Thank you. The Official Languages Commissioner will report to the Assembly, of course, but we can do that once we meet with the Languages Commissioner.

I might just mention that the budget for the Official Languages Commissioner used to be a lot higher but that office was very quiet for a lot of years and we have somebody now in that office that’s really wanting to promote official languages and her role in it. So when she requested the funding, we were more than happy to give her some more money to promote that office and we’d like to see the Languages Commissioner do a lot more with official languages. I will commit, once we get the plan and the initiatives that she’s willing to move forward, to report back to Members.

I missed that last question that the honourable Member had.

We looked at her whole budget request and identified some areas where we thought that the request that she was wanting to initiate was maybe outside of her mandate, so some of the initiatives that she had -- and I don’t have a list of them right in front of me here -- the initiatives that she had proposed to want to take on, some of them fit clearly within her mandate, so that’s what we want to do, is help her out with the ones that are identified as fitting within her mandate and giving her the money to do it. We had lots of supports from Members that want to give her more money so that she can promote her office and work within the official languages and the other languages board. It’s kind of a definition of where her role fits in with the other language boards in the Territories.

We’re working with her. She was hired as an independent Commissioner of the Assembly, but we’re going to work with her and we want to give her the funds to be able to do the work that she should be doing as the Commissioner of Official Languages. We’re going to be working with her; however, it’s her role to take on her own mandate because she’s an independent Commissioner, so we can’t tell her what to do but we want to work with her.

Yes. We’re going to go over with her the list of initiatives that she had proposed and maybe try and give her a hand in identifying which ones fit within her mandate and encouraging her to take on a lot of initiatives that promote her office and what she can do for official languages that fit within her mandate.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Official Languages Commissioner had requested a budget for around $300,000 for a number of initiatives that she wanted to get going. We looked at some of the initiatives that she had. Some of them were maybe outside of her mandate. We intend to meet with her shortly after the budget is approved to go over some of the projects that she has lined up. Basically, there has not been a lot of complaints activity in that office and some of the initiatives that we’re encouraging her to do and that she wants to take on are more informing the public of what the role is and, hopefully, to get a lot more business going. We’re going to be going over some of the initiatives that she wants to pursue and make sure that they’re fitting within her mandate.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have on my left Mr. Olin Lovely, director of corporate services, and to my right is Tim Mercer, Clerk of the Assembly.

Yes, I will.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to present the 2011-2012 main estimates for the Legislative Assembly.

The upcoming fiscal year is perhaps the most unique in the four-year cycle of the Legislative Assembly. It will be marked by the last five months of the 16

th

Assembly and the first six months of the

17

th

Assembly.

This year the Assembly is requesting operational funding to the tune of $18.9 million. This constitutes an increase of just over 9.7 percent compared to last year’s budget of $17.22 million. This year’s increases are the result of several important initiatives.

By far the most substantial reason for the increase is the requirement to fund a general election in the fall of this year. The cost of conducting a general election in the Northwest Territories is approximately $1 million. I am pleased to advise Members that the positions of both Chief Electoral

Officer and Deputy Chief Electoral Officer have been filled and that preparations for the vote are well underway. Returning officers have been appointed in all ridings and pre-election training has been scheduled. All we need now is the approval of the federal Cabinet to dissolve the 16

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Legislative

Assembly on September 4, 2011, to allow for an October 3

rd

election.

Costs related to the transition from the 16

th

to the

17

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Legislative Assembly are also included in next

year’s budget.

Although Members have yet to debate the recommendations of the 16

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Legislative

Assembly’s Independent Commission to Review Members’ Compensation and Benefits, the Assembly has budgeted additional funds to ensure that Members who represent ridings with multiple small communities are able to hold at least three constituency meetings in each community annually. This additional funding reflects the unique costs that Members representing small communities must incur, most notably translation and interpretation services.

The 2011-2012 draft main estimates include an increase to the budget for the office of the Commissioner of Official Languages in the amount of $100,000. The Languages Commissioner has outlined a set of exciting initiatives she wishes to undertake in future years. This funding will assist her in fulfilling her critical mandate.

This year’s budget also reflects the completion of the terms of reference for the Standing Committee on Social Programs’ review of the Child and Family Services Act. Other sunsets include funding for the work of the Independent Commission to Review Members’ Compensation and Benefits, and interest payments on the capital lease of the Legislative Assembly building. Members will recall that in approximately two years the capital lease for this building will be paid in full.

Last year witnessed the successful implementation of a number of important initiatives at the Legislative Assembly. Outreach efforts were continued with a highly successful Mace tour to the communities of Fort Simpson, Nahanni Butte and Trout Lake. The first Elders’ Parliament was hosted by the Assembly and was, by all accounts, a resounding success. As stated, the terms of reference for a major review of the Child and Family Services Act were fulfilled by the Social Programs committee. Finally, the Assembly successfully installed a biomass heating system last fall. This initiative is, as we speak, handling more than 50 percent of our peak heating needs and, in so doing, saving money on fuel costs and reducing the Assembly’s environmental footprint.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide opening comments and I welcome any questions Members may have.