I do have staff in my department that I monitor and work closely with. Even though they write the Minister’s statements for me, I go through it and do a double check. It’s not board reform that wrote the statement for me.

That’s good to know. In speaking to educators around the Territory, DEAs, school boards, and anyone, for that matter, people are having trouble understanding why the government is insistent in moving ahead with the Board Reform Initiative. By throwing education in with health, social services and housing we’re taking a huge gamble on our future. Our future is the children of this Territory. I’m wondering why the Minister is willing to gamble the future of our Territory and the children here in the Territory by supporting an initiative like this board reform. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, maybe the Member looked at it as gambling, but we look at it as cost efficiency and an effective way of operating. Just moving forward, we are compiling information. No decision has been made to date. That message needs to be clear. When April 1st comes along, that is the date that we will compile information and decide if we are going to move forward or not. The Members will be involved as well through the standing committee and the decision-making they will be involved in. Mahsi.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The last question for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. I am wondering if, as the Minister of Education, he has heard from any school board, DEA, or educator across this Territory that is in support of the current initiative underway by this government. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we are receiving a lot of comments, issues and feedback on this moving-forward basis. The understanding is, yes, there needs to be a change, but what kind of change we don’t know. I could say that there is support for change but the end product still will be seen after April 1st . Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister responsible for refocusing government. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister of one of the government’s mandate with this Board Reform Initiative to save money. Could the Minister tell me how much money will be saved? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Minister responsible for government refocusing, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. At the final analysis, we don’t anticipate there is going to be any money saved, that there’s going to be with the forced growth costs that the Members know are upon this in the social envelope with the annual growth rate up to this year of about 6 or 7 percent in health alone and any efficiencies that are realized, the forced growth in the program area will more than consume any potential efficiencies. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, just to get a sense of the thought process here, I would like to know how the plan structure of the amalgamated boards will accommodate this House and our ability to ask questions in the three disciplines and how the government plans on dealing with, obviously, some sort of a matrix reforming system with three Ministers and the boards. I am just trying to get a feel for what type of thinking is coming, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

The Refocusing Government Committee of which the Member is a party or sits on, there were some of the longer-term questions that we are going to have to resolve. This House will continue to have a very clear and defining role than it currently has. The main estimates will continue to be voted. The money will still be voted. Business plans will still be done. The regional boards currently are there already. They exist. We are talking about change, scope and mandate, but the role of this Legislature will continue to remain paramount. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, currently, many of the decisions made in these three areas of education, housing and health are made at the community level. If and when the planned board reform as proposed by this Minister comes to fruition, will there be any decisions to be made at the community level? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, this initiative, which is trying to act on a priority at the 16th Assembly, is an initiative of the Cabinet.

We anticipate that decisions will still be made at the community level with the rationalization of legislation and policy. Decision-making will hopefully be more efficient, the ability to do case management at the community level where there is often significant overlap with education, housing and health issues. They would hopefully be able to be facilitated and done even better. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final supplementary, Mr. Beaulieu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Currently there exists 67 different administrative structures to accommodate these three departments, as we were told here today. Has the Minister completed an analysis on how those administrative functions and structures will now work if the board reform is to continue? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, in the work plan that we laid out over the next seven weeks, some of that basic initial work on the concept is going to be completed by then. The modelling, the finance, the costs, those types of things, we have folks working on. That will be part of the discussion when we look at what is

concluded, complete and available for information in April as we collectively decide on the next steps. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Mr. Speaker, I have questions for Minister Miltenberger as well. I was listening closely to Mr. Yakeleya’s question and the response from Minister Miltenberger. Mr. Yakeleya’s question was basically what is stopping you from stopping this. Minister Miltenberger’s somewhat response is, if the Legislature decides. So, Mr. Speaker, I think this question could be put to rest today clearly and simply. Mr. Speaker, my question to Minister Miltenberger is, if this Legislature passed the motion today to stop board reform, would the Minister heed that recommendation and take it back to Cabinet to stop it immediately? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. I am going to rule that as a hypothetical question. There is no indication. The honourable Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. Krutko.

Mr. Speaker, in regards to my opening statement, I talked about the impacts this board reform will have on self-government negotiating talks up and down the valley. There are several tables in place. In my riding, there are two tables presently negotiating, the Inuvialuit and the Gwich’in. Again, I think it should be their choice in regards to what type of structures that they would like to govern themselves going forward in the future. My question is to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Mr. Roland. Has the government consulted with First Nations governments who are negotiating self-government and the impacts of board reform on those negotiating tables?

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. The honourable Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Mr. Roland.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This initiative is one that we’ve discussed at the regional leaders meeting. In fact, when we had our regional leaders meeting in the Sahtu, we have also put on paper the other, internally for the government on consultation processes and each department will be using that process as we deal

with the issues around aboriginal governments of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, under the Gwich’in agreement, the whole principle of negotiations was that self-government negotiations will be addressed. The Gwich’in desired to have self-government exercises as close to the communities as possible. Mr. Speaker, I believe the board reform will totally take away those powers that we are trying to negotiate for powers in our communities, which again will establish these regional structures and take away those authorities we are trying to develop in our communities. I would like to ask the Premier or the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, is the government still living up to the obligations under the self-government agreements that we negotiated to allow self-government to be negotiated at the community level?