Bill Braden

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess I would ask, is this really all in Minister Prentice’s hands? I think this is a process that all three territories undertook, as well, in good faith. We made investments in it and I remember considerable discussion among our committees and at levels of this Legislature. Do we have a new northern vision process under Minister Prentice, or is it, in reality, a continuation of the Northern Strategy process that we have already agreed to and already put significant investment in, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the past few minutes I have seen a constituent of mine, Mr. Lee Selleck in the gallery and I would like to welcome him to the Assembly. Thank you.

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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...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions this morning are for the Minister of Finance and perhaps FMBS, and this relates to the arrangements that our government has with many non-government organizations in the delivery of services for our government, Mr. Speaker. Very recently, the voluntary sector and our government put together a study on this area and the study poses a number of very useful questions. I think they’d do well to be heard in the Assembly this morning. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask, for instance, what policy or legislative change or program guidelines would enable more NWT...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to table a report entitled Toward New Voluntary Sector -Government of the NWT. Let me start over again, Mr. Speaker. Toward New Voluntary Sector - Government of the NWT Relationships and Funding Arrangements. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Right. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, the Minister doesn’t see this from my perspective. We may end up with a lot of people trained in conversions and some aspects of how to look after and fix or convert a house. I am talking about something on the ground here, so that we are not exporting our manufacturing jobs to Calgary, that we are keeping them here in the Northwest Territories. That’s what I mean by an industry, Mr. Speaker. That’s what I am looking for. Will we use this as a springboard to create our own industry?

Okay. Thank you. The Minister did a great job of confirming everything that I said in my introduction here, but the question was once we get to the point, as the GNWT…The Minister is going to be bringing a request for an allocation to us for a commitment for tens, and potentially for the long run, hundreds of millions of dollars. I am going to want to know that that is a solid deal and I am going to want independent analysis. Will the Minister enable that to happen before he comes to this Assembly to seek authorization for those commitments; an independent analysis, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The process is well defined and well understood even with some of its problems, but I guess what I am looking for, Mr. Speaker, is a clear understanding and an acceptance of the fact that NGOs are really being squeezed by a tough job market. What is our readiness to step up to the plate and help them continue to survive, Mr. Speaker?