Floyd Roland

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the issue of NGOs has been raised in a number of governments and as a number of Members have raised during this process and as we begin our work as the government of the 16th Legislative Assembly, we will, indeed, take into consideration the manner and the way we work with NGOs. Ultimately -- and this is the beauty of our consensus system -- we'll need to work together to come up with the priorities we need to set as a government as we proceed forward. So NGOs will be a part of the mix in that effort to move forward. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ultimately, it is the Premier’s decision to assign those portfolios. Of course, one of the things I will take into consideration is Ministers say they’d like areas in order of importance or priority, they won’t get everything they want in that sense. As well, I intend to hear from Members if there are concerns out there but, at the same time, I have to look at the workload, how it’s distributed and working with Members. We need to work cooperatively in this environment, but ultimately not everybody from either this side of the House or that side of the House may be...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, obviously the Minister that I assign the Housing portfolio to will be busy from day one trying to get a grasp of the issue again for the Northwest Territories.

---Laughter

Through the years, programs have been set up, adjusted, tinkered with, amended and changed. I think this is a prime example of where we, as a government, need to look at. The programs we have in place, how were they developed? Are they meeting the needs that they were intended to? Some programs were put in place from almost the inception of the Government of the Northwest Territories...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’ve asked all Cabinet Ministers to provide me with a letter today on their priorities, where they think they would fit best. I will then review that, take into consideration the running of departments, where the fit would work, and hopefully I can make some decisions early next week. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I don’t know if this is the first time in the history of a new government that on the first day one person should have all the information.

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Mr. Speaker, I am willing to take on that challenge and so does the rest of Cabinet. I have committed already that we will re-evaluate how this is going, the implementation of that. As soon as we go through the assignments of portfolios to Ministers, they will be tasked with a number of items. Then one of the first things we will have to start doing is building that strategic plan that we will, together as...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Mackenzie Valley highway is something that has been discussed as one of the lists we’ve raised with the federal government as the new roads and highways are still under their mandate and would look at that. Ultimately, I believe it is more a thing of, first and foremost, because there are some commitments out there made by government that, you know, we’re taking over and we have to honour, at least at this point until conditions are met or not met; the area of is it one versus the other? I think we have to sit down and highlight what are the key...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, that is the beauty of our system, consensus government. As we sit down and look at the priorities of the 16th Legislative Assembly, if it is agreeable by Members of this Assembly that we take a serious look at how that is structured and how it may be restructured, that is something that we will work together on. I will commit to working with Members on looking at the effectiveness and efficiency of government across the board. Thank you.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the loan guarantee is what we would be liable for if things did not proceed at this point. That’s it. That’s the number there, but I believe it’s not $5 million, it’s a bit more than that, but that was shared with Members and I believe they’re aware of that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am definitely getting my exercise today on this box.

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Thank you. The matter of the issue is -- and I agree with the Member; it is not all about money -- it is about coordination and how we get that done and setting clear targets and results from those targets. I expect, as we proceed down this path, that we are going to work hard and make sure the targets we set are reasonable and can be achieved. We will measure ourselves against those targets. Ultimately, it is going to be a challenge. As I have committed, we are ready to sit down and work with...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it’s not too late. The 16th Assembly and its mandate has not signed a deal on proceeding forward in the sense of the no-go or no-stop point. Like the Monopoly board, once you pass go, collect your $200 and go on; we’re not there yet. There are some key issues that are still left out there and one of those that was in the paper for public interest was that navigable waters permit. So that’s one of those things, and a final financing deal that comes down. So we’ll be prepared to sit down with that detail when we get it and inform Members of where we are...