Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that question is one that leads into the program review that can be done by government. Across the North, I think, one, we first recognize the fact that when we do a comparison to other jurisdictions, we have quite a good program. The problem is sometimes that program isn’t available to those most in need. When we do this re-evaluation, we need to look at how do we set up a program that fixes the issues at a community level for those most in need; at the same time, measuring their ability to be able to live on their own. We all know the numbers show themselves the fact that the longer we have individuals living in their own homes, the lower the cost to government overall, so we need to see how the policies work and what’s working, what’s not working and redefine that area. We know that the seniors' population is one of the fastest growing segments of our population and we need to get ready to address that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The Chair will recognize the honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The Chair will recognize Mr. Roland first.

Thank you. Frontline workers. As I was saying earlier, they deliver the programs that we say are, at this level, important that need to be delivered in the communities. They know the day to day impacts, difficulties, frustrations with trying to get programs out there. We’ve heard much about the non-government organizations, how they deliver programs at a substantially lower budget than the GNWT can. In fact, we have examples where the GNWT has put programs out there to groups and communities only to take them back because they are unable to deliver at the budget that’s been set. So I think that needs to be looked at and reviewed as to the level of service and commitment that we have behind some of those supports that are out there. I think, at the same time, we need to look at…It goes back to those people at the front line knowing how the program is delivered. Again, we have a framework to operate in and we’re going to have to sit down with those organizations to see how best a program is delivered. Should it be government? Should it be NGO? Those are some of the fundamental things that we need to deal with as we start down that path. Again, as Members of the 16th Legislative Assembly, when you sit down for setting priorities on budgets, you will have a direct impact on what the priorities of this government would be. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this is a two-part question as I see it. There’s the fundamental issue of governance, a commitment that this government has made for many Legislatures now, and that’s towards having boards administer programs, and I speak specifically about health and social services boards, DEAs, DECs and housing authority boards that administer probably the majority of the budgets of those departments through the regional or local boards that are put in place to represent and to give a better vehicle to have input from the community level. They administer those programs. We have to look at the relationship if that’s an issue that we have with them. The other part of that equation is the issue of resources that has come up repeatedly in this House on this discussion. The need to look at the programs we are delivering before we put in new ones, to consolidate what we’re doing and try to reprofile the money we have to better fund those services. That they are already being provided maybe not as adequately as they can and that includes the housing issues, the issues of education at the local level, grade extensions, and the very many health issues that exist in all our communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Second question, Mr. Krutko.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my next question deals with the zero-based funding review. I think we also have to take a close look at boards and agencies and the amount of bureaucracy that we have in delivering programs and services. I think a lot of those dollars could be expended in the program itself than on the administration side. So I’d like to ask both candidates, what will you do to ensure that through the zero-based review we look at boards and agencies?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The Chair will recognize Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the previous Assembly, as I indicated earlier in this House, there was an extensive amount of work done by a joint committee between MLAs and Cabinet about boards and agencies. That work is sitting on a shelf. It was seen to be a good piece by just about everybody that’s looked at it and had taken part in that. I think we have to look at that as we look at what’s happening with boards and agencies. If we’re going to look at the review, the zero-based budget review of programs and funding, that should be included as work previously done that has merit. I think that approach should be a collective approach between the Legislature, the Regular Members and Cabinet to make sure that we have that political oversight that’s going to be so critical to make sure that that particular process is done effectively. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Mr. Roland.

