Daryl Dolynny

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To put the Minister’s answer in context, this was a response done in camera, so I can’t believe we are talking about that in the House here. But I can tell you that, quite frankly, Ordinary Members have not seen this report yet, so we are talking about a report that is still not before the House or before Members, and what we know is that I can’t comment on something we haven’t seen.

NTPC is the only organization set to gain anything from the expropriation of Northland Utilities, and yet the Minister of Finance claims to open up competition. Yet it is he who writes the...

I was trying to find an answer in that to my question. The issue will be eventually if NTPC is successful, we are going to be talking about taxpayers’ money, and I think we need to come back to the point of the question.

To change things up a bit, I would like to take a moment to ask the Minister about a report, a report that the Minister has been referencing publicly in this House at a recent energy charrette and in media, whereas the Minister has more or less summarized that having one electricity distributor in the North will be more cost effective and can lower rates.

Can the Minister...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The past 48 hours has been host to a power struggle, a fight, not based on improving electricity rates or lowering our cost of living but a war of ego and ministerial legacy building.

I want to take this opportunity to speak about not what I believe is a legitimate RFP process in Hay River, but an ad that appeared in this week’s newspaper suggesting this government’s intention is to expropriate Northland Utilities, a successful, northern, private company, 60 years’ history, 50 percent owned by 27 Dene First Nations, and sure enough, today this Cabinet responded...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would like to thank the Minister for bringing some clarity to the House and bringing some clarity to the committee with the report. I know the Minister has made offerings a number of times in his dissertation earlier about coming back in 120 days with a more fulsome report to us. That said, there was and there is a bit of a strained relationship currently, and I think our report factored that in with the standing committee. There were a lot of moving parts in the last couple of years since 2009, and our attempt was to try to find at least some commonality where language...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate Ms. Bisaro for bringing this motion forward. To not repeat many of the concerns that she has, as well as other committee members shared, this was a very problematic issue for the standing committee, which really has a very legitimate mandate to do this type of oversight. We are saddled with the ability to review all the policymaking and program on languages, so committee was very concerned. I think that was reflected in our report, almost to the point where there was a disregard for the committee in trying to get a firm answer with respect to the 2009 review...

  Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. Does committee agree?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s still not clear here. I am led to believe, from what we’ve heard today and what we hear from yesterday, is that the $24 rate per day has not changed for Yellowknife since 1996. Again, if we were just to apply simple math of 1.83 percent compounded annually over the 19-year period, that would be a 41.25 percent increase in that rate, or should be, applied to that rate, so that at a minimum, that number should be at least $33.90 per day.

Would the Minister at least consider raising the per diem rate for Yellowknife for foster families to at least $33.90 per day?

Mr. Speaker, I’m not sure if I got an answer to the standards of care of delivering foster care. I’ll maybe ask that question another time.

I also noted in that 2014 Auditor General report there was a chronic shortage of foster care families, and this shortage continues today. Maybe the shortage is somehow financially linked. Again, we’ve heard from the Minister that the rates have changed from 2007.

Can the Minister indicate where is the rate for Yellowknife? It was at $24. Where is the rate today?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we draw to a close another Legislative session, through you, Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this time to thank all the dedicated people who work behind the scenes at the Legislative Assembly who support the Members and the Ministers to do our day-to-day jobs. Without them democracy would be definitely crippled.

I’d like to thank all the Pages here and all the Pages during this session. Thank you for keeping us hydrated. Without you these days and nights would have been a bit longer and a bit more thirsty. So, thank you very much and good job passing those notes...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that this committee recommends that the Department of Education, Culture and Employment work closely with the Standing Committee on Government Operations to revise and bring forward its legislative proposal for amendments to the Official Languages Act in the life of this Assembly;

And further, if the department has received any legal opinions related to the issue of federal concurrence with changes to the NWT’s Official Languages Act, this information should be shared in confidence with the Standing Committee on Government Operations, so that the department and the...