Wendy Bisaro

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to give voice today to some concerns about the proposed budget that have been heard from our communities.

NWT communities are generally pleased with the budget, except for the process followed. Budget development lacked any public consultation and effectively handcuffed the communities’ own budget processes.

As a result, at the NWT Association of Communities’ annual general meeting, held in Simpson last month, the membership passed the following motion:

“Whereas the Government of the Northwest Territories…announced in January that it will cut approximately $135 million in...

Understood. Can you tell me where the revenue is shown, please?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I have a question which might clarify the difficulty we’re having with the dollar amount. When the department numbers were discussed at the Social Programs Committee, we were given information that indicated that a nurse position at SMCC for a value of $22,000 was going to be reduced. If, as the Minister has advised, that position is not being reduced, could the department advise what that $22,000 reduction is related to? That might help us out here.

The last item on this particular page talks about funds we expend on behalf of Nunavut. In the Revenue Summary there’s an item, Exchange of Services, for $2.686 million. This particular item in terms of expenses is $3.210 million. I wonder if I could get an explanation as to whether or not we are not receiving as much revenue as we spend, and if not, why not?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister Responsible for the Housing Corporation.

Why is the lodge not currently operational?

Can it be refurbished to be operational?

What costs are incurred annually by the GNWT for the upkeep and operation of the building?

What are the total annual costs for this building?

Since the closure of the facility in 2003 and up to today’s date, what is the total dollar amount spent by the GNWT for this facility?

What are the future plans for this facility?

Sorry, Mr. Chair. I thought we were going to 7-42. I have a question relative to numbers on page 7-42.

I don’t know if that’s worse for Mr. Bromley or worse for me.

Laughter.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. At the risk of being repetitive, I want to state again that it has been stated that there hasn’t been a full uptake on these programming funds for Community Justice. And at the risk of being repetitive, I want to state that without a coordinator, it’s quite understandable that the funds haven’t been taken up.

A coordinator will allow communities to have some leadership, to give them some guidelines to follow. And to reiterate what's been said by the two previous speakers, we need to start dealing with justice issues at a community level as opposed to a territorial and on a...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’d like to make a motion. I move that this committee defer further consideration of the Department Summary for the Department of Justice, Infrastructure Acquisition Plan, at this time.

Thank you. Just to wrap up before we go to the question, I appreciate the Minister’s response. But I feel very strongly that giving money to a community without any resource for them to assist them in properly applying that money is pretty much throwing good money after bad.

I think that this coordinator is necessary to assist communities that currently don’t have Community Justice committees — to get them established and to also assist those that do have those committees to be more efficient and to operate better.