Kevin O'Reilly

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I sit on the economic development and environment committee, and I do have concerns with the bill. In fact, I most likely will be voting against it. My concerns really revolve around a couple of areas. First off, I do not believe that this is a requirement for Marine Transportation Services to operate; and secondly, I am concerned about the purpose of the revolving fund, and what it covers and what it doesn't cover. Lastly, I also believe that setting this up as a revolving fund will limit the ability of Regular MLAs to have oversight on capital acquisitions of marine...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. So the carryover from last year is, if I get this right, $126 million. How does that compare with previous years and is there any overall explanation there? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I am a little bit curious about this $250,000 for community engagement and Indigenous consultation. Are resources going to be provided to NGOs or communities to allow them to hire their own expertise or better engage in this process? It sounds like it is going to be a highly technical legalistic process of drafting this new legislation, so if there are any details on what that funding will actually be used for that, you know, whether the Minister has that at his fingertips or would commit to provide it soon? Either way is fine. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

No, thank you, and I appreciate the efforts of the Minister. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I guess I will give the Minister an opportunity to make a sales pitch. How soon are these aircraft actually going to be up for sale? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't want to prolong this any more than I need to, but I want to thank the law clerk for the helpful information about the scope of what the fund could be used for. I haven't really heard a commitment from the department that they are prepared to use any of the funds that might be generated for remediation. You know, the issue here is about a polluter pays principle, and these contaminated sites were created by this operation. If there is an excess generated, I don't understand why that excess couldn't be used to help remediate these sites, rather than spread it back...

Merci, Monsieur le President. I'd like to table the following document, "2017-2018 School Funding Framework Finance and Administration Manual, Education Authorities dated May 27." Merci, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the answer, and that increases my discomfort level, but I understand that is going to get sorted out eventually. I think there is a real concern about the ability of Regular MLAs to do their job when they do not have oversight, particularly on the capital expenditure side. I want to move forward to the purpose of the revolving fund. It is to meet the capital operating maintenance requirements and providing grain transportation services and movement of cargo. When our government purchased the assets, they obviously purchased, or acquired a bunch of environmental...

Thank you again to the Minister. There are obviously widespread issues with affordability of housing in Northlands and across the NWT, especially for those on fixed incomes. In the year 2014, Health and Social Services released a long-term care framework for elders in our communities, and one of the commitments in there was for aging in place "to ensure elders and seniors remain in their homes and home community." How is the Minister of housing working with the health Minister on programs and services to achieve our goal and assist residents in Northlands and across the Northwest Territories?

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I think I heard the Minister say, then, that this is not a requirement for MTS to operate. That is what I understand as well, so we are on the same page on that. Can a department not maintain a separate set of accounts internally so that the operation of this could be tracked? Thank you, Mr. Chair.