Bob Bromley

I understand we’re approving $6.8 million. Is that recognizing the value of the bonds have dropped that much?

I wasn’t writing and hearing fast enough, but did I hear $8.6 million was our base for this year and the $2.864 is on top of that? Thank you.

Sorry, Mr. Chair. I’m just not quite there yet. We are re-evaluating things and so is this a transfer. No. This is a net cost. No, it’s not a net cost either. Maybe if I could ask for a little more explanation. I know there’s a straightforward explanation. Thank you.

Thank you. Obviously, we have approved the budget for ‘13-14. So I assume Mr. Aumond just talked about the ‘14-15 year?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to begin by just getting a bookkeeping item out of the way. In the opening address by the Commissioner and again yesterday, the Premier referred to the NWT as a hydroelectric superpower rivaling Quebec or James Bay, as the case may be. That’s just not so. Quebec’s current installed production is 35 megawatts. Quebec’s potential production exceeds 120 megawatts. The NWT Hydro Strategy estimates the potential NWT hydro at 11.5 megawatts. So Quebec is more than 10 times the NWT’s and its current production is more than three times of our total potential.

Why is...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. This is for increased costs for medical travel. I just want to know what our total budget for medical travel is. That’s obviously a substantial increase, but perhaps not if the total medical travel budget is very large. Thank you.

Thank you. I can only conclude that the department’s response to the Auditor General that the audit tool would be in place by January 2013 has not been done. So I welcome the Minister to correct me on that, if that’s the case. That would be obviously disappointing.

In my statement I outlined the case of a local social service agency that sends one of a few staff members to accompany clients to appointments if they find out one particular income support worker has been assigned to the application. Based on their experience, they know the applicant is in for a rude and demeaning experience. So...

Am I correct, then, in assuming that we approved a similar amount last year, probably a little bit less for the increase last year?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my Member’s statement earlier today with questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. The 58 percent failure rate on case files in income security with a $15 million annual budget is horrifying. In over half the files, we don’t know if public money was properly accounted for. So we’re failing in our basic duty to get the best use of funds and put them where they are most needed, but we are also failing in our intent to reduce the potential for human suffering.

Part of the department response to the report says ECE had not...

Sorry. I dragged off there. To see what will be recovered through the Disaster Relief Fund. I know it won’t cover all, but I think we were hoping it will cover a lot of it. If I can just get that completed.