Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’d like to thank the Member for his comments, and I won’t try to restate my comments that I made to Ms. Bisaro or Mr. Bromley, but I recognize the overlap that the Member is talking about.

The issue of this is not an Assembly budget, in a consensus government I would say that this is a collective process. If it wasn’t an Assembly budget and this was party politics, we would have walked in here today and this would be the first time you would be seeing the budget, and we would be having a discussion that would last probably a few days, and then we would vote. I mean, we...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the Member’s comments. The issue of the water treatment plants in Kakisa and Enterprise, I know the Member has initiated discussions with Minister McLeod. That issue will be given due consideration.

The issue of Providence and the old site where the road used to be and the ferry, Transportation is in the process of responding to the letter from the Member who has raised that concern.

In terms of small communities and some of the school needs, we do have money in the budget for planning studies for Colville and Trout Lake. So there is going to be some progress...

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Member has helped articulate the clear difference between the needs and the resources. Just looking at a rough number here as the Member was articulating the concerns for Yellowknife alone, which would be well over half a billion dollars and these are all projects that have merit, that need to get done.

The issue of the Transportation money and too much being spent on one project, that project is underway. It’s going to, in the long term, be of enormous benefit to the North, the most northerly portion of the Mackenzie Highway. We hope to achieve maximum benefit in...

Yes, Madam Chair.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following four documents, entitled NWT Capital Estimates 2014-2015; Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Committee Report 4-17(4), Report on the Review of the Public Accounts; Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Motion 20-17(4), Proposal for the Use of New Resource Revenues; and Government of the Northwest Territories Response to Motion 21-17(4), Liquor Commission Profits to Prevention. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Bill 25, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2013-2014, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Bill 25, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2013-2014, be read for the first time. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We fully recognize that there is a process ahead of us here as we sign the Devolution Agreement. The money and resources won’t flow until probably 2015-16, that we have time for the debate and discussion about devolution and all facets of it including the resource revenue sharing.

I would comment, I’m continually surprised by some of the Member’s opposite that talk about the budgeting process we have, which is the most comprehensive and inclusive in the country, and make it sound like a budget appears in this House that is totally untouched by them with no involvement...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Bill 25, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Operations Expenditures), No. 2, 2013-2014, be read for the second time.

This bill will make supplementary appropriations for operations expenditures for the Government of the Northwest Territories for the 2013-2014 fiscal year.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The money from liquor revenues flow into general revenue. Out of general revenue, we do the budget. Out of that budget, we target about $350 million a year to Health and Social Services. That figure increases yearly at the highest rate of any department in government. That includes the cost related to addictions. So every Assembly I have been in – five now – they say, let’s have the symbolic gesture of taking some money that already goes into revenue and target it and have some special levy on alcohol that you can point to that we are doing work over and above $350...