Kieron Testart

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to thank the Minister of Infrastructure for putting such great confidence in me that a one-on-one meeting together will represent all the stakeholder interest in the procurement process and the government. Alas, Mr. Speaker, I am only one honourable Member of this House, and I'm going to ask if the Minister will reconsider his position from the previous sitting of this House and establish a special advisory panel on procurement that will draw expertise from public servants, NWT businesses, and procurement experts to make a better procurement system...

Does the Minister agree that a 15 month wait for a procurement application is unacceptable, and that that issue needs to be dealt with right away?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government has shown its appetite to work on comprehensive issues for the government. The Honourable Minister for the NWT Housing Corporation has just undertaken a very long and lengthy review of the Housing Corporation's policies and programs. The Minister for Public Engagement and Transparency is doing a very public process on Open Government Policy. Will the Minister responsible for Infrastructure commit to undertaking the exact same style of review for procurement policies without delay? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support the many businesses in my riding of Kam Lake, and many of these businesses rely on government contracts to keep their operations viable and create employment for our communities. This government has a responsibility to northern entrepreneurs to make sure government procurement is efficiently administered, easy to access, and creates a competitive edge for those companies that choose to do business in the North and call the NWT home. I have spoken on this issue in the House before, Mr. Speaker, and though the Minister of Infrastructure remains confident that...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to state my strong support for this bill. I think that it creates a very effective way to support modest- to low-income families through the enhanced NWT Child Benefit. It's a very progressive piece of government policy. It's income-tested and it's going to apply to I think the total number is 2,000 families after it is implemented. The only regret I have is that it's not a mandate commitment, and I believe it should be. It directly speaks to our support for lowering the cost of living. It directly speaks to our support for families in need. It's a very good piece...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Good to see you back. Committee wishes to consider Bill 17, An Act to Amend the Income Tax Act. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister has said to me she is going to look into this issue, outside of the House and now in the Chamber. Can she commit today that there will be online access to all programs by the end of this calendar year?

Thank you to the Minister for that response, and I look forward to working with the honourable Minister on this issue as well. Can the Minister explain how he thinks that work is going to roll out?

This is a complex issue. It deals with regulation. It deals with taxation. It deals with health. It has significant budgetary concerns, both in generating revenue and in paying for public awareness programs. It might require amendments to territorial legislation regarding criminal matters. Is the Minister willing to accept a joint working group or a joint committee in order to properly shepherd this...

I hope, on this consultation process, that minutes will be taken when these public hearings are had. The Minister knows that this work has been ongoing on the departmental level. There's nothing to show in the form of documentation, so what has been done to date on developing this legislation on working with the federal government to understand the implications? Other provinces have indicated some of the regulatory measures they want to bring in place. What do we have in the hopper that is informing this survey or this consultation period?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and the Minister beat me to it, but I'd also like to recognize Fraser Oliver, Kam Lake constituent and president of the NWTTA. It's day two. Hope to see him for every day of this session because he looks very keen. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.