Mr. Speaker, this morning when I was walking into the Legislative Assembly I saw two signs stuck in the snowbank. There are now dozens out there. One of the signs said, “super boards is super bad.” The other said, “one board does not fit all.” I have to say that I agree with these signs. The protesters who placed those signs outside of this Legislature are right. They hit the nail square on the head.
Over the last several months, there has been a lot of concern raised about this Cabinet’s direction to move forward with board reform focussing on going from 70 boards to seven using the Tlicho model as basis. In my opinion, that blind devotion to this model for every region in the NWT is a huge mistake. Fortunately, on Monday, February 16, 2009, the lead Minister of the Strategic Initiative Committee on Refocusing Government seemed to backtrack from that position. According to the unedited Hansard of February 16th, Minister Miltenberger said, “Board reform is a work in progress. The issues are complex and it will take time to develop our plans and to implement any changes. We have stated in the past that this may end up taking on different forms in different regions.”
To me this suggested that Cabinet was finally moving away from the preconceived model from 70 to seven, which is what I wanted to hear. This message was strengthened by comments by Minister Lee in today’s Yellowknifer where she indicated that this is a work in progress; nothing is predetermined. To me, these comments from the Ministers suggested that they might be open to a healthy debate, that they might be willing to see reason and listen to the people in the NWT who are concerned about the dedicated direction the Cabinet is taking with respect to board reform.
Unfortunately, the good feeling didn’t last long. This morning while driving to work, I listened to an interview on the radio with Minister Miltenberger. I was incredibly disappointed to hear the Minister tell the reporter that we think we can go from 70 to seven and we are prepared to have a discussion. We want to meet towards that, but how we get there and let’s get some consultation and feedback on that. Mr. Speaker, these comments fly in the face of the Minister’s comments on Monday. They are completely contradictory. What is the real message we are trying to send? To me, the message is clear. The Minister is still committed to going from 70 to seven. The decisions have already been made. The preferred model has been selected regardless of facts or research.
Once again, the voices of the people and the Regular MLAs aren’t being heard. It’s Supplementary Health Benefits Program changes all over again. When will Cabinet realize that they are here to represent the people of the NWT, not to do whatever they want, when they want and how they want? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
