Floyd Roland

Mr. Speaker, the question asked of them, as I responded the other day, was work we could do for our membership. I am sure, even when the question was asked, that the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation’s interest is in looking at what liabilities they may be at risk for.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess, number one, I wouldn’t want to, for debate on this subject, say that the Member has raised an issue that I think falls under more debate than what’s happening. Specifically to the issue that she’s raised on this item, we know that as Members of this House we debate a lot of things in this House or respond as Ministers are required to respond to questions that Members put before us. We respond with information from briefing notes that are done up by departments and so on and so forth with that area. Even the questions, as she’s referenced herself to this...

I move, seconded by the Hon. Member for Thebacha, that Bill 2, Supplementary Appropriation Act, No. 3, 2007-2008, be read for the third time.

I move, seconded by the Hon. Member from Deh Cho, that Bill 1, Interim Appropriation Act, 2008-2009, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill authorizes the government of the Northwest Territories to make interim appropriations for the 2008-2009 fiscal year.

Mr. Speaker, one thing we’ve learned — and we must learn from past history — is if we are going to make decisions, we have to make sure they don’t come back and reinvent themselves because we haven’t quite closed all the loopholes that may be established or end up coming out as we make changes. There’s a substantial amount of work involved in the refocusing-government piece. The boards and agencies are a big piece of that. As I’ve worked with Members, our time frames…. There’s a lot of work being done now. The time frames we have are tight, and that is one of the reasons why it would fall into...

Mr. Speaker, we’re not about reinventing the wheel. If work’s been done by previous governments, that would be a good starting point for us. It is part of the work that’s included. This refocusing-government piece will incorporate a whole number of initiatives, this being one of those.

Mr. Speaker, peer reviews are done on a whole number of initiatives. In fact, as we're doing our work in preparing for the business plan, looking at our fiscal situation, deputy ministers would be sitting down together to review each other’s options that they may be working on. We’ve seen that in a number of initiatives throughout.

For ourselves, though, a peer review on the financial side, when you look at it, is a review of the work that's done. There has been a cost-benefit analysis that is public. Yes, when you look at it, the numbers have changed since the price has gone up.

But if we take...

Mr. Speaker, we have not looked at it from a 16th Assembly point of view. In response to the Member the other day, I did commit that we would look at what that potential may be.

I wish to advise Members that the Hon. Jackson Lafferty will be absent from the House today and tomorrow to attend the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Justice Ministers’ meeting in Ottawa.

Bill 1, Interim Appropriation Act, 2008-2009, requests authority for appropriations of $381.275 million for operational expenditures and $110.291 million for capital investment expenditures in the 2008-09 fiscal year.

This interim budget provides the necessary resources for the G.N.W.T. to operate for the first three months of the 2008-2009 fiscal year. The 2008-2009 main estimates will be presented during the May-June 2008 sitting of the Legislative Assembly and will include funding for the entire 2008-09 fiscal year.

The interim appropriation provides for only a portion of the full-year...