David Krutko

Okay. If we can go back to the summary. Page 5-26, Finance, activity summary, office of the comptroller general, grants and contributions, contributions, $14.085 million.

Again, I was more talking of getting professional or constitutional advice from outside the government so it’s not tainted and you can’t be seen as being a government organization getting a legal opinion of the government department. I know that there was a push on in regard to the caribou issue where the Minister of Environment was trying to get the Minister of Justice to basically give them a legal review in regard to ministerial authority over the question about caribou, and I know that was basically requesting that type of a legal opinion. I’d just like to know if there are any legal...

With that I’d like to ask the Minister of Finance if he has any opening comments. Mr. Miltenberger.

Moving onto page 5-23, information item, budget, treasury and debt management, active positions.

Mr. Speaker, another area I think the Minister should seriously look at is the whole area of boarding of the students that have to leave their home communities and go to the regional centres. In Inuvik they had a hostel that was designed for the students from the Beaufort-Delta to go to Inuvik and take high school, which was costing over $400,000 a year. Since that, they’ve revamped the program where they’re basically allowing now for home board, or basically boarding the students with families in Inuvik, which is costing in excess of $200,000. So there’s a surplus of $200,000 somewhere in the...

Mr. Chairman, do we have any long-term locked in contracts in regards to our suppliers in regards to the commitments we have with the Power Corporation and communities in regards to fuel resupply? Do we have long-term contract commitments or is it simply on a year-to-year basis?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of Education since it is Education Week and our theme day on education has just been rolled out here. I think it’s important that there was a government policy made back in the 12th Assembly to implement K to 12 in all communities in the Northwest Territories. Mr. Speaker, some 16 years later we still haven’t fully implemented the policy, in which there’s communities that still don’t have high schools such as the community I represent in Tsiigehtchic. I know that the Beaufort communities are in the same boat.

I think, Mr. Speaker...

Mr. Chairman, in regards to chargebacks, again, with the advancement in telehealth and telemedicine and the possibility of improving health care services in our communities, I think it is important that we have either technicians on the ground or technicians working within the different departments to ensure that we are able to enhance that program and deliver on it, because from what we have seen in communities I have been in in the health centres, in Fort Liard and elsewhere, and talking to the nursing staff that had new equipment brought in, it really improves the delivery of health care...

Thank you. It’s good to develop curriculum and whatnot and put it into the schools, but we have to make it mandatory that people will actually take the course, learn the course and get credits for those courses. What I’d like to know is will those courses, regardless if it’s Northern Studies, Aboriginal studies, that it be mandatory in all high schools in the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

I’d like to thank the Minister for that. As government we are putting a lot of money into government retrofits and conversions in regard to public buildings regardless if we’re talking about schools or government facilities in our communities. I think if we’re talking about expanding outwards into the communities, this again is another area that I feel the department of petroleum products can expand in, and more importantly, look at alternative types of fuels and materials. I’d just like to ask the Minister in regard to doing this type of initiative, is it going to be done in-house or are we...