Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister indicated that he has roughly about seven weeks before we decide as to go/no-go or to go forward in terms of this seven weeks to put some discussions on the table in the regions; 70 boards into seven. Can the Minister outline to me exactly the process that the people in the Sahtu region can satisfactorily say, yes, we had a meaningful consultation in terms of looking at this initiative here and we think that this is the way to go? Can the Minister safely say in seven weeks here, come back and say I had a meaningful consultation where people in my communities are saying today no to this initiative. What would make them change their minds in terms of this seven weeks’ length here?
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The lead Minister for refocusing government, the Honourable Michael Miltenberger.
Mr. Speaker, we’ve laid out the timeline to 2010-11. We have a very intensive amount of work that we’re going to conclude by April. I can commit to the Member that as board reform proceeds past April there will be a very thorough consultation process built in to take forward whatever the final decision is on next steps. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The time for question period has expired; however, I will allow the Member supplementary questions. Mr. Yakeleya.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister has indicated that in April he will have some other discussions. I guess what I’m asking here in terms of building from the community from the bottom up and looking at initiatives here in the Sahtu region. I guess I’m asking in terms of what or how many more red flags does this government need, and this Minister need to say this is a no-go process here, we should be looking at something else other than board reform in terms of it moving forward with this government.
Mr. Speaker, the issue of board reform or not is a decision we can make in this House. Decision of board reform, but not 70 to seven but some other configuration is also a decision. We’ve been moving to respond to a priority of the 16th Legislative Assembly. We’ve put forward a concept. We’ve been doing the work to prove it up. April has been determined as a date and the Member will be fully involved in April when we do this review. It’s been indicated that there is a motion coming forward; we’ll be looking to see what that says. It will help clarify the next steps. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I would again request to the Minister in terms of what in theory sounds good but in practical reality is not very good for our region or for the people in the Northwest Territories in terms of this initiative. When the Minister took the Agencies and Boards committee’s recommendations on the inventory, what process did he fail to allude to the Regular Members in the communities that we’re now looking at a Board Reform Initiative? There was a gap missing there. What steps has the Minister not taken?
Mr. Speaker, we believe at this point we’ve taken the steps that we can to advance this initiative. We’ve built in a milestone date, there’s a tremendous amount of work being done. All the senior people from all the involved departments have been involved in the work. We’ve sent out hundreds of packages. We’ve crossed the land, in terms of consulting. I’ve been to a number of regions and met with boards, health and education, so has the Premier, so have the Ministers. We recognize that there’s more work to be done after April, once we decide on next steps. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Item 8, written questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to return to item 7 on the orders, oral questions. Thank you.
---Unanimous consent granted
