Kevin O'Reilly

Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. I've raised the issue of our failure to prevent liabilities at Mactung, and Cantung, and our inability to sell the Mactung property at least 11 times since I've been an MLA. I can't quite match the 65 times raised by my colleague here. But can the Minister tell us how she can improve communications with MLAs and the public on what is happening with this mining property? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Madam Chair. That's all I've got in terms of general comments and questions. I'll have some more specific ones once we get to the detail. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thanks, Madam Chair, and as we eat into the supplementary reserve, that means that there's less money for capital projects, the capital budget, which we're going to get to, moving forward as a result of the fiscal responsibility policies; is that correct? Thanks, Madam Chair.

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. I know even in the last Assembly, the last official languages commissioner, there was some confusion over who the recommendations should actually go to and who is responsible for acting on them. And in some previous language commissioner's reports there was some criticism leveled at the Legislative Assembly itself for not acting on recommendations from previous reports. And I think there was some misunderstanding between the executive and legislative branches of government. You know, if recommendations from the official languages commissioner would come to the...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. I've talked here about, you know, the need to create more childcare spaces, particularly in communities that don't have childcare.

So can the Minister tell us what action needs taking now to create or ensure that new spaces are created in those communities that do not have childcare providers, period. And how is the Minister going to meet the demand for more childcare workers to provide universal and affordable childcare? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that, and I'm sure he's going to tell me next whether the money started to flow.

But I mentioned the provisions in the agreement that cap fee increases for operators to 2.3 percent annually. And, you know, this is in an environment where nationally inflation is running at 6.7 percent. Here in Yellowknife, 7.1 percent. The Minister's confirmed the increase is above 2.3 percent will be allowed when deemed necessary. So what's the definition, Mr. Speaker, of "necessary" and when would the Minister allow increases beyond the 2.3 percent...

Merci, Monsieur le President. It’s been almost six months since the signing of the federal territorial agreement promising $10 a day child care for parents across the Northwest Territories. In reviewing the issues of implementation and delivery of benefits, I regret to say that a lot of progress still needs to be made.

The biggest issues remain putting money in the hands of parents who continue to pay for child care after the deal was signed and creating enough spaces to meet demand. The rebate money has to flow through the child care providers to the parents, and that can only happen when...