Michael Miltenberger

We agree that we have infrastructure challenges, which is why we have taken the planning steps that we have in terms of two years of fiscal discipline so we can, in fact, put more money into infrastructure. We have a $3 billion infrastructure deficit. We’ve identified and we’re starting to put some very serious money into Stanton and we’ve acknowledged that it needs a midlife retrofit. It was built at a time when the population was a lot lower. That’s going to be a $200 million to $300 million project and we’re on the road to taking care of that. We’re building long-term care facilities. In...

The deputy reminded me that we’ve already shared those principles in the rationale for the decentralization with committee, but we’d be happy to share it again. No, none of the existing incumbents will be moving. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I have with me Mike Aumond, deputy minister of Finance; and Sandy Kalgutkar, deputy secretary to FMB. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We would, of course, share that list with the Members and if they need a briefing on rationale, we could do that as well. I must confess, I didn’t quite catch the question on the BIP office. Is the Member asking what their thought was about being decentralized? I didn’t quite understand that. If I could get clarification, please.

As a government over the years, going back at least three Assemblies with the State of Emergency report, Stay the Course report, and the work that’s been done on addictions, initially it was linked with mental health, the investments we’ve made in staffing and putting in alcohol and drug workers, addiction workers, mental health workers, community health workers, in review of that process and the debate over facilities, very clearly we are spending a significant amount of money. We are looking at the recommendations of this blue chip panel with great interest, and we will see what they say and...

Mr. Chair, the Member’s impassioned commentary on decentralization stands on its own merit. It needs no response from me. Being from Fort Smith, it resonates, I think, very clearly with most of the folks that are from outside of Yellowknife.

The comment about spending smarter, if I could just speak to the budget dialogue again, I think that’s one of the themes that the people tell us as well. They don’t have all the answers, but they tell us to be efficient, avoid duplication, spend it smarter. The people who are charged with doing that, of course, are us. So that’s the discussion that we have...

The Member is correct. As a territory, as a government, as individuals and communities, we haven’t managed to come to grips with the ravages of alcohol addictions. The social indicators are all there, incarceration rates, shelters that are full with crimes that are committed that are tied to alcohol, involve alcohol, and the rate of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Spectrum Disorder, they are all there. It’s a crying shame, as the Member says, at this point in our political evolution that we are still having this discussion and the fact that Northerners have an intense proclivity to do things that are...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate, as well, Mr. Nadli’s comments and recognition of the hard work that the folks have put in to try to build this budget. His concerns are very consistent in terms of some of the outside-of-Yellowknife issues: size of the bureaucracy, centralization versus decentralization.

The biomass project in his riding is being designed for the long term to be sustainable. We’re working on forest management agreements. The proponent has worked very hard to build up a business relationship with the communities and the Aboriginal governments, has signed agreements, looked...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Next year, as we expand the capital plan, there will be money for highways like Highway No. 7 on an ongoing basis. Once we ink the devolution deal and we have that nailed down, the fiscal framework will change somewhat. As well, we still have to manage our money and control the growth, the size of government and all these good things. We have collectively agreed that we need to focus on infrastructure that we are spending roughly $1.6 billion on programs and services, and barely less than 10 percent of our money goes into trying to do the infrastructure needs, and...

The Member’s addressed that we’ve had some discussion about the issue of how committed are we to decentralization. It’s been a long running concern and interest of, I think, every Member outside of Yellowknife. The Chair and myself have been here the longest, and we’ve had some modest success over the years but not a lot. So this is probably the most political support there’s been for decentralization tied to devolution.

I know the Member for Hay River North would appreciate a little bit of background of back in 1967 when the plane came north with the Commissioner for the first time and how...