Caroline Cochrane

Thank you, Madam Chair. On my right is Mr. Martin Goldney. He is the Cabinet secretary and the deputy minister for Executive and Indigenous Affairs. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. If the Member can actually meet with me later and maybe talk, I'm open to talking. I mean we have it in our mandate. It is a priority. We are going to have a working group. Terms of reference will be done. I'm not sure why it's stuck in AIP, which is an agreement-in-principle, because is it the terms of reference we want or an agreement-in-principle? We haven't even settled all the agreements in principle with Indigenous governments. That might end up being a block. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We have a small community fund, actually, that we provide to communities to start their own jobs or skill development. I think that I have said already in this House, when I was the Minister, my difficulty was -- and I have said that vocally, and I will keep saying that -- we tend to throw out money. It's like, "Here's $5 million; spend it," and then people would get two weeks here and two weeks there, and so I have been saying for the last year or so, when I started to realize that this wasn't a good idea, I have been talking to communities and saying, "Instead of...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes, there would be a means test, although I want to clarify. Sometimes means test limit. Low income people can't get into housing, so I am going to be watching that as well very closely because, if someone's making $87,000, I think in Yellowknife, you use 87,000, the philosophy is that they deserve to be in public housing. I never made $87,000 in Yellowknife when I was living in my $40,000 shack, so I need to make sure that, just because people are making less than that, that our government doesn't penalize them and say, you can't do it, because I think people can. We...

Thank you, Madam Chair. The only thing I will say is there are three pots; I am trying to remember what they are. It's capital, operating and maintenance, and wastewater? It has been a while since I've been MACA. Water and sewer. The difficulty that I have noticed over the years is that the communities keep screaming, "We need our $40 million, $40 million, $40 million," but we have almost matched them for the operating and maintenance and the water and sewer. The piece that is left is the capital.

However, what they are not including in that is that MACA has done an awesome job over the years...

I did give many examples of places where Ministers do appoint, and that they are not responsible for employment offers. However, since the request is to have the answer in writing, I will make a commitment to have it in writing, but I also stand by my commitment that, if the Member is still confused, even though he was the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, my offer is still there that we will have someone from the department of Justice sit with the Member and explain the difference between an appointment and an employment contract. Thank you, Mr...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Again, it's all about Indigenous people speaking for themselves. I have committed to actually sit with them, form a working group. They will commit. I, again, will reiterate. I do not want to be the territory that says we got legislation and then the next thing we know is we hear about something major that's happening and Indigenous governments are saying, "But you didn't even consult us."

Put in a legislation act and actually make this a live document are two different things. I'm sad to say, but that is the reality of life. I want more than just an act. I want action...

Thank you, Madam Chair. At this point, I am not sure who would be on the mentorship program. We will have to get back to committee on that, but I think that we are open to have businesses on that. It would make sense. Thank you, Madam Chair. If you want to try the Minister?

She's as passionate as I was in the last Assembly.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The expectation is that we will try to avoid grouping them in, that we will close it by $5 million, recognizing, I know, that we might get challenged that it is not enough money, et cetera. It is the best we can do with the resources we have. Tough decisions have to be made. The territorial government, if we did an assessment of what we are short, I think we would blow ourselves out of the water. I know that the communities always cry $40 million, and I feel it. I also feel our own debt. We have to be realistic within that. Thank you, Madam Chair.