Bill Braden

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To this topic of the lawsuit, I appreciate that the matter is before the courts. The Minister indicated that this has been underway for more than four years now. Would he be prepared to advise committee of whether or not we are at all close to a resolution? Can we anticipate that we will be able to see this remedied or resolved in the near future? Thank you.

Okay. So we started with $15 million, we have now run over that. What were the principle drivers, Mr. Chairman? What caused us to use this $15 million reserve up in this past year? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. To the bill, I am speaking in favour of this bill, but like the one that we just passed, Mr. Chairman, with little enthusiasm, even less than the one before. The advantage of the benefits of this bill, which would obviously be for people in the higher earning brackets are quite real and quite tangible. This is much more of an initiative that we, as a government, are taking of our own volition. Part of what we see as an available opportunity to raise some more revenue, not a lot of revenue, but it is one that the Finance Minister obviously has enough conviction that...

That's all for now. I may have other questions later on but thank you, Madam Chair, that's all.

Mr. Speaker, I am afraid I am going to have to use my second question to repeat my first one. What are the issues or the problems that require the creation of yet another governing body in support of recreation? I would really like to know why this organization has to be brought forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Sport and recreation and healthy lifestyles are more and more critical to our society, to the health of our population, to our enjoyment of this great land. We have many wonderful and successful partnerships in this between governments at all levels, between businesses here in the Northwest Territories, and, of course, a huge body of very dedicated and committed volunteers. Over time, though, Mr. Speaker, we have seen a number of different bodies come into existence and be recognized by government for some part or other in the sport and recreation milieu. There are, I...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I will look forward to that. Tabling it is a very good gesture. It extends to the public a message that we welcome their input into it as well. I would leave with one final comment. If a proposal comes before the Board of Management that we are going to pay for parking out of money that is earmarked for cultural enhancement, then I will steadfastly oppose it. If we are going to be serious about parking and we are going to be serious about culture, then we can find that there is a distinction between the two of them. That I am sure will come along in future...

Thank you for that information. Mr. Speaker, this annual review of the cost of a furnished two-bedroom apartment, how is that review done? Is it done independently of people in the Legislative Assembly here? Who is commissioned for that work? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item 19. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

One of the things we all cope with in this age of technology is information overload. One of the prime duties of a good consultation and communication program is editing and narrowing the message, clarifying the questions. In this light, we also have all sorts of existing programs going on that are constantly being asked about or looked at in terms of evaluating. I would like to ask in this context, what kind of process or formula does the government use to monitor and check on existing programs and policies to make sure we are on the right track?