Kevin O'Reilly

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, of the $494,000 that's not previously authorized, how much of this is federal money and how much of it is going to be coming out of the liquor revolving fund? Or where does it come from? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. As this is Family Violence Awareness Week, I will speak on Victim Services programs of this government, offered through the Department of Justice.

There are basically three programs. The Victims Assistance Fund receives the victims of crimes surcharges, which are then used for application-based projects. This program is working well, although there is an opening balance of $260,000 as of April 1, 2018, as shown in the most recent annual report tabled earlier in this sitting.

The second program is the Victims of Crime Emergency Fund, which provides financial...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I guess I want to encourage the Minister to sort this out as soon as possible. This isn't the first time I have raised it with him; this is probably the third or fourth time, and there is nothing that has appeared on the review board website about this in the public registry. Maybe there is something happening behind the scenes, but if the department intends to get this work done, they need to sort this out ASAP with the review board. You cannot start work that is within the scope of the environmental assessment. That's the law. They need to sort this out. I would just...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. The environmental assessment has been going on since 2013. The last letter from our government on the public registry is dated May 18, 2016. That is two and a half years ago.

I want this work to go ahead probably as much as anybody else in this House, but unless we sort out how this work fits in with what the review board is doing and the legislation prevents work from going ahead, that is an environmental assessment.

What is the department doing to get this sorted out with the review board so that the work can go ahead? The last correspondence from our government on the...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, this is a comment more than anything else. Look, I support this work. I want it done, and I want it done quickly. We want to avoid at all costs what happened to the National Museum in Brazil, and I'm not saying we are going there, but there's a lot of heritage value and culture tied up in the facility here, in Yellowknife. It does support regional facilities, as well. We want to make sure that our museum is up to code and fully protected and provides the kinds of services and programs that our citizens deserve. I support this, and I urge the Minister, along with his...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate that from the Minister. Do we know when the study is going to be finished, and is it something that can be shared with Regular MLAs? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. That is not a very large balance in either of those funds. Will these balances cover the additional shipping costs that are anticipated for airlifting of fuel and other goods to these communities? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Merci, Monsieur le President. I give notice that, on Thursday, October 25, 2018, I will move that Bill 24, An Act to Amend the Elections and Plebiscites Act, be read for the first time. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Merci, Monsieur le President. A few commitments out of the Minister here today. I appreciate that.

I talked earlier today about how, on the Infrastructure Canada website, it shows that 79 per cent of our federal infrastructure dollars since 2002 have been spent on roads and highways. This has led to a big imbalance. I have referred to this as the "big toys for big boys" approach.

Can the Minister explain this imbalance and how he will work to ensure that more social infrastructure projects make it through Cabinet's processes and into GNWT submissions for federal infrastructure funding? Mahsi...

I want to thank the Minister for that. It sounds like the mandate, the 20-year capital plan, is driving what we submit, but I had hoped to hear that there were some other kinds of rigorous analyses around the number of jobs that would be created, greenhouse gas reductions, regional distribution, and a balance between physical and social infrastructure. If the Minister has these criteria that he and his Cabinet colleagues use internally, can he share those with this side of the House?