Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister of Finance some questions about how we are using our potential in the satellite industry to grow the knowledge economy. My first question for the Minister is: can the Minister advise the House on what resources have been allocated by this government in its budgets to promote the NWT as a destination of choice for the global remote sensing sector? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I know that the appropriation line for Aurora College is reduced this year. What is the cause for that reduction? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So my question was not: are the obligations of students receiving the scholarship being met? It is: are we actually bringing home the recipients of these scholarships? So, essentially, if the reason we are granting the scholarship is to train more northern workers in this field, is it working? Are we getting people back? Thank you.

As I feared, this is a revenue grab by government, and I'm not one of those Members who are looking for new ways to increase this. I think the federal government has its hands strong on how we can actually raise taxes. My question is this new tax proposal: how much of it are we going to retain and how much of it is going to be clawed back through our funding agreements with Ottawa?

I thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate your allowances. This is confusing, or it was confusing, and hopefully we are a bit closer to understanding all of the issues. For me, the important thing is that the formulas are changing, and that is fine. I would like to ask questions about the early childhood worker scholarship. That is on page 42. The activity is listed as grants to support fulltime, facetoface, postsecondary education in early childhood development at the diploma level or higher. Is the policy intention of this to retain those workers here in the Northwest Territories...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Finally, with the acknowledgment from the federal government that the deadline for the retail models of cannabis distribution have been pushed back, is the Minister open to working with stakeholders and with this side of the House to iron out some of these details to create more opportunities for private sector distribution, for mail order distribution, for co-op distribution, for production of cannabis in the Northwest Territories? Because we have more time to work on this legislation. Is the Minister more open to those discussions and potentially changing the way...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I, too, am going to ask the Minister if he can clarify this budget commitment to increase junior kindergarten funding or the inclusive education side of the junior kindergarten funding, because I am still unclear. The Minister spoke to a lapse in funding that has allowed the department to fully fund inclusive education and that the mains could not be printed in time for us to see that in the document here, so I would like to ask: where can I find the funding that has lapsed?

As one of the Minister's witnesses said, there is lapsed funding, and that is where we are getting...

We have a way forward document that lays out how the government plans to distribute cannabis products in the Northwest Territories, and mail order is an option for those communities that will not have access to cannabis stores. How are we going to tax mail order products? There have been concerns raised about lost revenue. How are we going to tax mail order cannabis?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. That's my point; right? It's support to northern performers, and we need something to do that and be specific in providing that level of support.

I want to be clear for the record today that I am not advocating we reduce funding to festival organizations. They are a very important part of our Northern culture and our communities, and I would never recommend removing any kind of funding from them. What I am talking about is that there is a real need that northern performers, some of them nationally recognized and awardwinning northern performers, have brought forward to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Canada's legislation is moving forward in almost every other jurisdiction, and even though we are moving slower than some, we finally have a "way forward." Public engagement was an important step in understanding the concerns of residents before developing legislation for the Northwest Territories. I don't take issue with that, but it would seem that it was less about engaging our constituents on their opinions and more about legitimizing the government-administered framework for cannabis regulation and retail operation instead of a true, grassroots-based consultation.

C...