Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister responsible for Finance, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am responding. Clearly, the Member doesn’t like the response, but I am responding in

considerable detail. I’ve given her 60 million reasons why we are responding in the way we are and the work we’re doing with communities across the land from the 60th parallel up to the Beaufort-

Delta.

I thank the Minister for his 60 million reasons. I only want 55 million. I’ll take the other five million, thank you very much, and put it into an NWT green fund.

The Minister has, I assume, but since I asked why he isn’t enabling, he must consider that he is enabling, and I don’t feel if he thinks that enabling that it is a fair process. He talked about the gas tax money and that communities have gas tax money, but in my estimation the gas tax money is used for the communities’ capital projects in general. It’s not specific to energy projects, and energy projects can be very costly.

A green fund would certainly assist in specific municipal initiatives that would benefit the environment. So why is it that the Minister cannot see to give me my five million reasons so I can put it into an NWT green fund to assist communities? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we are all talking about I think the same thing. We have $60 million. The majority of that money is going to be directed to projects and work in the communities. The government is doing some work on its own, but by far and away the vast amount of that money, that $60 million over four years, is targeted towards communities. Now, if the Member wants it to be structured differently, if the Member wants that $60 million pot to be called a green fund, I mean, we can talk about the process and the structure, but we have a huge initiative underway, and this is into year two, to do the very things the Member is talking about with communities. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I am not talking about the whole pot of money. I am talking about a piece of that pot of money. I only said I want five million reasons. I don’t want the whole 60. My problem is that the process as outlined by the Minister -- and I don’t even think there is a process -- is not fair. It does not allow the opportunity for all communities to apply for a diverse number of things. They can’t apply for small things like a feasibility study for a project. They can’t apply to do things like field tests because that is going to get overridden by something like a wind energy project. I would like to know from the Minister if he can tell me what process there is right now for the community of, say, Deline, to apply for specific energy funds to initiate a project and does he consider it fair? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as a government we are funnelling enormous amounts of money to the communities. We have

increased that funding year after year, infrastructure money, gas tax money, community capacity money. We now have the majority of the $60 million. We have, in fact, had discussions with Deline. We had discussions with Tulita. We have had discussions with Fort Good Hope over their concern about hydracon, running the river with hydro. We have had discussions with almost every community. Communities are doing the community energy plans. We are helping fund that. We are involved across the board. I’m not sure what the Member wants other than to give her $5 million so she can put it on the table over and above all the work we are doing. I am saying we have that fund. We have a broad strategy. We are already working with communities. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I asked the Minister what the plan was that exists. I don’t think I have heard an answer to that. But I appreciate the offer, which I think I heard in that answer and the previous one, of looking at the process. I really think that is something we absolutely have to do. It is not fair right now. There is not an opportunity to assist communities in achieving their end goals; not the government’s goals, the communities’ goals. As this government revises the Greenhouse Gas Strategy, would this idea of an NWT green fund be able to be considered under the revision of that strategy? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, on the issue of fairness, the Member keeps throwing it about that somehow it is not fair. We have put $60 million in as a Legislature, the first Legislature of the 16th Legislature to make that kind of an investment in the communities. We’ve put in unheralded and unprecedented amounts of money into communities to help improve community governments to give them access. We have changed the rules so they can have more ownership. Are we being fair? I think we are. Is the system perfect? We think it can always improve. In this Legislature, as we are going to do with the heritage fund, if there is an intent, a support and a demand that we set up some type of green fund over and above the work we are already doing, then this Legislature, of course, is entitled to bring that issue forward and we will engage in that debate. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Some time ago I talked with the Minister of Health and Social Services about changing the Medical Travel

Policy to reflect modern times in such a way that people can seek reimbursement if they need to use a car instead of taking a taxi service. In many cases, we find it is actually cheaper renting a car than it is to use taxi services. No, no, no seems to keep being the response. One of the issues is servicing. Of course, on defence of the Department of Health and Social Services, they say liability. Mr. Speaker, I don’t think liability at all plays a role here because the department does not put the car rental in the territorial government’s name. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Health and Social Services. It is quite simply this: what makes the liability higher in the case of renting a car than submitting a receipt for taxi services? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Health and Social Services, Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If my memory serves me correctly, I believe I made a commitment in the House to review this issue and get back to the Member. Right now I can’t remember exactly where it is, but I will undertake to get back to the Member on that review. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister did commit but it has been four months or more. The fact is I don’t really remember the commitment actually meaning anything. Mr. Speaker, the commitment today could be as such that the policy in the Department of Health and Social Services will make that policy change reflective of modern times. The Minister can send that message quite clearly by saying the department will work this out before summer’s end. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I could remind the Member that I did make that commitment to review this and get back to the Member. There are lots of issues associated with this. I will once again make a commitment to get back to the Member on our analysis and review. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, if I may paint the issue as simply as this: the territorial government does not take liability on for taxi receipts, so why would a car expense receipt being an expense be any different? Hotel costs we don’t assume liability for, following the same principle, as well as meal costs we don’t assume liability when we seek reimbursement. Would the Minister, noting these types of perspectives, ensure that she honours the commitment to follow up on this issue to me before the end of March? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, on the other hand, I don’t believe there is any government employee who would be driving a vehicle without proper coverage. I don’t think it is sensible to paint with a general brush expenses associated having a meal versus operating a vehicle. As I mentioned already, this is complex. The department is

reviewing that. We will get back to the Member. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the Minister overstates how complex the issue is, because it is quite simple. Through the reimbursement process of a meal, a hotel and even taxi services, we process their claims. Again, their claim is drawn down through the normal process of medical travel. I am not referring to government employees; I am referring to the average typical normal citizen that goes on medical travel to the South. Mr. Speaker, would the Minister be clear for the record today that she will have her staff certainly by her obviously return a full answer before the end of March on this issue? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, yes, I would endeavour to do that. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Stanton Territorial Hospital serves about 65 percent of aboriginal patients. I want to ask the Minister in terms of healthy, good aboriginal foods for the Stanton Hospital for the patients. Has the Minister moved anywhere in regards to having available traditional aboriginal foods for people who come in from the outside and surrounding communities to see if they will have a choice to have traditional foods served to them while they are in recovery?