Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Mr. Speaker, the simple answer that I know of is that we just don’t have that kind of money, nor are we in a position to borrow that kind of money when you look at all the other competing interests we have, the reduction exercises we’re going through, the revenue option exercises we’re going through. That would be the main issue.

I do want to say that I’ve heard the Member’s concerns. Clearly, we’re committed to moving on the idea and concept of a heritage fund. We intend to come forward with information that would allow us to have that debate and discussion and hopefully get that structured and set up as a legal instrument that is going to be there for the future.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to thank the Minister. I know that he does have a genuine interest, like a number of my colleagues in this House, in finally seeing a heritage trust fund set up in the Northwest Territories. I know that he will work to try to get that done.

Again, I just want to get a better understanding of why an equity position in the pipeline isn’t attached to the negotiations that are currently ongoing with

the federal government for resource revenue sharing and devolution. Why isn’t that part of it? Why isn’t the heritage trust fund a part of those negotiations today?

Initially we’re looking at the kind of arrangement that could be made on resource royalty sharing. There’s the infrastructure option that was put forward by the Premier on behalf of the Premier and Cabinet. The issue of an equity position was not really strongly considered, mainly because there were other things at play, and our own fiscal situation doesn’t give us a lot of free capital to get things done.

Mr. Speaker, that gets me to my next question. This billion dollar deal that’s on the table with the federal government in relation to the negotiations for resource revenue sharing and devolution was formulated by Cabinet. Now, I’m saying today, and I’ve said it before in this House, that there are other competing priorities, such as an equity position in the pipeline, such as the heritage trust fund. Members in this House just haven’t had the ability, like Cabinet, to put those types of things on the table or to discuss what the most important thing is for us going forward to the federal government.

Again, I just want to ask the Minister of Finance when we can sit down with Cabinet and have this discussion and finally figure out what exactly it is we’re after with the federal government.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Hon. Premier, Mr. Roland.

The Member is speaking about the devolution and resource revenue sharing file, and that’s being handled through the Department of Executive and myself, working with Cabinet. I’ve gone forward and presented a proposal that has been put on the table. We know we’re working from a framework that was already in the system for quite a number of years. I’ve also spoken to the Member and informed him that there are a number of initiatives, if we get a proposal put forward, that we can build on as Members of the Legislative Assembly. That’s the process we’re involved with.

As for a commitment from Cabinet, again, as Premier of the Northwest Territories I’ll work with Members of the Legislative Assembly and bring the appropriate Ministers to the table when it’s needed.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. Final supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Mr. Speaker, I guess a final question for the Premier. It’s nice that we can have this back and forth in public. Like I said, there are other things that I believe, as a Member of this House, should be on the table with the federal government.

They are not today. How does the Premier address those concerns that individual Members might have, and how do we get those concerns on the table with the federal government?

Mr. Speaker, there are a number of ways of doing that. Internally, the Member is quite familiar with the process of business plans and how we get initiatives on the table and move forward. There are many competing interests, and we don’t have the resources to deal with all of them.

On the federal side, depending on the initiative, if it’s an initiative with ITI or ENR on different funds or policies that the federal government may be working on, we work with committees; for example, the devolution and resource revenue file. Members are aware that we already had a starting point when this government took over that file. We’re working with the federal government on that. The recent proposal has been put forward in trying to come up with a different approach. As I said to Members, we would also look at a number of these other initiatives. But I believe those decisions can be made in the North; we can do that here. We don’t necessarily need the federal government to make those decisions for us.

Thank you, Mr. Roland. The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.

Mr. Speaker, my question today is indeed for the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. I want to follow up on my statement today on the opportunity we have for replacing the water delivery system in Dettah, saving on dollars and greenhouse gas emissions. Is the Minister prepared to pursue this opportunity to realize the savings on all fronts?

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. The honourable Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Mr. Robert McLeod.

Mr. Speaker, the Member makes a good case for looking at these options. I would say to the Member that, yes, I am willing to pursue this option and see what’s out there that we can do to try to bring this forward.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. Supplementary, Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you very much to the Minister for that commitment. I would suggest probably doing some due diligence and making sure that the city of Yellowknife’s water tests are true for Dettah

.

Dettah is situated even

further out from Yellowknife Bay, so the opportunity for even cleaner water seems great. It just needs to

be confirmed, and that the Minister would also meet with the parties involved here, certainly the leaders of Dettah and probably the Minister responsible for housing. Would this Minister commit to those meetings?

As part of my new role as the Minister for MACA I have been making commitments to meet with as many parties as possible to get myself up to speed and learn more about the communities and their concerns. I will again make another commitment to the Member that I would be more than willing to meet with all the parties involved. To me, it’s just part of the whole process of learning a new department.

I think I’m just about done for the day here. I appreciate that time very much and, of course, the brief follow-up. When would the Minister be able to arrange for these meetings?

Well, I will be here as much as possible. I will try and get a meeting lined up at the earliest convenience, because it really is just a short trip out to Dettah — 30 minutes, I think, one way. I’ll try. I’ll do what I can to make sure these meetings happen immediately. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister McLeod. The honourable Member for Sahtu

,

Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister responsible for Seniors. In terms of the question to the former Minister responsible for Seniors in July 2007, what I was asking for is a one stop shop for seniors where they would have a place to go to be helped by the government in terms of all the services and programs they are eligible for.

I want to ask the Minister again: in terms of her role, in terms of her working with the NWT Seniors Society and seniors at large and the vision for seniors, could she see her way in terms of helping find a coordinated approach? The need is for seniors at the community level to go to one place where they can have someone there dedicated for the day to look at bills, invoices, provide services, applications instead of going to different locations. Could the Minister look at bringing forward a plan? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister responsible for Seniors, Ms. Lee.