Bob McLeod

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to advise this House that the government has listened to the feedback we have received to date from Members about Junior Kindergarten.

In an effort to respond to what Members have told us, while at the same time not wanting to disrupt parents and schools that are in the midst of delivering Junior Kindergarten, we have made the following decision.

Without changing the current funding approach to Junior Kindergarten, it will be completely voluntary for any of the 23 communities now offering Junior Kindergarten to continue with the program this year. If they choose, they...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I indicated in the letter, I said the funding model would remain the same for years one and two, which is 2015-16 and 2016-17. The reason for that is we have 23 communities that have implemented Junior Kindergarten. As the Members have requested that we review that immediately and so we have to determine how many of those will no longer participate in the Junior Kindergarten program. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As I explained to committee and as the Member will be very pleased to know, all of the members of the Intergovernmental Council are very committed to transparency and all of the intergovernmental leaders have agreed to make meeting outcomes available, and leaders also recognize the need to be open and transparent and available and open to the press, their constituents and their fellow leaders within their governments. As I offered, there are ways around this observer thing. All of the governments have agreed to limit their participation to three members at the council. As I suggested in the...

The tax collection agreement between the Northwest Territories and Canada requires that both jurisdictions use the same definition of taxable income. A northern resident deduction increase would reduce federal and territorial personal income tax revenue. In our forensic review, the 2008 increase in the northern resident deduction raised the maximum deduction to $6,022.50. At the highest combined federal and territorial tax rate of 43.5 percent, the $547.50 increase would provide annual savings of $235 for tax filers claiming the maximum $6,022.50. The Government of the Northwest Territories’...

The Member seems to be opposed to the fact that we assisted all of the clientele that use energy to the tune of $20 million and we’re hearing people are leaving the North because of that, and I’m very prepared to adhere to the principles and I gather that the Member is as well. So, thank you.

We have a protocol that we developed amongst all of us in this Legislative Assembly and we conformed to the protocol measures. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Of course, it would be cheapest to barge or buy it on the offshore and bring it in by tanker and deliver it by barge to the communities. Obviously, if you truck, the more times you handle the molecules, the more expensive it is. We also, in a large part of the communities, can only bring it in once a year. Thank you.

I think it’s fortuitous that our Finance Minister is starting his round of budget consultations so he can hear directly from the people. I think going back to, I guess, the old days, if I can use that terminology, where everybody was independent. They went out and got their own country food. They cut their own wood. It was a full-time job making sure they had food on the table. They could grow their vegetables, they’d set nets to catch fish, they’d go do their fall fishery and so on. That was the only way that they could afford to live in those communities, because nobody had power and nobody...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve been looking at finding ways to reduce the cost of living for a long time. There are no silver bullets in doing that. The biggest cost for the average homeowner or family is cost of energy, so we think an Energy Charrette will help us find a way to do exactly what the Member is suggesting. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We are looking at both, Mr. Speaker. Short-term, what can we do in terms of conservation and so-called low-hanging fruit and also the longer term approach to power generation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.