I guess the primary actions that we’ve taken is to work with the federal government to develop programs that have been announced and extended in the last budget. We are also seeing our loan rates being reduced through

the BDIC. They have been reduced to the Bank of Canada prime rate plus 2 percent. So the rates right now are 3 percent, 4 percent, and 5 percent to the different categories of loans. That’s the lowest they’ve been in a long time. Certainly we are working with BDIC and we’ll be meeting with the Ministerial Advisory Committee in a couple weeks to see more input on what kinds of things this government could be doing to assist small business.

I appreciate the answer. I guess I would like to know from the Minister...What he’s suggested are all good things and I’m glad to hear that there is something that is happening, but I guess an owner or operator of a small business is going to be struggling and is going to need assistance not now, but right now. What is being provided to individuals as operators, as owners of business, not necessarily financially, but that can assist them in their day-to-day operation as they try to manage their business? More management assistance than financial.

We do have a number of programs, through our business programs we can work with individual businesses so that they can apply for funding to allow them to restructure or re-profile their business, perhaps even go as far as refinancing their operations in this difficult period.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister. I guess I would like to ask the Minister, relative to all these programs and all these things which he says are out there and are available, it’s well known that our small communities have businesses that suffer more so than in the larger communities. What specific programs are available to small community business owners?

We are looking at trying to do something more definitive with small business owners and after I’ve had input from the board of the BDIC and my meeting with the Ministerial Advisory Panel, I’ll be looking to meet with the Minister of Finance and see if we can do something more definitive for the small business owners in the Northwest Territories.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The issue of board reform is one that has been identified now for a couple of Assemblies as an area that needs to be dealt with. It’s probably the single most significant piece of restructuring of government program delivery that will be before an Assembly now or into the 17th Assembly. There are

efficiencies to be gained as we move into increasingly tight fiscal realities as well. We’re going to be having to look at every way possible to be as efficient as possible. We think we can improve the system, even from the policy and legislative point of view. We recognize there are a lot of questions about the 70 to seven, but we’ve also indicated April is a milestone date for this Assembly to have a review of all the work that’s been done and map out next steps.

Just because we looked at it in the 15th Assembly doesn’t mean we need to

carry on with it in the 16th Assembly. Times have

changed. There are some very unusual realities out there right now for our people and for our economy. Just to say, well, we’re going to do it because we said we were going to do it and we’re going to

press on no matter what, come hell or high water, doesn’t sound like very good reasons. As for the efficiencies, let me get to my question. As for the efficiencies this is going to create, why can’t those efficiencies be created with the governance structures that we have now, within the departments that we have now? Why can’t those efficiencies be looked at within the context of what we have right now for governance?

We’ve been working with the system that we have now since 1967. We have identified in this House numerous times, for example, issues about board structures in health, deficits, problems to get decisions made, communities not being able to get responded to. We’ve had many, many discussions about rental arrears, LHOs struggling to deliver the program areas, concerns at different times about deficits in education or some other problems related to graduation rates, quality of education in small communities. I suggest that we’ve been doing this for 40-some years. It’s probably time to look at this. Seventy boards have evolved with no real clear plan and we want to take a look at how to rationalize that and is there a way forward. We believe there is.

I hardly think that we can blame all the health authorities or boards for any deficits that have occurred. To suggest that taking the local input and involvement out of these key areas that the Minister is talking about is somehow going to be better, is he suggesting that we know better than those people in the front lines, in the communities, in the regions? Does this government know better? How is that going to change?

The regional structure exists in every region. Every region has at least one regional board. We’re talking about expanded scope and mandate for a regional structure that has been there for many, many years and the creation of a community service agency kind of model at the community level to make sure that there’s input on case management and program issues at the community level. What we are proposing is, we believe, a way to enhance the ability for regions and communities to be able to have a say. For example, there is no regional board right now for housing in any region. That board and that particular service would then, for the first time, come under a regional structure. So there is opportunity there, but come April we’ll have the discussion about steps going forward.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I hear from almost every Member of this Legislature that local housing authorities have been doing a

very good job. What went wrong is when this government stepped in and took away certain things and tried to move things over to ECE, again doing their master plan which usually ends up just messing things up worse than they are.

I would like to ask the Minister what he believes is wrong with the idea of trying to create efficiencies by perhaps reinforcing the mandate of some of these boards by doing small changes. Why does it have to be the wholesale change to these super amalgamated boards?

As I indicated in my comments, we are moving forward to April. We recognize that a phased-in approach, there are going to be different configurations in different regions given the unique complexities that most regions have that make them separate. There is a two-track process between here and Yellowknife. I mean, here and the North Slave and the rest of the North given some of the complexities in Yellowknife. We fully recognize that while we have come forward with 70 to seven as we have the discussion in April about how do we move forward on board reform that we’re going to be looking at options other than that one.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources questions regarding my Member’s statement in which I raised the Bison Management Strategy and the concern of the residents of Fort Liard. As a result of the Member’s statement, he had committed to a public meeting in Fort Liard. I would like to know how soon that will be conducted.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister responsible for Environment and Natural Resources, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ll commit to having it, with the Member’s concurrence, within the next two weeks.

I’d like to thank the Minister for that. I’d like to ask his staff to ensure that it’s well advertised.

Another question is, has the department worked with Department of Transportation on the options of fencing at the airport?

There has been some work done, I understand, on electrified

fencing that had some problems with it. So it hasn’t been brought forward as a solution at this point.

Another solution was to increase the quota for hunts of bison. Has the Minister taken any steps in that regard?