Michael Miltenberger

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document titled Public Accounts 2009-2010. Thank you.

Thank you. The Member for Hay River South and I have a history going back on this issue, a shared history to a certain extent, going back probably over 20 years on dealing with children in care, teenagers. I would be more than happy to sit down as a good starting point with the chair of the Social Programs and the Social Programs committee. I agree that this could be one issue that’s identified in the transition plan that’s going to need attention, given the events that are happening around us. Thank you.

Thank you. This is a community issue of which there are many roles for people to play, and governments. The role that we play, we have resources on the ground with social workers, with child protection people. We have probation officers, we have teachers, we have nurses, there’s some youth centres, there’s recreation centres that we have. We work with communities to build their community recreation complexes. For those that need specific counselling, we have access to some psychological, and more difficult, but we have also access to some psychiatric services, though the psychiatric services...

The Member is aware of the financial circumstances that this government is under. I made a statement, as the Minister of Finance, laying out very clearly the challenges we face in our almost non-existent fiscal flexibility. We just heard yesterday in the House the concern about what happens if there’s a major fire season, for example. Where do we get the money from? The Member is clearly aware of those restrictions.

So we have, at this point, no capacity. We have a list that is a great, long list, Mr. Speaker, of very many commendable projects that all would require our assistance that Members...

Mr. Speaker, we have a contribution and a plan and an interdepartmental plan that pools resources to deal with homelessness across the Northwest Territories. What we have here is another situation where infrastructure is being developed because of the local will to do the construction with no O and M money in place to run it as of yet. We went through the same long process with the dementia centre and we are not in the situation fiscally where we are in a position to offer up millions of dollars of homelessness money as it doesn’t now exist unless we take it from the few dollars that are...

This whole process is a classic example of why Northerners have to have control over their own decision-making in this area; regulatory reform and resource development, land and water.

Here we are in this Assembly trying to find out what the federal government’s up to. They haven’t told us clearly. They’ve made some comments about something dramatic that they want to do. We are concerned that they’re going to do things that are not going to be in our best interest as a territory. There’s been some improvement in relationships since the signing of the AIP where now the federal government has...

The Member has been quoting from documents that I don’t have. I take his point about consultation. This is a federal process. This is federal legislation. We have been, for the most part, up until recently, treated like a stakeholder, much to our chagrin. They’re expecting the second draft. Most of the changes being contemplated at this point are legislative in nature. There’s been no significant reply to our response to the McCrank Report that we submitted back in 2009 where there was significant changes put forward and recommended by Mr. McCrank, some of which we took exception to and did...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure to stand today and recognize Ms. Tina McNeill from the Uncle Gabe’s Friendship Centre in Fort Smith.

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Monfwi, that Bill 5, Write-off of Debts Act, 2010-2011, be read for the third time. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, later today I will be tabling the NWT Water Stewardship Strategy Action Plan. The action plan outlines how the Water Stewardship Strategy will be implemented and reflects the needs and interests of NWT residents. Implementing the plan will address this Assembly’s priority to ensure an environment that sustains present and future generations and protects our water supply and quality.

The action plan builds upon the multi-year, multi-million dollar Water Stewardship Strategy, and is the result of multiple water partner meetings, public input and multi-agency workshops. It represents...