Bob Bromley

So I know the Minister is interested in getting going with some things this fiscal year. Is the Minister able to confirm what those programs will be at this time?

Thank you for that information. Just to confirm then, any budget associated with that effort would occur in the Department of the Executive and there isn’t one in Education, Culture and Employment at this time. If that’s the case, that’s all the questions I have on that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. There was one more comment I had on the Minister’s opening remarks, and that was his referral to the Anti-Poverty Strategy. I meant to mention that. I think the department and his staff have shown good leadership and are a very important partner in carrying that strategy forward and I wanted to recognize the good work that the department is doing on that front. It was just a slight miss that I wanted to mention. Mahsi.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess I’m sort of concluding from this that there are no actions planned at this moment in time and the next step will be to review that report and make some recommendations status quo or move forward. Is it likely that we will be seeing that this year and are there dollars available for that sort of activity or where are we with respect to that?

That’s great. I guess I would like to ask the Minister if he does agree that that report is available and we can expect that in the immediate future.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wonder if I could just get the Minister to repeat the last part of that. It sounded like the federal government retains the ability to require that that legislation be unchanged. Maybe I could get some clarity on that one.

My last and final question would be: Given the announcement that we’re going to do a public consultation on a land use and sustainability framework, what funds are available to carry out that consultation and how will it be done? Thank you.

Thanks for the Minister’s remarks there. I guess, how about the money as well? There are now dedicated budgets for a regional board structure. They may be minimal but they are still providing support for limited regional board operations. Devolution negotiations started on the basis of those amounts. Will that money remain in place? The amount? Is this government insisting that the budgets in place before the AIP or at the time of the AIP being signed will be protected for full transfer under the Devolution Agreement?

Thanks for that information. I know there is a sort of bifurcation. There are some responsibilities of this department and then there are responsibilities that accrue to each and every other department as well. So maybe I could get some clarity on what exactly Human Resources is responsible for, and if I could just save time a little bit by also asking if we know what the status is, have we received a fine, how much in the past year and are we anticipating further fines this year. Any crystal ball estimates there? Thank you.

I appreciate the Member’s comments again. I appreciate his understanding of this issue and support as an important issue. I guess I haven’t quite seen the use of two-sided paper yet from departments. I see it pretty good in the Legislative Assembly, though not necessary amongst Ministers’ statements this morning, but I think we are on track in the Legislative Assembly at 50 percent or greater reductions and certainly the electronics are happening, but I’m still not getting the feeling that it’s happening routinely within departments, unless maybe it’s going over at the Ledge. Occasionally...

That’s all the questions I have, and I appreciate Mr. Guy’s comments there. I understand that this is not the mandate of this department. They’re providing that service in the absence of proper responsibility by other parts of government. I appreciate that service. I know our communities do too. I’ll be working with the Minister of MACA to see what we can do to take that off your hands. Thank you.