This is page numbers 1271 - 1335 of the Hansard for the 15th 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

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1331

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I guess the government has a lot of examples of something that started as symbolic has grown to become an expected amount to be spent by government. Within Finance, if we want more revenues and we are directed to get more revenues, we can do that. We can establish a new tax, a new mark-up and we can call it what we want but that money always goes back into general revenue. Then it's the Assembly overall that makes a decision on how that money is spent. So instead of getting hooked up on this page, it's more as a government during our business plan process. If it's felt that this government should establish a set amount for prevention on the addiction side of the scale, that should be done through the business planning process in an overall government target set, not initially through a fund of this nature. Anything we raise, whether it's a tax, a mark-up from tobacco sales, we could do the same thing for tobacco taxes saying we should target that because it causes a horrendous problem when we talk about people in our facilities, lung cancer and so on.

The issue would be more appropriately as a government overall through our business planning process, if we feel it is necessary to target an amount that would go into that and not get caught up in sales of products. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1331

The Chair

The Chair Calvin Pokiak

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Next I have Mr. Lafferty.

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1331

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty North Slave

Mahsi, Chair. Chair, can we go back to 3-26? I just have a quick question on the Tlicho Agreement.

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1331

The Chair

The Chair Calvin Pokiak

The Member has requested to go back to page 3-26. Does committee agree?

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1331

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1331

The Chair

The Chair Calvin Pokiak

Mr. Lafferty.

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1331

Jackson Lafferty

Jackson Lafferty North Slave

Thank you. Mr. Chair, the Tlicho Agreement Implementation Plan signed August 25, 2003. Is that supposed to be August 2005 or was it signed before the actual signing of the Tlicho Agreement? Anyway, it's a 10-year bilateral funding agreement. In 2007-08, there is no money in the budget. Is there a reason for that? What is the status? I am just curious, because all of a sudden there is no money coming forward after two years or a year and a half of implementation. Mahsi.

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1331

The Chair

The Chair Calvin Pokiak

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Roland.

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1331

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, under this section, we work with DAAIR. What they would do is as different agreements are through implementation phases and money comes from the federal government because it's work on behalf of others, it would be allocated to different departments based on what needs to be done. In this case, Finance is not required to do any further work in this area, so the money has not been given to us in that area. Thank you.

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1331

The Chair

The Chair Calvin Pokiak

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. We are on page 3-26, information item, Finance, work performed on behalf of others.

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1331

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1331

The Chair

The Chair Calvin Pokiak

Go to 3-27, Finance, information item, liquor revolving fund. Mr. Ramsay.

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1331

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a quick question in terms of the income off of liquor sales and the

cost of goods sold. There is a difference there of millions of dollars. Is that a true reflection of the margins that the government sees off the sale of liquor? It's about 60 percent. That's fairly healthy. Is that true?

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1332

The Chair

The Chair Calvin Pokiak

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1332

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is a true reflection of our mark-up. That's our mark-up from the government. So through the liquor revolving fund, the cost of the product is just over $15 million. We, through the sales, get just over $41 million and that's our mark-up. That's where you end up seeing that surplus amount that gets transferred back into general revenue.

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1332

The Chair

The Chair Calvin Pokiak

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Ramsay.

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1332

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I guess that would explain the fact that residents in the Northwest Territories pay probably 30 to 35 percent more for alcohol than they do in Alberta where it's privatized. Is that a true statement?

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1332

The Chair

The Chair Calvin Pokiak

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Roland.

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1332

Floyd Roland

Floyd Roland Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Our role is much as would have been in the past through Alberta government, they would have established their mark-up. Now they go through their privatized sales, although they still do have their agency that sets the criteria. In this case, we do that and, yes, we do have a very high mark-up. We managed to still sell $41 million worth of product. Thank you.

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1332

The Chair

The Chair Calvin Pokiak

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Mr. Ramsay.

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1332

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

That's good. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1332

The Chair

The Chair Calvin Pokiak

Thank you. We are on page 3-27, Finance, information item, liquor revolving fund.

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1332

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1332

The Chair

The Chair Calvin Pokiak

Can committee now turn to page 3-7? Page 3-7, Finance, department summary, operations expenditure summary, $11.461 million.

Committee Motion 48-15(5) Establishment Of A Boards And Agencies Review Unit, Carried
Item 16: Consideration In Committee Of The Whole Of Bills And Other Matters

Page 1332

Some Hon. Members

Agreed.