Debates of June 2, 2005 (day 7)

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, today is my last day in the House for this session, and it’s still EDAP day as far as I am concerned.

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Transparency, in my opinion, has been far beyond weak, it’s more like pathetic when it comes to finding out who is receiving grants and what scenarios and why. Madam Speaker, it took a week to produce a paper to say if you make more money you get less of a grant; if you make less money you get more of a grant. It took a week to produce this and this doesn’t say anything other than the obvious, Madam Speaker. It does not say if you have a family you should get a bigger grant. It does not say anything along the lines of deadlines and telling people they are forced to spend a certain amount of money within a certain amount of time. It says nothing about the fact that we may have given someone who is a single family who is not in public housing money, or that could be just a single person as well. We have no idea as to what the facts are to this program other than the fact that we have a line item that says $72,000 was spent in the program, take me at good faith. That has not produced anything, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker, true transparency…They are using the word confidentiality. Well I sought out information and legal advice on confidentiality. Well when we have 14 recipients we have no idea who they are, so they could describe what their incomes are. Were they public housing people? Maybe they weren’t. We don’t know. We have to take everybody on good faith. We haven’t solved a single thing on this other than the fact that the government has found stall tactics and pressure tactics to keep me away from asking these questions and I am personally offended by that, Madam Speaker.

The duty of the Minister offended me yesterday on a personal level because he knew that there were some mistakes, and we called them clerical mistakes, in the information that was provided, and yet I am 200 feet away and I could have been informed. I think that’s a personal insult to me, Madam Speaker.

So, Madam Speaker, this has not gone away and I would like to know more and I will be asking more and I certainly hope that the questions are not taken as notice again today, because I think the people of the Northwest Territories would like some true transparency on this program in regard to simple scenarios that are not confidential by describing why people in certain situations received grants and why so few receive such high grants. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

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