Joe Handley

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I’m honoured today to welcome to our Legislative Assembly the Consul General of Indonesia, Bunyan Saptomo…

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…and Consul for Consul Affairs for Indonesia, Bebeb Djundjunan.

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Madam Speaker, they’re accompanied today by our protocol and communications officer, Carmen Moore, and summer student working with Ms. Moore, Anne Marie Summerfield.

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Madam Speaker, I’d also like to recognize my loyal constituent, Major Karen Hoeft.

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Thank you, Madam Speaker. That’s a bit of a different question, Madam Speaker. Rather than get into the detail of what we are doing in the taxation area, I think the question deals with a whole list of things that have been included in our first budget and in the last budget. Madam Speaker, taxation and tax benefits are one piece of it. Our government did make changes, the last government, the 14th Assembly, to the way personal income tax is handled. I think that was beneficial to everyone. We have increased the cost of living allowance. We’ve made those kinds of changes.

Madam Speaker...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. We have to distinguish between negotiations on devolution and negotiations on self-government. Devolution is the transfer of responsibility from the federal government to the territorial and aboriginal governments. We are ourselves, as a territorial government, and the aboriginal governments, at the table. We each have to negotiate our own positions and I think we have been very effective in doing that.

Self-government is another process altogether. Deline, Tulita, the Beaufort-Delta have entered into self-government negotiations and, as I said, I welcome any...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I have two people that I would like to recognize. First, Szilvia Dubovay from Hungary who has been a constituent of mine for the last year and is hosted by the Pellerin family.

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I would also like to recognize my constituent Major Karen Hoeft. I have introduced her before and I can assure all the Members that not only does Major Hoeft listen to every statement that Ministers and Members make, but she also reads every bill as it is approved at first reading. Thank you.

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Thank you, Madam Speaker. Again, we are always open to hearing the viewpoints from aboriginal leaders, from municipal leaders, from all of the leaders in the Territories, so I am always open to new ways of being able to consult. At the same time, we have to respect each other's differences, as well. I have often been to aboriginal leaders' meetings where I am told it is in camera and I am not welcome inside. Just wait outside until they finish the in camera meeting. It works both ways. We wouldn't want to ask the aboriginal governments to include us in their decision-making, and the same...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Our government is always open to ways of consulting with aboriginal leaders. We have the Circle of Northern Leaders; we try to be more inclusive. We also have the Aboriginal Summit where I meet with the leaders and I certainly would consider expanding it beyond just meeting with myself to meeting with all the Members of Cabinet if they want. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

Madam Speaker, through the devolution and resource revenue sharing negotiations, the transfer of any resource revenues is being negotiated to come to that government that is responsible for delivering the service. We deliver education, housing, justice and so on. We have to have the money transferred to us to be able to do that on behalf of the people of the Northwest Territories.

As I said, Madam Speaker, if an aboriginal government wants to negotiate self-government, they just have to apply to us. Tulita just recently applied to us saying we want to negotiate self-government. I don’t know...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I’m not sure what the Member is referring to when he’s talking about foot dragging. We have negotiations that are going on between the federal government, territorial government and the aboriginal governments on devolution and resource revenue sharing. There are some differences of positions between each of the three parties. We don’t refer to the aboriginal government or federal government as foot dragging. I think those are the characteristics of good negotiations that each party will put offers on the table, each party will be willing to compromise and think...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Yes, we will consider that. I have to say though, Madam Speaker, that we are getting so many organizations in the North that we have to look at how we do business, because I have met with community leaders who say they represent their interests, nobody else; I've met with regional leaders who say they represent theirs; I've met with the Dene Nation who say they represent everybody on a broad range of issues; I've had meetings with the Intergovernmental Forum who say they represent everyone; I've met with the Aboriginal Summit who say they represent everyone.

I think...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. As I say, we are always open to meetings. We probably meet with aboriginal leaders in our government more than any other government in Canada, certainly more than the federal government. It isn't anything new for us to meet with other Members.

As far as involvement in Cabinet decisions, I think that that is a different kind of forum and not one that we could easily accommodate here, because we are making decisions on behalf of the 19 of us and to begin bringing other people into it, I'm assuming vote, would be going a bit further than what I would contemplate....