Shane Thompson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In an effort to promote discussion about the economic future of the Deh Cho region, Dehcho First Nations and the Dehcho Economic Corporation have joined forces to hold a conference in Fort Simpson.

Dubbed the Dehcho Economic Readiness Forum, the conference will run from March 27 to 30, and aims to bring together community leaders, youth, and Aboriginal businesses.

The goal of the Dehcho Readiness Forum is to evaluate, educate, and strengthen our communities, and the Dehcho region's business knowledge, for current and future economic opportunities and growth. Development...

I thank the Minister for his answer. That was good to hear. With this new money, will this money be put out April 1st, and are we ready to go?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for his answer. I guess I am just a little concerned that we are not being proactive in looking at this at the very beginning. I understand that the department is trying to get these fees implemented, but there are these hidden costs that people are not aware of and that should be looked at. Is the department willing to look at capping this administration fee at 4 per cent, which is a standard administration fee? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the Minister for his commitment to get back. We are hearing different numbers out there, so it would be really nice to see what the percentage of this is. Mr. Speaker, with a percentage of this money going to the airlines, which we have heard in the news, how long did the department know about this, and why wasn't this part of the information package out to the public as they were promoting this new initiative?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. About two years ago a new teacher arrived in Fort Liard and noticed the youth lived, ate, and breathed soccer. As she got to know the students and the community, she realized one of the students had the opportunity to go to England for a soccer camp and a tour the previous summer. This seemed to be the talk of the community and the school.

Mr. Speaker, this led to the idea of a school trip outside of Canada. After checking with her fellow teachers, the DEA, the DDEC, community members, and the older students, it was decided that this would be a great idea. After a lot of...

I appreciate the Minister's answer and look forward to hopefully implementing this. However, as we are talking about the plans, it can be a long process. What will happen if this government does not utilize all of this money? Where does this money go?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today the Finance Minister provided some information to the public and to us in the House about increases to the budget. In one of the lines, it says that we will increase the budget for homecare for $2.5 million. Through the whole process, we started at $1.5 million, so can the Minister of Health and Social Services please advise this House what this extra $1 million amount is going to be allocated for in homecare? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I thank the Minister for that answer. I understand what they were trying to do. I just didn't know this fee existed, and I don't know a lot of people probably did know that. Mr. Speaker, as the honourable Member for Kam Lake spoke about the airline collecting these fees and charging administration fees, has the department agreed to a percentage that the government is going to accept the airlines to do it, or is this something that the airlines actually impose on the government for collecting these fees?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday, my colleague the honourable Member for Kam Lake was talking about the user fees and landing fees being proposed by infrastructure, the new potential infrastructure department. They talk about between $8 and $10 million going to be potential new revenue. In regards to the $10 million or this money being proposed to be collected by the new airport fees, how much is this going to be coming from the GNWT's medical travel and GNWT businesses? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Hopefully just one question. The Minister probably already knows what I am going to ask. Other program costs, could he explain what that is under the Mackenzie Valley fibre link? Thank you, Mr. Chair.