Sandy Lee

Thank you. I’m glad that the Minister does understand what I am trying to say here, because I do believe that we were in the House when these questions came up. I can’t remember exactly when -- probably in the last two years and I don’t know exactly which group had applied for it -- but I do believe that the Minister of Health and Social Services, then and now, made an exception to those NGOs who are engaged in activities that makes it really hard to obtain insurance and if they did then their insurance costs are just exorbitantly high.

I think another example I could think of -- maybe not...

Seven seconds left; holy. Sorry; I had so many questions.

---Laughter

Maybe I’ll just end with one. I’m still not clear though. I know there are criteria for capital funding, safety, protection of assets and such, but how does an indoor facility, which I would think is pretty essential if there are no other facilities in that community for a place to meet or play indoor sports for children -- and I understand there are three or four communities in the North that have that problem -- how does that rank? Why does that rank behind changing the carpets in an office in Yellowknife? I really believe...

Mr. Speaker, if the Members do not agree with the original amendments, I think the right thing to do is to send the work back to the Striking Committee. It is a working committee, it’s a standing committee, it’s a respected committee that has been set up by Members to do this work. So I really think that this is interfering with the process that’s very well established and it is not respectable of the Striking Committee that was set up by Members to do Members' work. I would like to also urge the Members in voting on this, to consider what precedent this might be setting. We would not want...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Once again, I will just wait to see what the initial review of that is and make further comments. On page 3-31 that we are on, the figures show that the revised estimate for 2004-05 is less than what was projected in the main estimates. For next year, we are looking at a lesser amount being budgeted than this current year. Are we looking at a downward trend in the consumption of alcohol, or what is the basis for reducing this budget? In particular, why is there an almost $900,000 difference between what was estimated for this year and what seems to be the actual...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know the Minister means well, but I’m not sure I agree with his approach and the government’s approach on how they’re going about it in terms of speaking about the GNWT’s position at the national table on childcare or day care or early childhood education or however we want to phrase this. I don’t think it’s the proper thing to just go and say we’ll see what the federal government is asking or we’ll see where we end up. I think we’ll have a better chance of getting it where you want to, if you know where you want to be before you start. So I’d like to know from the...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I wanted to ask a question to the Minister about the review of the Liquor Act in light of this section here on this budget.

Mr. Menicoche mentioned the example of AADAC in Alberta where not only do they do that, I think that commission is responsible for the roles that our liquor board or Liquor Licensing Board -- I think it is combined -- the work that our liquor board does and the Liquor Commission. Also, AADAC funds money for at least three alcohol and drug treatment programs in Alberta. They fund the Poundmakers in part and they fund the Henwood. They also fund...

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Dent.

Further Return To Question 380-15(3): NWT Child Care Spending

Thank you, Madam Chair. I wasn’t going to comment more, but this issue that Mr. Braden has been discussing has prompted me to say something here so that it’s on record. I was going to wait until the Minister’s work is done in April or May when this initial report on this review comes hopefully to AOC to discuss it, but this is such a huge issue. I know Mr. Braden is very passionate about this issue. I’m not sure if what Mr. Braden is calling for, which I think is necessary, should be placed and that debate should take place by way of this review. I think the way we manage or not manage well...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask some more questions to Mr. Dent about the national childcare debate that’s going on and the meetings that he attended over the weekend. Mr. Speaker, lest there be any opinion out there that we have this huge functioning child day care program in the NWT given the Minister’s answers earlier, I think it should be a very clear understanding that we don’t have that. What we have is a very basic minimum, income tested day care subsidy. I don’t know if anybody has noticed the careful skating around that the Minister did in answering my question...

Thank you, but the questions that have been brought to me have to do with businesses that have been in existence for quite a few years, and that had been submitting taxes and payroll taxes. Now, two or three years later -- in one case, it is still a very rapidly growing business -- they might have been employing 10 people three years ago and are now employing 300 people. They are advertising; they have a strong presence in the city as well as in the surrounding communities. They have been called twice within a span of two months asking if they were going to be remitting taxes. They said, of...