Bill Braden

You know, Mr. Chairman, I think the town of Fort Simpson really deserves better, much, much better from this government in terms of assessing what we know is a vital piece of infrastructure for this community as well as for our government. The Minister has told us some of the history of trying to get a solution and get resolve on a plan that would suit everybody, and he hasn’t been able to do so. The issue for me is the amount of time that the future and the issues regarding this building have been in play. I guess that’s the question I would like to ask, Mr. Chairman, or start asking, is...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Similar to Mr. Ramsay’s concerns, I was looking at the quantity both in terms of the number of projects and the dollar value that seems to be kind of accumulating from one year to the next and there is a trend, Madam Chair, based on a kind of a preliminary analysis that proves to me that we are, if you will, losing ground in this area and at least for the last three years the trend is that most projects are lapsing and more money is accumulating on the carryovers. While on one hand certainly there’s a number of circumstances that we need to look at and accept, and I’m...

Mr. Chairman, thank you. I will not be supporting the motion until I receive the information. I was very much prepared to see this money deleted from the bill. I guess related to the experience that we have already suffered as a consequence of CATSA’s approach to this kind of thing and the department’s ability to pass these costs on to consumers through more fees, Mr. Chairman, I am more prepared to say that the general revenue of the Government of the Northwest Territories should take this hit rather than it being passed on yet again to consumers. That is my reason for not supporting the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That’s a very useful answer. It gives me some indication that, you know, perhaps we should not be quite so literal, if you will, in saying, look, simply increase this deduction. There may be other ways that we can actually get Canada to recognize there’s a higher cost of living here, but also that there may be other ways of achieving that end objective. I’m wondering, you know, where the Premier said this has been put on the back burner, is it still on the radar screen though? Is this still something that there is a collective will to do something with, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you very much. I appreciate the information. That is all the questions and comments I had, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess I am looking for some ballpark figures here where we do know that there are at least based on the three percent increment that I believe was allowed Members. This is taken from the Collective Agreement with the Union of Northern Workers. What is the CPI now; two and a half percent? Mr. Chair, my objective here is to be able to say to the public, okay, we think that increasing the costs for the Legislative Assembly under these criteria will result in a certain percentage of increase. What is that percentage of increase?

Mr. Speaker, I, too, will speak in favour of his motion and I compliment my colleague Mr. Menicoche for picking this up in his travels and bringing it to us for our consideration.

Mr. Speaker, Ms. Lee has already referenced this Assembly, this Chamber, as an outstanding example. As I was thinking geographically around the Northwest Territories, I think one of the very few examples of a public building that has made an effort to bring the art of its peoples into the building and not just in the sense of hanging something on a wall or putting something in a display case, but truly bringing the...

Mr. Speaker, the $40 million that is now under review for investment, $35 million of which at the community level, was something that I believe was extended to this government and our sister territories really, Mr. Speaker, as a down payment toward the establishment of a new deal with Canada, not so much something that was going to be looked at as a payoff, if you will. Here is some money; take it and have some fun. This is a down payment, a promise toward a better deal with Canada. What are we doing to continue these negotiations, Mr. Speaker, and to make this a reality?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to address some questions to Premier Handley. This is in relation to the ongoing and, perhaps this is the point of my question, Mr. Speaker, whether or not there is indeed any ongoing activity related to the Northern Strategy process.

Mr. Speaker, indeed, we have seen some positive things flow from this, not the least of which was the $120 million fund that the previous government set aside for all three territories. We are now, in fact, going through the process in deciding how to invest our $40 million. The Council of the Federation and the expert...

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. About a year and a half ago, all three territorial governments and Canada agreed that the North needs a new deal with Canada. A very interesting process was created, Mr. Speaker, called Developing your Northern Strategy. It was an initiative that was launched by the previous federal government, again at the urging and with the collaboration of all three territorial governments. It canvassed many residents, Mr. Speaker, and solicited government involvement. It was something that I think we all entered into realizing that this was not going to be the golden answer to all...