budget, I thinking we are getting better at listening to one another...

I thank the Minister for that answer. Mr. Speaker, during the set of procurement policy oral questions with the Premier on February 14, 2018, the Premier stated that concerns around procurement are primarily due to difference of understanding and that, if Members were to provide a list of problems, a review could result. Mr. Speaker, does the Minister agree NGOs being excluded from registering under BIP is an issue, and will he commit with the Premier to finding a workable solution?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a follow-up to my Member's statement, we clearly see a disconnect within our government's mandate in regard to supporting diversity and capacity building in our territory. By preventing NGOs from registering under the Business Incentive Policy, a policy, I must add, that has not been reviewed in over a decade, and as I pointed out in my statement earlier today, Mr. Speaker, the policy is a legal contravention of the Societies Act.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister of Infrastructure indicate to the House when and by what process has the Business Incentive...

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for that. I am looking forward to that briefing, so at this point in time those are all my questions for this area. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Okay, so that is into another activity, so I will wait for that question, there. Thank you to the Minister for that clarification. In regard to the budget, on page 41 we saw an increase for early childhood development and learning of $2.695 million, so can the Minister explain what this huge increase is on? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I thank the Minister for that clarification. So are we going to be going to 17.3 per cent from junior kindergarten to grade 12, or is it going to be a different number? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I've got to come back to this inclusive schooling thing so that I can get a clearer understanding of it. The 17.5 per cent is based on kindergarten to grade 12, and with junior kindergarten, you are putting $881,000 into the program. Is this correct? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. On page 33, contract services went down to $780,000. Can the Minister explain what the change is between 20172018 and 20182019? There is a difference of $107,000.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for that long-winded answer about working with us on the other side of the table. You know, that hallway works both ways. You can actually walk down to our side, too, and when we bring it up, you can actually talk to us about it. I am a little concerned with your answer there, but I will go on to my next question.

Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss not to point out the NWT Societies Act has provisions that clearly articulate that an NGO can be deemed as a corporation by way of registration, yet the BIP application process does not recognize this law...

I thank the Minister for his answer. I am not arguing that it is the best in the world, but we have some problems with it. Let's be honest here. We heard last week that we had problems, and this week we are bringing problems here again, Mr. Speaker.

To be clear, under our current GNWT procurement process, NGOs are excluded from our BIP process. Mr. Speaker, I can certainly see how this can be seen as a level playing field. Can the Minister indicate by what process or methodology do NGOs compete fairly versus a private business in our RFP procurement process?