Bill Braden

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My question is for Mr. Dent as Minister of Education, Culture and Employment and it concerns this government’s support, hopefully continuing support, for a pretty important part of infrastructure in this community and that is the building leased to the YWCA, the Rockhill Apartments. Madam Speaker, this houses a number of families and some of them in crisis and on emergency basis and other programs the YWCA provides. The lease that this government has arranged with the Y is coming to an end about two years from now, but it is a very important facility of the Y and...

Mahsi, Madam Speaker. May I, too, add my thanks and my admiration and my congratulations to the community of Hay River for the fantastic job of hosting the track and field competitions.

---Applause

It was a real joy to be there yesterday at the opening ceremonies.

Madam Speaker, earlier today the Premier spoke some remarks and one of them was in respect to our style of government. The Premier said that our style of government is routed in traditional systems of consensus, a foundation of trust, and the aboriginal values of mutual respect and understanding. I hope, Madam Speaker, that I, too...

Abused, disabused. We’re being badly let down in this case. That is the point I want to make. I want to ask the Minister, does he accept that the normal conventions and the rules that we understand we’re operating under here were not followed in this case? Does the Minister accept that the rules were not followed in this case?

Okay. So $2.4 million being shifted from an approved project for Yellowknife to a different community is within Cabinet’s tolerance of saying we don’t have to bother telling anybody. Is that true? Have I got that right?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Respecting committee’s normal process here of saving detailed or specific questions to that item on the page, I will not be talking specifically to the Territorial Treatment Centre project, but it sets the context for the questions that I have and that is related to what Mr. Ramsay was speaking about and questions earlier today in the House.

We have protocols that we have worked hard to develop in this House and in this consensus approach that we try to take here. As plans are formulated, developed and eventually approved in this Assembly and anticipated and expected...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. We are about two months into the new fiscal year now. There must have been some months in the past fiscal year that the government had new information and changed its mind about something but didn't tell us. Will the Minister tell this Assembly today what was it, several months ago obviously, that caused Cabinet to change its mind about the investment in the TTC here in Yellowknife? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. My questions this afternoon are for the Minister of Finance and this is in relation to the decision to move the Territorial Treatment Centre to Hay River. Madam Speaker, this Assembly in the last fiscal year, 2004-05, approved an expenditure for the Territorial Treatment Centre here in Yellowknife. I wonder if the Minister could give us a bit of background. What was the amount of money that was approved and what was the status of that project as approved by this Assembly for the last fiscal year? Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Mr. Chairman, I am afraid I won’t oblige some of my colleagues with letting this one go quite yet. This motion is proposed, from my point of view, for a number of reasons. We have had considerable dialogue here over many days, every day of this session, and I am not going to spend any more time going over ground in any detail. I am going to try to give some highlights though, Mr. Chairman.

When I first offered some remarks in a media interview for this, I indicated support for the idea as has been mentioned that was brought before committee and has been attached to the need for upgrading this...

On this line of questioning, Mr. Chair, I am looking at part of the Financial Administration Act I believe under FMBS’s authority here regarding budget adjustments and transfers. This is a guideline or a set of rules that was created in November 2003, not that long ago. Copies are being produced and will be circulated shortly, Mr. Chair.

Ms. Lee pointed out a requirement on item 5.4 d) that says, "When a department makes any adjustment to a capital project that significantly affects the scope…$100,000 or 20 percent…the responsible Minister will advise the appropriate MLA or Standing Committee...

You know, okay, I’m really trying to keep an open mind and an open pair of ears on this, but, Mr. Chairman, the department asked for permission to spend $2.4 million in Yellowknife. It could have well been any other project, any other community. Then along came, for whatever reason, a change in plan, but nothing was said. We approved that project to happen in Yellowknife. Now they’re coming back without any prior information or notice or advisories to us at all and saying we want to re-approve the same project -- in fact, for more money, almost 50 percent more money -- in a different...