Floyd Roland

Mr. Speaker, just to highlight some of the hardware we took home; besides taking home the championship trophy for the masters division we had the most valuable player, who was also the top goalie, our goalie, Mr. Tom Williams.

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He happens to be with us today. I shared the top defenseman with another player from a team locally.

---Laughter

So, Mr. Speaker, again congratulations to those boys, and we’re looking forward again to coming back and making a trip down to Yellowknife for the Balsillie Cup. Thank you.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, our process as the Government of the Northwest Territories is through the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. They work with our community governments throughout the Northwest Territories, so there is contact there. Once this review is done, we will look at it and see if we have to make changes overall as a government. Thank you.

Maybe the Member can answer for me where the nine months comes from. An agreement is signed April to March, so the funding is known for that year but the planning cycles may be somewhat different. So if I could get some clarification there, please.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s my pleasure to introduce today in the gallery Mr. Tom Williams who is not only a top goaltender for the Inuvik Ice Devils, but he’s also the chief operating officer for the Gwich’in Tribal Council.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, seeing that the NHL is officially off for the rest of the year, I would like to give an update of some of our own home-grown talent in the Northwest Territories.

Mr. Speaker, back in December, December 17th to the 19th, the First Nations Cup was held here in Yellowknife and Inuvik sent down a team into the masters division, which is I think a better name than old timers. I must say that the Inuvik Ice Devils showed remarkable gamesmanship and won the masters division and took home a fair bit of hardware as well, Mr. Speaker. I feel even better saying this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am aware that the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs is doing a review of community funding and how that’s structured. Once that work is done, we will look at what we can do as a government. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have to apologize. I didn’t catch that last question.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I agree with the Member; it is a significant move that we are undertaking as a government to go back to somewhat of a way of doing business that was done prior, where we have human resource service centres. It is very different though from what was known previously as the Department of Personnel. The human resource service centres are a way of pooling our staff and bringing them together so that, one, we can be more coordinated in how we deliver the program, ensuring that all departments are following and have the same understanding of the rules that we work with. I...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the work that’s undergoing within the review of the Power Subsidy Program is one around the existing rate structure, what’s driving the costs. So right now it is not identified to look at the rate structure itself as that is not within our purview as the Financial Management Board Secretariat. The power rate structure itself falls under the Public Utilities Board. So our work is around the existing program, what’s driving the cost, what levels of support there should be, should there be changes, things of that nature. So it will be around the existing...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Member is right; there is going to be an impact. A settlement will be reached. What that settlement means, we are not sure of yet today. Both sides have their positions initially, but, for example, a one percent increase in an agreement will equal to about $3.5 million dollars.

There is an impact and, yes, it will impact on all services and so on when we look at our fiscal picture. That is why it is important that we build a sound fiscal strategy as we go forward. Thank you.