Thank you, Mr. Chairman and honourable Members, I am pleased to present the 1999-2000 Main Estimates for the Legislative Assembly that will take us into the new millennium. It has been a long time getting to where we are today, as we have been working though the difficult task of division for years. This historic moment has passed and we can, as an Assembly, focus on our planning for the future. It is time to focus on the Northwest Territories as we know it now. We might be smaller in land and water mass and a smaller Legislature, but we still have many of the same problems to deal with. As elected leaders, we must have the individual and collective resources to help us do our jobs.
Mr. Chairman, the Main Estimates before committee today are for $11.618 million in operations and maintenance and $450,000 in capital for a total appropriation of $12.068 million. We have endeavored to ensure our Main Estimates more accurately reflect our financial needs. At the time our estimates were prepared the direction and best approach was to reduce the estimates to reflect a 14 Member Assembly for the next fiscal year. Any resulting changes to the number of Members will have to be reflected in supplementary funding during the next fiscal year.
This size of the Legislature dictates the resources, financial and human, required to serve the House, committees, Members' services and to operate the Legislative Assembly Building. Again, at this stage, without knowing the structure of committees and Cabinet, it would still be difficult to deal with the human resources required. Some certainty as to the operational structures will be required so that we can bring some stability to the staffing of the Office of the Clerk. Mr. Chairman, I have asked the Clerk to initiate a renewed focus on the management of the human resources at the Legislative Assembly. To that end, a number of elements to arrange human resources are being put into the plan for the Legislative Assembly. The elements of the plan will include a performance development system, succession planning, affirmative action, pay for performance and other accountability and performance measurements.
Mr. Chairman, two Youth Parliaments are planned for this year. Youth from across the Northwest Territories will be able to take advantage of this exciting educational vehicle. Our leaders of the future will have the opportunity to participate and gain a greater knowledge of our Assembly and legislative process. In addition, we are also planning an Elders Assembly for later this year as the Member for Hay River referred to in her Member's statement yesterday. We will also be developing an Art Acquisition Program for the Legislative Assembly building to reflect the rich heritage in the west.
Mr. Chairman, the interim political structure for the first half of the budget year, modernization of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, a general election in the fall of 1999, and to top it off, establishing and celebrating our identity as a new Territory will all impact on our operations over the next year. The modernization of the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act will include the recommendations of the Conflict of Interest Review Panel and the establishment of a global constituency operating budget and salary for MLAs elected to the 14th Assembly. This concludes my opening remarks and I will be pleased to answer any questions. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.