Floyd Roland

Mr. Speaker, there are a lot of Cabinet committees that are established that look at budgetary issues, legislation, policy. There is no joint committee process. There are a number of areas we’ve worked with; for example, Members on the climate change piece have put that together. There has been the Mackenzie Gas Project joint committee. So those things we can be looking at to salvage.

There are some areas where, as we’re getting underway with the new way of doing our budgeting process, those strategic initiatives fit at this time. I’ve said to Members already that once we have that up and going...

Mr. Speaker, when we prepare our business plans and go to committees to get responses back — recommendations, input on how it’s being put together — in the end, when we sit down, Ministers, specifically, will have to explain the priorities and the criteria set. We’re continuing down that road in the sense of making sure they’re prepared and have the information and justification as to what happened.

The example the Member has used on chipsealing Highway No. 5, that’s not part of the Building Canada Fund; that’s a different fund that’s been in place for quite a number of years and was also in...

We are open to looking at ways where we can mitigate the impact of the cost of living in the Northwest Territories. What we do and the impact of what we do is something we have to look at.

The research we’ve done to date shows, in some of these cases, if you set up a structure that starts limiting the free market capability, we end up putting other pressure on ourselves. Jurisdictions have found that if you tighten up the market so much and regulate it as a government, you reduce that free market capability, and they go out and sell their product in other places where they do make their money...

I think the scientists are still looking for the missing link. The fact is, as we progress in our work, there is a process established. We are at one level in the sense of the first filter. Then we go to committee and put that on the table, and we react to the recommendations. There have been times when we’ve changed what we’ve presented based on committee recommendations and information. We’ll continue to do that.

This process, this Building Canada Fund, worked out of a number of other initiatives, and we’re still trying to get the final piece of that in place. Again we’re being told by the...

I give notice that on Monday, May 26, 2008, I will move that Bill 9, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 4, 2007–2008, be read for the first time.

Let’s go back a little bit. When we first got elected, we sat down. I went to committee and said, Here’s the fiscal picture that we’re looking at; we’re going to need to reduce. I gave a target to Members, and based on that, we made the announcement.

Now, I heard from a lot of Members say that if there’s going to be an impact, you need to limit it on employees. If there’s going to be an impact, notify them early. In fact, the UNW.... I had meetings with the president, and he said that if there’s going to be impact, let the people know early.

We did make a mistake in the sense of the timing. The...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Monday, May 26, 2008, I will move the following motion.

Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Thebacha, that Tabled Document 37-16(2), Main Estimates 2008–2009, Volumes 1 and 2, be referred to Committee of the Whole for consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I’m well aware the Member has serious concerns with process — that’s for the record. I’ve heard him a number of times saying that this government has done things differently from what was done in the past. I’ve been a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories for 12 years — as a Regular Member, as a Minister and in this present position. Our process we followed to build the budget has been the same process followed by other governments when it’s come about after an election year.

The thing we did differently this time is that we didn’t wait a whole year to try...

Mr. Speaker, as we’ve heard — and we’ve heard from a number of sources — this is a concern. The Minister of Human Resources has been working on the files to try to bring some clarity to it. We’ve had our discussions. We will continue to have those to look at some of that interpretation — the rules.

What we’ve come down to is, if we decide as a government — like the staff retention policy — a policy in place can be amended. And if we feel we should use our discretion to say…. Why not direct appoint some of these individuals into places where they do fit? We’re not going to take people who, as...

Through the Reducing the Cost of Living initiative we’ve discussed as Members of the Assembly — and Ms. Lee will be the lead on that file — we’re looking at a number of factors. Other things we’ve heard of, for example, are directives that are supposed to help the high-cost communities with a Food Mail Program that is there by the federal government. We need to look at that to see how it’s working. I’ve heard from a number of people and businesses who say it’s not working as it was designed to. We need to look at that to see if there’s a real, true impact on communities. It’s supposed to help...