Kevin O'Reilly

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Minister. We all want the students who are in the program to be supported. There is going to be a lot less work to do because we are not taking in a new cohort. Is this really a prelude to cutting the programs completely? I just don't understand why we would make this reinstatement and how it is any different than what the Minister had already committed to do. Can the Minister provide some clarification of what is going to happen with the teachers for the program? There are going to be fewer students for them to be working with because we are not taking them...

Thank you to the Minister for that response. We won't actually see a change in the line items in the main estimates in terms of the contribution to be made to Aurora College. Is that what I am hearing?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I do appreciate the commitment from the Minister on that. We know April 1st is coming up quickly. There is a provision in the agreement for dispute resolution. I am wondering, would the Minister be prepared to recommend that the Giant Mine Oversight Board invoke the dispute resolution process under the environmental agreement if we can't resolve this quickly? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, I am aware that there is provision in the agreement for the federal government to go to the Treasury Board to resolve this on a permanent basis, but there is a way for them to address the issue right now, and that is just simply to increase the contribution agreement for the next year by the amount that was unspent in the previous year. That would allow for, essentially, a carryover. I guess I would like to know from the Minister what he believes are the next steps that he and his staff will take to get implementation of this key feature of the agreement back on track?

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to my colleagues. I wouldn't raise this issue in the House if it were about a few thousand dollars, but this goes to the very heart of why Yellowknifers lost confidence in how government was attempting to remediate the Giant Mine. I trust that our government is working diligently behind the scenes to ensure that the federal government lives up to the promises it made to invest in a permanent solution for Giant Mine. I will have questions later today for the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources. Masi, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. Yes, I’m not sure the Minister actually heard what I said. I never said that that was the only revenues we actually keep, from mining or oil and gas. I think what I’m trying to do here is show that the resource royalty rates that we’ve inherited from the federal government are quite ancient and maybe it’s time that we actually look at those royalty rates. Alberta’s done it a couple of times. Are we actually going to get around to looking at that in terms of our financial future?

The reason why I say that is, when I’ve raised this issue, we actually raised three times as much...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. I can see I am not going to get anywhere with this because the Premier does not want to answer the question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. That is all I have.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. As we go through the pages here, I’ll have some comments on the revenues that we get as a government. Particularly with regard to tobacco tax license -- or, sorry, liquor revenues -- and how that compares to mining, oil, and gas royalty resource revenues that we’re able to keep now under the devolution agreement.

I have some suggestions about different forms of taxes that I’ll make to try to make sure that we capture more of the benefits of that. I’ll also be asking the Minister about any progress we’re making on indexing the Northern Resident Tax Deduction. I guess I’ll have...

Thanks, Mr. Chair. That is very helpful. Even the 2016-17 revised estimates, there is a two and then some very round zeros after that. I am not sure if that actually reflects the work that is done or is it just an estimate. Does it actually get reconciled in some way or does that happen through the public accounts? Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Chair. That is great that the Premier is looking to the committee for direction, but Cabinet itself has already changed the way the PUB operates by issuing this binding policy direction without bothering to consult the standing committee. Will the Premier commit to consulting with the standing committee before issuing further direction to the PUB? Thanks, Mr. Chair.