Kevin O'Reilly

Yes, okay, thanks, Madam Chair, and thanks to the Minister. I'm sure I don't have to remind her that every day we wait for the tobacco tax increases, money that's not captured, but.

I want to move on to the supplementary reserve. Can someone tell me what that was originally set at and where it will stand as a result of this set of supplementary estimates. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Yes, thanks, Madam Chair. Yes, I have some questions about what's in here and also something that's not in here.

So I'd like to start by acknowledging that the Minister has carried through with her commitments, as I fully expected, in terms of some increased spending that we had negotiated as part of the budget discussions earlier this year. There is extra money in here for housing, $4 million; $2.2 million for shelter funding; an increase of half a million dollars for heritage centres; there's some reductions in contracted services, but the area that's not covered in the supplementary...

For.

Yes, thanks, Madam Chair. As I understand it, this is federal money, and I know I've spoken to the issue of victim services before. And the Minister of Justice in the last government actually undertook a review of victim services at my request and had found that, you know, we could be providing better support to the coordinators and the NGOs that actually do much of this very important work.

So this $750,000 kind of windfall from the federal government, is there a breakdown of how that money is going to be spent? And I guess what I want to make sure is that some of that funding is going to go...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the mover, the Member for Deh Cho, and the seconder, the Member for Tu NedheWiilideh, for bringing the motion forward.

I want to acknowledge what I've heard from small community MLAs over my six years as an MLA here in the House and in committee about issues around healthcare in small communities. At the same time, though, I want to recognize the work and initiatives by the department and the staff. I think we are doing some things in these areas. You know, we worked together to get funding for Indigenous patient advocates. I know the department is...

Thanks, Madam Chair. Yes, once the Minister's able to get her computer unlocked, I'd be happy to get more information on that. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that.

In my view, the Cantung and Mactung saga is another example of postdevolution mismanagement of our resources. When I asked the Minister for lessons learned last time, she spoke about hope for a solid proponent to take over the property. I'm going to try the question again, perhaps a little bit differently.

Can the Minister explain what lessons have been learned about financial security and public liabilities from the Cantung and Mactung saga? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Madam Chair. The money for the Arctic Energy Alliance programs and services, it just kind of fluctuates up and down. And I know I've raised the issue of at least one federal program that requires an energy audit by certified auditors, and there's only one or two of them or something here in the Northwest Territories. How do we increase the access to some of these programs that Arctic Energy Alliance is running? And has there been any progress made on a requirement of an audit before you do something and then again afterwards. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. I'm happy to talk with her more about that and get more information about Mactung in a timely manner.

The GNWT decided to try to market the Mactung property with the Cantung mine site with the federal government but all attempts seemed to have failed. Can the Minister explain what is going on with proposed sale of the Mactung property and when the taxpayers of the NWT can expect to recover their investment? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I guess I've seen a lot of money kind of moved around, shuffled around within this Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund agreement. And it looks like we're not able, quite frankly, to get money out the door. Maybe the criteria for accessing this money don't allow for folks to access it; I just don't really understand what the problems are. Can I get an explanation here. Thanks, Madam Chair.