Thank you. Zero-based review. I think that’s something that is, although it may send shudders throughout the system and those that deliver the programs for us, those that do budget planning and go through that exercise, I think it is something that is healthy to do from time to time as a government. We spend over a billion dollars a year in the Northwest Territories on 43,000 people. How do we do it? Are we doing it to the best of our ability? Do the programs that were introduced 20 years ago or longer, do they still make sense to deliver? Can we use that money to better enhance

other areas that are more critical in this day and age? I think that needs to be done. At the same time as we are doing that, we need to work with the frontline workers who have ideas about how that can happen and take the appropriate amount of time. However, I think it is something that has to be done, right down to the fundamental questions about the actual delivery of a service in communities. I mean we’ve got examples out there of things that aren’t working. The Tlicho Community Services Agency, for example, is an example and renowned now internationally as a way to deliver programs and services when you look at the structures that are available. Should we build on that? I think that’s something that we should do and that would go through a zero-based review of programming and the dollars attached to those. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The Chair will recognize the honourable Member for the Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, my question is to the two candidates for premiership. My question is on the knowledge of our elders, when they go back into our regions and our communities, that we seek out wisdom from our elders on certain issues that Mr. Miltenberger has alluded to, the caribou, the water, and the family, as Mr. Roland has talked about, the wisdom of the family and living on the land. I want to ask the two candidates for premiership, in terms of what ways or how could we strengthen the role of traditional knowledge in all government departments when we talk about the issues of economics, health, education, housing, empowering our communities? More importantly, taking the wisdom of the elders and put it to work to lead our people. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Chair will recognize Mr. Roland first.

Thank you. I think as I was trying to lay out in my speech earlier about the role that I think is important, critical, number one, directly from the family. How my father’s influence is still with me today and how we use that wisdom as we go forward. We need to deal with that with the traditional knowledge side. It is no longer good enough to say we’re going to get traditional knowledge, put it in the book and put it on the shelf. We need to practice what’s out there. Now there are areas where that will become critical in the day to day program; for example, when somebody in the Department of Transportation is looking at building a bridge over a creek and somebody says well, this looks like a good place, the structure looks well, but the local knowledge of the area is, well, in fact, in the springtime that is a large run-off area and you’re going to lose your bridge. Engineers from other parts of Canada, wherever, say no, in fact we think we can build it in a way that the structure is sound and safe but without knowing the history and whether it’s in two years and five years where a big flood may come and destroy that infrastructure. It’s something we need to take notice of and in fact take that and put it into practice. That’s a responsibility we have but more so, I’ll put it back to Members that it is the responsibility for every Member when we go back to our constituencies and who we talk to about what the government plans to do, is seek that wisdom and bring it back to this table. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is a very critical and key issue and I’d like to point to some of the initiatives that I know of in government. The

Member was, in fact, Mr. Yakeleya from the Sahtu, was, in fact, involved with health and social services as we made efforts to build traditional knowledge into medicine, into Stanton, as a way to recognize that that’s a key piece that western medicine doesn’t cover. We know that in the past governments, Education in particular have worked extensively on Dene Kede curriculum. We know there are places like Taltson expansion where we have a partnership agreement, or the Mackenzie gas pipeline where the aboriginal governments are in partnership, where they have the full ability, mechanism, opportunity and doorway to bring the issue of traditional knowledge into play. There are more ways we can do that. Clearly we have made some commitments, but it still has to be worked on. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Another question, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the issue of building the North is very important to my region as it is with other regions, especially with the increase and spike of interest in oil and gas, mining exploration and infrastructure, especially where infrastructure hasn’t, in my region, taken a priority as in other regions.

Now I ask the two candidates in terms of having the government direct its people and its staff to look at regions such as my region. For example, say could your region do the job more efficiently, more economically and that will support small businesses in building roads, building bridges and building airports? We know they can do it and our people know they can. They have the flexibility to work with our people in those areas and other regions also. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Chair recognizes Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the good piece of information or news for us and our Legislature is we write the laws and we make the policies. I think the issue that the Member talks about is one of harnessing the creativity that’s out there, harnessing the creativity because no one government or one group can do things alone anymore. We have seen the value of partnerships when you look at what’s happened with Diavik and some of their major infrastructure or what’s being put forward by the two First Nations communities where they want to put money, or up the valley, or the Tlicho where they are investing education to supplement the territorial dollars. So we have to write our policies so they harness that creativity, not stifle it. Thank you.