Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Madam Chair. Moving forward, has the department put its mind to whether it's now time to have some kind of direct public oversight, or involvement in the management, of the Heritage Fund? At the end of this upcoming year it's going to be almost $35 million. This was a criticism at the time the legislation came forward 10 years ago, and why I know is because I was one of the ones criticizing it at the time, the need for some kind of public engagement, or public involvement, in the management of the funds in account it with appropriate accountabilities, and that the revenue stream into...

Thanks, Madam Chair. Yes, I think part of the issue here is the restrictions on the ability to file appeals. It's a very, very high bar to get over in the first place. I don't know how many job recruitments took place, but to say that we only had 75 appeals in a given year, that's not very many. I don't think it's necessarily just a result of us having a great staff, as we do, but I think it's an issue of the restricted ability to actually access the appeal process. My question for the Minister is: have we actually had the staffing appeal process ever reviewed independently by a third party...

Thanks, Madam Chair. Is the Minister talking about the public accounts, or is there a separate report that's tabled in the House with regard to the Heritage Fund on an annual basis? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thanks, Madam Chair. Just to be clear, I am not asking for the information by community. I am asking for it by department. I guess I will let the Minister go and sort out whether there is a breach of privacy in providing that information. I don't think there is any kind of public notice or anything attached to when a direct appointment is made, that I am aware of. If she wants to go away and think about it. Great for me to get this information. I want her to make it public, though. There is an annual human resources report that is prepared by the department. That is probably the most...

Thanks, Madam Chair. Just one more, if I can. When I look at these numbers, I just don't see how it is going to be possible for us to take on any of the three big infrastructure projects that are part of the mandate or the priorities that were identified by the majority of the 19 MLAs. How is it going to be possible to take on even one of those three large infrastructure projects if this remains the same? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thanks, Madam Chair. It came to light in the last Assembly that the money in the Heritage Fund was actually starting to lose value because of the very, very conservative investment policies that were requirements under the act and the regulations at the time. It was actually starting to lose money against inflation and had to be topped up, I think, if I remember correctly. Can the Minister tell us what's happened since? Is this still losing money against inflation? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I see the clock ticking down. I do have a number of other issues that I am going to raise in other sections. I am just going to give the Minister a heads-up: carbon tax reporting; Mackenzie Valley fibre link; revenues; and the Heritage Fund. I think most of those are found in other sections. That is all from me for now. Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I don't even know what is involved in doing this. Has this Minister actually signed a letter to the federal finance Minister asking for an increase in the borrowing limit? Thanks, Madam Chair.

Thanks, Madam Chair. I really look forward to getting that and some kind of improved reporting around the monies that we collect under the carbon tax, what it's used for, and then, how effective, if any of it is being reinvested, it is in terms of reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. I think that's what we owe to the public, and whether there is any sort of resulting change in fuel consumption behaviour patterns and so on, and, as a result of that, whether there are any greenhouse gas reductions. That is the kind of information that I think we owe to our public to report on.

There are some...

Thanks, Madam Chair. Yes. I look forward to hearing back from the Minister when she raises this issue with her federal colleagues. I want to move on to a different issue that is Shared Corporate Services. This was sort of a new unit that was created within the Department of Finance to do a bunch of things across various departments. Previous Ministers had promised that there would be an evaluation done of how effective that function and centralizing those resources within the Department of Finance has gone. Can the Minister share that evaluation with us now? Thanks, Madam Chair.