Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks for that. I don't have any further questions and thank the Minister for his work on it. Thanks.

Merci, Monsieur le President. Notwithstanding Rule 74(2), I seek unanimous consent to move Bill 24 into Committee of the Whole for consideration later today. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. [Translation] Finally, there seems to be an imbalance in the amount of money being spent on translation - very large - and the amount of money spent on training, which is much less. It seems obvious that if we improve training, we won’t need to spend as much on translation, and we can enjoy the benefits of all of our official languages at the same time. How will the Minister put greater emphasis on training, in keeping with the recommendations from this audit? [Translation ends]. Merci, Monsieur le President.

[Translation]. One of the issues noted is that French language training is shorter in duration than training offered by other orders of government. I have been told, for example, that there is one group of employees taking 30 hours of coursework over 10 weeks, while in the federal government groups take up to 120 hours for the same period. The audit recommends that our training hours be aligned with those used by other governments. Can the Minister explain how she intends to respond to this audit recommendation? [Translation ends].

Merci, Monsieur le President. I would like to recognize a constituent of Frame Lake and a neighbour, Kathryn Barry Paddock, who does great work with the NWT Literacy Council. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am just trying to figure out how much further I can go with this. Look, roads and highways are the priority for this Cabinet. The Minister of Infrastructure, when he appeared before senate committee on the same day that Nunavut announced that they were going to get $12 million for public housing retrofits under the Low Carbon Economy Fund, our Minister of Infrastructure appeared before us, the senate committee. All he talked about was the big toys for big boys: Taltson, Mackenzie Valley Highway, Slave Geological Province Road, Tlicho All Season Road. Housing was not even...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am the Sasquatch, and I know where the Minister can find $8 million for public housing retrofits. All he has to do is work with his colleague, the Minister of Infrastructure, and get that missing $8 million in the Low Carbon Economy Fund. The allocation for the NWT was $32 million. The agreement that has been signed so far is only $24 million. Four million of that is for public housing retrofits. Nunavut got $12 million for public housing retrofits. Can the Minister work with his colleague, the Minister of Infrastructure, access that extra $8 million that is missing from...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Now that the clock has almost run out, I do have some bigger-picture concerns with the capital budget that I think have been articulated by some of my colleagues, as well. There's an overwhelming focus on roads again, and I understand that some of this is related to federal funding, but I notice, and I've said in the House, that our sister territory Nunavut has found ways to support public housing to a greater extent than we have through federal infrastructure funding. I'm concerned about the local government funding gap, the municipal funding gap, that we had identified...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I look forward to the Minister then finding a way to make that information public, whether he tables it in the House or posts it on the Department of Finance website. Those are my two suggestions.

I've heard some concerns from Regular MLAs, and I too have concerns about the amount of carry-overs. Can the Minister tell us: is there a percentage of the capital budget that really represents carry-overs or a dollar amount that would allow us to understand what the carry-overs are from previous years? Can the Minister provide that information? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I do have some general questions for the Minister, so I would like to start with whether there have been any calculations done to ensure that the capital budget fully complies with the fiscal responsibility policy. Thanks, Mr. Chair.