Rylund Johnson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Democracy is not a stationary institution. We must remember that innovation is a cornerstone to truly democratic politics, and as such, we cannot allow our institutions to become stagnant or irrelevant. When we stand here in this House and we're happy with 50, 60 percent voter turnout, I believe we have allowed this institution to become stagnant. I believe this House must champion electoral reform, Mr. Speaker. This is not just our elections. We must also remember we control school board elections and municipal elections in this House.

Mr. Speaker, one of the first ways...

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is the problem. I don't know to what level of oversight I should have of the Housing Corporation's budget, given it is arms-length. I have a lot of concerns with the Housing Corporation's budget and the way it does capital. Is the Minister willing to reach out to the Department of Finance and see what applying our GNWT financial responsibility policy to the Housing Corporation would look like, where the differences are? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. This is one of those things I struggle to understand: budgets and the Housing Corporation budget. If we are required to amortize $14 million in assets, are we not then required to spend $14 million in the capital budget? However, I note that this capital budget is not $14 million. Can I get an explanation for why that is? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I believe we have a very large wait list. We have a lot of housing units. I believe we don't own a lot of them. I would like to build capital such that we can have GNWT-owned housing units in Yellowknife. Is the Minister willing to bring the rented units or the amount of units that we don't own into GNWT ownership in the Housing Corporation? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yes. I would appreciate, on this area, getting a sense of that. When we pass $167 million, it's usually not us actually passing that because there is a bunch of federal dollars attached, so I would just like to have that figure. In question period today, I heard that, essentially, our deferred maintenance was at $465 million on all of our assets, and we're spending about $5 million a year. By my calculation, it will take us 93 years to catch up on all of our deferred maintenance. Can somebody just help me understand that figure? I would like a little bit more...

Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. I recognize there is this tension with every jurisdiction and their power corporation and the power corporation supposedly having to run rates that keep their power consistent and allow them to maintain their infrastructure. Then, consistently power corporations do not want to raise rates, so they just do not maintain their infrastructure. Then, the government has to bail them out. Hence, we are subsidizing the Power Corporation, which we have done multiple times and are continuing to do here. My question, though, is: when we build all of these new upgrades and...

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that, on Monday, November 2, 2020, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Hay River North, that, pursuant to rule 92(1), the Legislative Assembly hereby establish a Special Committee on Reconciliation and Indigenous Affairs. And further, that the following Members be named to the special committee: Mrs. Lesa Semmler, the Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes; Mr. Steve Norn, the Member for Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh; Mr. Rylund Johnson, the Member for Yellowknife North; the Honourable R.J. Simpson, Member for Hay River North; and...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm just going to ask that question one more time a different way. I recognize we're sending this project for approval. It may go to environmental assessment, in all likelihood. We need to have a lot of detail. Is part of the plan to include extending power lines? Obviously, this would require running them up the Ingraham Trail and then down the road, which would be another huge project. I want to clarify whether the project as defined to Lockhart Lake includes transmission lines. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am glad to hear the Minister commit to reviewing this. In my experience, I am confused what this clause does because we fund plenty of tourism businesses through SEED, and to me, every time we fund one, they are disrupting the market in comparison to their competitors. I helped one of my constituent fishermen get SEED funding. Then another complained that they did not get a government subsidy, so I had to go help them. It seems that, every time we give government grants, we are disrupting the market. To me, that is the goal. Is the Minister willing to just accept that...

Thank you, Madam Chair. There have been a number of different assessments of this road and benefit-cost analysis. One of the problems is many of the ones I have seen, they do the analysis based on there being hydro, based on the road going to Nunavut, based on the port existing. I have yet to see a business case for just Lockhart Lake road, which is what we are proposing to build. We're proposing to build a road that doesn't get to the diamond mines, that doesn't have hydro. Is the Minister willing to go and do the business case for just that? Funding for this is ultimately up to political...