Caroline Wawzonek
Deputy Premier
Statements in Debates
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, so, again, the carbon tax is not a tax of the making of the Government of the Northwest Territories. It is a federal tax. But by trying to maintain our own system to it, we're well placed or better placed, in my view, to be responsive to the needs of individual communities, including those of the residents in Nunakput. So what the Department of Finance has done is calculate what we would anticipate both the direct and indirect costs of the federal carbon tax would be and we've divided up based on three zones of the Northwest Territories high fuel use...
Mr. Speaker, I give notice that I will deliver the budget address on Wednesday, February 8th, 2023. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document: Additional Information for the Return to Written Question 5419(2), Carbon Tax and the Cost of Living. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Boot Lake, that Bill 71, Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), 20232024, be read for the second time.
This bill authorizes the Government of the Northwest Territories to make appropriations for infrastructure expenditures for the 20232024 fiscal year. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. So, again, Madam Speaker, that unusual consensus government process is that Members who would be on these sort of, quote unquote, "other side of the House" do get what are called substantiation sheets. That does give a fair bit of detail about upcoming projects. And it does include the budgetary detail that, again, right now most governments would consider to be not part of good procurement practice to be sharing publicly. So that's why those don't go out. But the point of the dashboard a part of the dashboard, the purpose of the dashboard I was just describing, is...
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, Members of the House do receive the fiveyear plan. Again, consensus government's a little bit different. This isn't necessarily how it would happen in a lot of governments elsewhere in Canada. But we do have that opportunity here to do things a bit differently. So Members do receive that. The public doesn't get a copy of the fiveyear plan, and the real and simple reason for that is the concern around ensuring fairness in the procurement process. If a total budget is put forward on a project, then there is a live concern amongst procurement that, in fact...
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, as MLAs, one of the platforms that we use to raise support for causes is here in the Chamber. Younger generations, meanwhile, are often very effective on platforms like TikTok and YouTube to get their voices out to those who will listen. One of my young constituents is one of those youths using social media platforms very effectively, and I want her to know that people are listening.
She had recently posted to Facebook a video sharing the reality of what too many young people are still facing every day at school. The video showed, for example, what...
Madam Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, that Bill 71, Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), 20232024, be read for the third time. And Madam Speaker, I would request a recorded vote.
Madam Speaker, I wish to present to the House that Bill 71, Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), 20232024, be read for the first time. Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, I'm going to take a bit from my colleague down the way here and the Minister of Infrastructure. The Department of Infrastructure really does have the lead for a large portion of the capital projects that go through, and that department, in response to concerns like this, is actually developing a dashboard. It will be a public dashboard and will be providing exactly the kind of synopsis that the Member's describing. And I can certainly commit to keep him updated as to the progress on that dashboard, or I'm sure my colleague will. Thank you, Madam Speaker...