Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in my Member’s statement today I talked about the relationship of this House and how we propose ideas and sometimes, if not most of the time, we feel like they get shot down. Mr. Speaker, I am going to have questions for the Premier, who I think is best suited for this type of question.
Mr. Speaker, I try to be a stalwart defender of consensus government, but sometimes, if not most of the time, it feels like it’s a one-way valve. I would like to ask the Premier what he does to advocate particular issues on our behalf when we raise them such as new schools or, sorry, we want schools repaired, we want nurses in our health centres. What does he do as a Cabinet policy to help us advocate those issues with those types of boards that are either duly elected or duly appointed? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Premier, Mr. Roland.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We do many things when we advocate on behalf of the Assembly Members, as well as trying to find the balance with the direction that the boards and agencies that deliver the core of our services across the Northwest Territories. So we get involved with the Ministers and the departments to find out where things are sitting and where, for example, strategic plans are put in place or where their capital program is, and we sit down with the expertise from departments and the authorities to make that happen. Believe me, Mr. Speaker, this is all in process of trying to keep the system flowing with the fixed budgets we have to operate in. So it’s challenging to come up with all of the right pieces.
I am sure Ms Lee would love to, for example, have a nurse in every community. We’d love to have a high school in every community, but we are challenged with a budget and our legislation in place around our boards and agencies that are in place. In fact, we did try to do some work in that area and we’ve since halted that area to look at just how we try to do things and clean up some of our legislation. So we’re challenged in those areas, but I continue to work with the Ministers and their boards and agencies at times to try to come up with solutions that would work for us. Thank you.
I come to work just like many of my colleagues and have the attitude of can-do, but it seems like the response from Cabinet is can’t-do. As much as they like to think that they can, most of the responses from them are we can’t. This is why we can’t. The other thing is when it comes to budget money, it seems like they’ve got a big bag of money and then they give us these little scraps to fight over for community issues. Mr. Speaker, the issue comes down to the response of how can we help. Mr. Speaker, is there any type of policy from the Cabinet position about when an MLA raises a particular issue, that the Ministers will help take on and advocate that issue to the boards to make sure they are properly empowered to invoke these ideas? Thank you.
The process we’re involved with and the method of delivery we have in the Northwest Territories, the legislation we operate under, drives to a large degree just the work we can do for the people of the Northwest Territories with a fixed budget. I don’t go in the back room at night and start searching out the money to pay for all of the demands. The demands far outweigh the resources we have available as the Government of the Northwest Territories. So our challenge as Members of the Legislative Assembly as we are through this budget process is do what we can do with what’s available and try to plan out the rest of it as we go forward.
Let’s say the 16th Legislative Assembly, Mr. Speaker, has done some big changes in the way we do business. Rural and remote communities, for example, we are starting to focus on how we deliver those services; the Foundation for Change that the Minister of Health and Social Services is working on. We are talking about delivery of programs and services that will keep us sustainable. We can no longer keep making the requests without also giving us the opportunity to find the resources. We should say that for every Member that decides to make a request, they should also attach a revenue source for that so we can deliver what’s expected of us. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to thank the Premier for highlighting all of Cabinet’s priorities and the issue I raised last week like Mildred Hall, Sisson’s needs renovations and those are the priorities of those school boards. As my colleagues Mr. Krutko and Mr. Menicoche have said, priorities of communities saying they want health nurses. Mr. Speaker, these are priorities that are found, they’re born, developed and brought forward from the communities to this Legislature. Those are the issues. How do we make them priorities of this House? Because Members here are trying to raise priorities in our communities and sometimes, if not most of the time, we don’t see them really reflected in the Cabinet’s budget. Thank you.
This government is very open to input as we develop the business plans of departments. We sit down with Members on the capital program. They are aware of the process. They know that for every year we put a capital plan together, there are many projects that litter that capital planning floor and we don’t have the resources to make it all happen.
Mr. Speaker, what we are putting in place in our communities is not something that should be discarded in a matter of just making a statement to say we don’t do anything. In fact, the capital plan, how we do business, shows we are working with communities to make sure that they have the authority and the resources to do it. We work with our partner the federal government, we are working with industry, we work with communities, we are working with aboriginal governments, but still we have limited resources in what we can do across the Territory. So we’re forced to then try to work in a manner that allows for the flow in the system to work. As projects are required, they are replaced.
I can say, Mr. Speaker, for example the schools in Inuvik, when I was first elected in 1995, were supposed to be replaced in 1997. We’re just starting to see that work get done now. So things at times have to wait their turn to progress and we are all working together to make sure we give the best service to the people of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As you can see the D list keeps growing. Now we add discard to the list and, certainly, defend. Mr. Speaker, I haven’t heard the can-do approach. I have heard the defend, defer, delay, deflect, divide approach. Mr. Speaker, the issue really comes down to this: MLAs, including Cabinet, represent issues raised in our communities that are very, very important. I think those have to be some of the fundamentals that need to go forward, because when an MLA gets elected and they spend their four years in this Legislature, it can be boiled down to many issues are significant to a community. I can tell you from one of my colleagues, a nurse in that community is a paramount issue. That’s the kind of issue I’m talking about and that’s the type of reflection I keep asking about. Where is that can-do approach to meeting those community needs? Thank you.
You know, we talk about where it’s all at and what we’re doing for our communities and how we move things forward. Let me tell you about can-do. Mr. Speaker, in Yellowknife alone, in the capital city, the capital plan as laid out has over $85 million...
Whoa...
...for facilities. So what’s a deflect in that? Where is the deferral in that?
Can-do!
To make those projects go through, other projects had to suffer or wait in line for another year.
Aw.
So we have been stepping up to the plate. We have been delivering and we will continue to do so. It’s not a matter of rhetoric, Mr. Speaker. The proof is in the pudding and this Assembly will pass that pudding come the next day. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Roland. The time for question period has expired. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item 7 on the Order Paper today. Thank you.
---Unanimous consent granted.
