Kieron Testart

Mr. Speaker, your Standing Committee on Government Operations is pleased to provide its record on transition matters and commends it to the House. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that Committee Report 37-18(3) be deemed read and printed in Hansard in its entirety. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise to speak on the subject of tax incentives. Tax incentives are an effective way to stimulate and encourage certain types of economic behaviour for both the private sector and households alike. In the NWT, we have, on average, a 97-percent tax filing rate for residents, which means that any changes to the tax code will directly affect almost all Northerners, and if we do it right, tax breaks will put more money into the pockets of Northerners.

We, as a territory, need to address the deficiency of investment capital flowing into the jurisdiction, among other...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. When I ran to represent the people of Kam Lake, one of my commitments was to advocate for new infrastructure investment in all of our northern communities. At that time, I called for $24 million to be invested in community public infrastructure over a four-year period. Each capital budget, I recommended this funding be allocated to our municipalities.

Unfortunately, apart from an additional $2 million, $2 million in additional funding, there has not been much change in GNWT capital budgets, and communities remain under-funded to the tune of more than $30 million. This...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that Committee Report 37-18(3), Standing Committee on Government Operations Report on Transition Matters, be received and adopted by the Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to recognize Chief Ed Sangris. I haven't had the chance to congratulate him in person, so I am doing it now. You are getting a lot of love today, Chief, and it is well-deserved. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The subject matter of this report is near and dear to the hearts of the business community in my riding of Kam Lake. I am regularly copied on e-mails from many businesses who are involved with government procurement, expressing their frustration around procurement practices. I have raised many of those issues on the floor of this House, asked questions in question period. Unfortunately, the answers received often ended in "We don't have problems with procurement. We don't have problems with BIP. We will explore options, but we think everything is fine." That didn't sit...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Committee would like to consider Committee Report 34-18(3): Standing Committee on Social Development Report on the Review of Bill 45: Corrections Act; Bill 45: Corrections Act; Committee Report 29-18(3): Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment Report on the Perceptions Held by Northern Businesses toward the Government of the Northwest Territories' Procurement Processes; and Committee Report 32-18(3): Standing Committee on Economic Development Committee Report on the Process Used for Devolution Legislative Initiatives. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I reflected on the Minister's recent statement on the new strategy, the waste strategy that is coming out, and I think there are a lot of good details in that. How is the department adapting to the lack of recycling facilities? My honourable friend from Nahendeh raised this, as well. Could the department's regional offices, through ENR regional offices, be used as collection points for recycling? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member's statement, I talked about how one of the issues raised around sustainable was the single use plastic ban that the federal government intends to bring forward across the country. I'm just wondering if the Minister responsible for, I believe, Environment and Natural Resources in this case has had any discussions with his federal counterparts on how the single-use plastic ban will impact the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I rise on a multifaceted issue that several constituents have brought to my attention: single-use plastics and the sustainability of our economy and environment. Earlier this year, the federal government announced its intention to ban single-use plastics by 2021. This would be following suit to many jurisdictions around the world which have been responding to the appalling amount of plastic waste clogging waterways, polluting lands and water sources, poisoning our food, and killing marine life en masse.

I am happy to see that the GNWT has announced the beginning of...