Bob Bromley

Again, these dollars that we’re transferring to communities are investments. I am the first to get in line in terms of transferring responsibilities to our communities. We want to do it in a responsible way and I know when I make investments personally, and I suspect most people do this, they make sure that it’s done in a responsible manner and in a manner that gets the better dollar for the buck, the best value for the dollar; recognizing, of course, that you are not just making the investments for the benefit only of the entity that’s receiving the dollars. You have the benefits of all of...

I appreciate the Minister’s confidence in the communities and so on, but you need to base that on evidence. It may be improving, but it’s improving very slowly, as evidenced by, for example, the completion of I believe it’s three community energy plans out of our 33 communities.

We are finessing our communities into a fossil fuel future and that is something we can no longer tolerate as a society. We know what the costs are. There is no excuse for that anymore. Simply putting in these building standards will plug that hole immediately and bring immediate benefits to the communities.

We know...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Committee wishes to go on to the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I suppose the departure tax might be in line with some of the discussion that the Minister is having with the mines and so on to try to capture the entrance and exit of people from the Territories as they come to and fro from work. Will the Minister commit to leading the charge for ensuring that these measures are put together in an integrative and complementary way so we can enjoy the fullest range of benefits from them when we do put them in place? Will he recognize their relationship to each other and ensure that they take advantage of that opportunity? Mahsi.

Very good news to hear about the heritage fund intent. I’m happy to hear that some work is being done on the resource tax. Of course, times change and, as I say, there has been quite a shift, as well, in our thinking on the resource tax that, of course, would not affect the cost of living.

The tax shifting is of interest, though. Studies show that when taxes are lowered for low and middle income people, the money is spent priming the economy and improving standards of living. The studies also show that high income earners who get tax cuts spend their money on imported goods or they put it into...

Only recognizing the carbon content of fuels has proven to be an effective incentive to adopt operating measures that reduce greenhouse gas production and enhance vulnerability to taxes. Accompanying this must be an array of measures to assist people and businesses to shift from fossil fuels to the viable proven renewable energy uses that provide enhanced local employment opportunities, lower living costs and reduce harm to our environment.

Mr. Speaker, these measures taken together yield benefits on all fronts. They complement each other and must be advanced together. Some can start at low...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We continue to discuss options for new revenues, and in light of the recovering economy and full scaling up of production at our mines, it is timely, indeed, to be instituting new measures. Through consultations by the Department of Finance, many discussions by the public and comments by several Members, a clear consensus has emerged that more progressive tax measures are needed.

I believe a first priority is to implement a resource income tax to serve us until devolution of responsibilities is achieved. We have the capacity now to implement such a tax in a moderate way...

I appreciate those comments and that update. My last question here is we seem to be getting pretty wet seasons and certainly our falls have become quite wet compared to what they used to be with a lot of freeze/thaw cycles to it. We’ve had a good amount of work going with the Ingraham Trail, some work on the Dettah road and the Highway No. 3 and so on. Are there any observations or insights being collected on what this means to the cost of our capital projects and transportation in the Yellowknife region? Thank you.

That’s an amazing turnaround from what I had been told previously. Somehow we’re getting a cost efficiency of about 300 percent, which is wonderful news.

The Minister committed to me some time ago in the House that he would provide me with the plan and the full costing for the entire reconstruction of the Dettah road in preparation for chipsealing. I’ve never received that, but I understand from Mr. Neudorf that perhaps that work is still going on. I’d be happy to provide Hansard, if that’s of interest, but I’m still very interested in that and I’m encouraged to hear that perhaps we can do it...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’d like to start with the access road to Dettah. I’m wondering if the Minister could provide me with an update on what is being achieved this year and what the budget will cover for next year. Thank you.