Michael Miltenberger

They work, in many cases, more with the small community funds, working with communities outside of Yellowknife, in many cases, responding on a one-off basis to situations that arise in different communities dealing with homelessness or some hard-to-house issues. The broader idea and need for government planning across departments is one that there needs to be more work done. At one point in the 15th Assembly there was a Social Programs Ministers Committee that came together on a regular basis because of issues such as this, seniors, as well, because of cross-departmental mandates and the need...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The government will not be proceeding with Bill 9 at this point.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Yellowknife Homelessness Coalition provides a valuable service in Yellowknife. There is also an interdepartmental working group when it comes to the issues within the Government of the Northwest Territories and shared jurisdiction by different departments in dealing with this issue. So to the question from the Member, the answer would be, in my opinion, no.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 24, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 2, 2011-2012, be read for the second time.

Mr. Speaker, this bill makes supplementary appropriations for infrastructure expenditures for the Government of the Northwest Territories for the 2011-12 fiscal year. Thank you.

Ultimately the broad issues, the broad decisions, the review, the voting of the public money comes to the floor of this House. There are MLAs elected, there are committees put together, there’s a government selected, business plans are done based on the initial fundamental direction that comes out of the Legislative Assembly.

As we’ve attempted to do in the 16th Assembly in terms of program reviews, the government, working with the committees and MLAs, has the fundamental task of ensuring that the money is spent, and that the program priorities are the right ones, and that there is value for...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am here to present Bill 10, Northwest Territories Heritage Fund Act. The purpose of this act is to establish a trust fund for the future benefit and use of the people of the Northwest Territories.

This bill responds to our commitment to introduce legislation to establish a Northwest Territories Heritage Fund before the end of the 16th Legislative Assembly. During the October 2009 revenue options consultation and roundtable undertaken by the Department of Finance, we heard from many respondents that the NWT needs such a fund in anticipation of achieving control over...

Yes, I will discuss with our deputy and the Minister of Education to make sure we are coordinated and connected on that important initiative. Thank you.

There are a number of documents that are out there. If the Member is talking about some type of, sort of, fiscal update that would be new and separate, I would be glad to have that discussion with him to see what’s possible. We have some information available on line. We also have whatever information and fiscal updates are provided here in this House in terms of the detail, some of the borrowing limit issues, the other pressures in terms of revenues and expenditures, and the broader economic landscape that we’re all operating in, which could have a significant effect on our revenues, for...

Once again, this is an important issue. The Member has written to me on some specific cases. I would point out that there are thousands of patients seen successfully every day across the Northwest Territories. We do have the occasions where things don’t quite work as planned. The issue of being more responsive and sensitive to the needs of seniors are cautions that are worthy of note. Once again, as I follow up on some of the concerns the Member is raising, that would be on the list. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The thinking was that the fund, we’re creating an instrument that at this point is only that. It’s a tool that’s an instrument that’s there to be invested in. We have work to do. We have not decided if there’s going to be money put into it. We anticipated for the first 10 years to get the fund up and running it would be best done through the Financial Management Board through the policies and procedures that are currently in place. The main concern being not wanting to generate expenses when we have no revenues in which to cover those if we have to create a board and...