Mr. Chairman, the Great Slave Forest Products Limited was 100 percent owned by the NWT Development Corporation. Initially, during its operation, it had its own local board, but then ultimately later on it became the responsibility of the Development Corporation. I know that the Development Corporation provided a briefing on this, and I do not know the exact date of when it was taken over by the Development Corporation board completely. Thank you.
Debates of Oct. 16th, 2002
This is page numbers 947 - 980 of the Hansard for the 14th Assembly, 5th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was chairman.
Topics
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Steven Nitah Tu Nedhe
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, this has been a very hot topic and issue in the community of Fort Resolution. People want to see the forest industry rekindled in that community, so that long-term employment could be realized and the good will of the people realized through ownership of such an industry. I would like to point out for the record that it was the NWT Development Corporation that mismanaged this industry in the community to a point where it was financially not feasible. The kind of decisions made were impractical and made without thought to the community. It was an industry that was needed but because of the mismanagement by the Development Corporation, that community lost out big time.
I hope that future consideration by the Development Corporation or by this government in establishing such or similar industry in that community will not be viewed as the community cannot handle it, the community cannot manage such an industry, and that the full blame should be put on the shoulders of the NWT Development Corporation, where it should lie. I want the record to show that, Mr. Chairman, so that there is no confusion when and if there are discussions or thoughts that are going to rekindle the sawmill and forestry industry within the Fort Resolution area. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Joe Handley Weledeh
Mr. Chairman, I cannot speak for the Development Corporation, but our government would certainly review each and every proposal that was made on its own merit in the future. If someone comes forward with a proposal to establish a similar operation or the same kind of operation, we would look at it and assess it. There would be no penalizing of the community or anything like that. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Steven Nitah Tu Nedhe
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Financial Management Board, FMBS, the NWT Development Corporation and all the GNWT development corporations operate similar to banks. If there is a record of decision and poor financial planning is in the books, then it makes it that much more difficult to get to point B from point A. I want the record to show that the problem that led to such a big debt that we are forgiving today is a problem that was generated by the NWT Development Corporation, under the management of the Development Corporation, so that the community is not slated as part of the problem. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Joe Handley Weledeh
Mr. Chairman, as I said before, the Great Slave Forest Products Limited was 100 percent owned by the Development Corporation. The Development Corporation is ultimately responsible for it. There is nowhere in our records anywhere that would say that anyone else except the Development Corporation are responsible. The community is not responsible. There is nothing to indicate anything like that. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Sandy Lee Range Lake
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am not going to prolong what I was trying to say earlier. I just wanted to simply point out that I had a case where the public interest comes into play in determining what the government should be collecting and what not. I just wanted to reiterate that I have communicated this case to the Minister, so if he just checks his files, it is on his desk and I ask for his review of it and positive response as soon as possible. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair David Krutko
Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Minister, I believe you have made a commitment, but for the record, could you state it again?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Joe Handley Weledeh
Mr. Chairman, I certainly commit to reviewing it and following up on it as quickly as I possibly can. Thank you.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair David Krutko
General comments. We are dealing with Bill 18, Forgiveness of Debts Act. Detail?
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair David Krutko
We are dealing with Bill 18, Forgiveness of Debts Act, 2002-2003. If you can move to page 2, schedule of debts, forgiveness, page 4, total, $3,342,867.36.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair David Krutko
Agreed. We will go back to page 1, Bill 18, Forgiveness of Debts Act, 2002-2003. Clause 1.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Page 973
Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Some Hon. Members
Agreed.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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The Chair David Krutko
Bill 18 is now ready for third reading. At this time, I would like to thank the Minister and his witness. Thank you.
The next bill we agreed to deal with is Bill 19, Write-off of Debts Act, 2002-2003. At this time, I would like to ask the Minister responsible for this bill if he has any general comments. Minister of Finance, Mr. Handley.
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
Item 19: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters
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Joe Handley Weledeh
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The purpose of the Write-Off of Debts Act, 2002-2003, is to authorize the write-off of the debts listed in the schedule to the Act. Pursuant to section 24 of the Financial Administration Act, the write-off of government assets or debts exceeding $20,000 must receive Legislative Assembly approval. Pursuant to section 82 of the Financial Administration Act, the write-off of debts owed to a public agency exceeding $20,000 must receive Legislative Assembly approval.
The write-off of debts owed to the Workers' Compensation Board exceeding $50,000 must receive Legislative Assembly approval.
The write-off being proposed in this Act will not require a new appropriation. The write-off will be charged against allowances for bad debts, which were established in the department budget at the time it was determined that collection of the debt would be unlikely. I wish to emphasize that the write-off of a debt does not relieve a debtor of the liability for repayment or mean that the government will not continue to attempt to collect the outstanding amount. Through continued reviews by my staff, future recovery of the debts may still be achieved. In addition, in the case of debts owed by companies, we track the principals of each firm for future credit reference.
Mr. Chairman, I or the appropriate official are prepared to answer Members' questions on the proposed write-off. Thank you.