Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, wish to show my appreciation to the RCMP, and I recognize them in their efforts, but I will start with my constituent first. Of course, in no particular order, Superintendent Rick Roy, Inspector Jim Cunningham, Corporal Larry O'Brien, Corporal Tom Wasiuta, and Sergeant Mike Payne. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like my colleague before me, Mrs. Groenewegen, I am going to continue to talk about NGOs on the pre-budget consultation. Since I became a Member two years ago, I have had regular and ongoing contact with a number of our NGOs out there, like the NWT Seniors' Society, that deliver programs on behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories to residents in Yellowknife, as well.

Again, one of the most pressing concerns that I heard from them is the ongoing funding problems. Every year these organizations are waiting in limbo for the government or one of the health and social services authorities to confirm that they will be funded at the same level of the last fiscal year for the new one. It is time that this government drops the rhetoric and starts going through and doing some meaningful work that helps these agencies.

In the face of funding uncertainty, these organizations are unable to provide assurance to their employees that they will be, in fact, employed, once the government money does show up. Consequently, NGOs regularly lose employees who have to leave because of the uncertainty that this unstable position creates. That is not good for a family. That makes job security impossible. No one can get a mortgage without knowing that they will have a job next year. How does a person really start a true family working towards their future? The undue stress is not right. The red tape must end today.

Mr. Speaker, organizations again like the NWT Seniors' Society, and, of course, as well as many others, have a fantastic track record in delivering services to the people of the NWT. So I ask myself, how many years do these organizations have to demonstrate themselves to finally get the respect they truly deserve? Mr. Speaker, they should not have to spend inordinate amounts of time each year filling out administrative request after administrative request when they have truly a solid track record of providing great services at a great value. So again I say, if the government is listening, the red tape needs to end. We need to find ways to help these NGOs.

In 2002, the Social Agenda, a draft for the people of the NWT, recommended multi-year funding. We have got stone feet on this issue again. Every year, costs go up and the GNWT raises its rates. Authorities get more funding. Labour rates get covered, costs, et cetera, but NGOs continue to get the same amount of funding year to year.

Mr. Speaker, I will have questions later for the Minister of Health and Social Services, but I have to stress, we talk about pipelines and devolution. Let's make multi-year funding a hallmark of this Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I guess my opinion on that is a parking ticket may not seem like a service to the person who is getting it, but it is a service to the community, as well as a speeding ticket. That's a safety issue. I guess it's a matter of definition. I am in favour of that. Would you define a library charge a service in this regard, because this was mentioned earlier today? I was asking specifically to parking and speeding tickets because there are people who have quite a lot of parking and speeding tickets out there and it makes it difficult for the city to collect on them. There are other things like ambulance fees that the City had difficulty collecting when I was a councillor. This only applies to those people who have property. Specifically, do you see ambulance or library fees falling into that category? That wasn't an idea of mine, but let's get clarity on that while we are here. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the answer by the Minister. So a person can still sue if that's the appropriate mechanism.

My next question is regarding the transferring of unpaid services to property taxes. It was I who asked if parking tickets would apply. The other day it was okay and today it isn't. The Minister had said it's only applicable to services. Could I get the definition of how the Minister sees what services are? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am in favour of the amendments that are coming forward today. I will be voting in favour of them, but I do have some questions for ultimate clarity for the public. There is a notice for 30 days, and I had concerns whether that restricted someone's right over the long term for suing the municipality. If someone slips and falls and didn't notice the ill effects right away, does the Minister see that this notice of 30 days restricts somebody's ability to sue for damages or the potential to sue for damages related to some type of slip and fall that they didn't provide notice of? Can I get some clarity from the Minister on that?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that commitment from the Minister, because a little logo program doesn't need a lot of administration and a long time research, so I look forward to his response on that when he gets back to me. Would he also look towards making a web site? B.C. has a "Made in B.C." program and apparently it's hugely accepted and seen as a special launch to promote B.C. manufactured products. Would he look at creating or maybe implementing something similar to the B.C. "Made in B.C." program? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are more than 400 people who work in this industry of northern manufacturing and I think it's important that we take a serious look at that. This manufacturing industry commits over $63 million to our northern economy, and I think it's more than a laughable number; I think it's quite a serious number that we have to pay serious attention to. So I believe in my heart that they deserve a lot of respect. So would the Minister seriously consider and maybe commit today to at least look into a logo program, which would only cost pennies, so we can put stickers on products made in the North so we can continue that recognition? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the honourable Member for mentioning that we don't have a strategy. That's something I'd like to see us work on and maybe see if we can get a commitment from the Minister, in the long run, to do that. But I don't think a northern strategy necessarily has to be where we have to start. It could be where we're going. I believe very strongly that the northern manufacturers need to be supported and this government needs to get behind them. I'll speak to something that's probably near and dear to the Speaker's heart, which is that I bought windows from Arctic Front out of Hay River, and I was exceptionally satisfied and promoted them to several people in Yellowknife who bought them. So these northern manufacturers are producing great quality products in our North, and I think it's imperative that we go the extra mile. So would the Minister consider something along the lines of a logo identification program? It could be something as simple as little stickers that said it was made in the NWT, just like the U.S.A. did a few years ago when they showed everyone their labels, "Made in the U.S.A." So would the Minister look at maybe making something simple like a "Made in the NWT" logo to help build that pride? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my questions will be for the Minister of ITI, and it's in regards to a "buy northern" program. This government spends a lot of money on northern-based industries to support them, and I applaud them for such efforts. They put a lot of efforts into the arts and crafts and even the secondary diamond industry. Even the local Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce, to their specific credit, promotes "buy local" to help support local businesses that continue to give back to the communities. So when I look at northern manufacturers, I think of such companies as Arctic Wild Harvest; we have the tea lady; we have Energy Wall Trusses, and we even have the Fort McPherson canvas bags. So what are we doing to promote these? My question to the Minister of ITI is, what are we doing to create a program to make a made-in-the-NWT program to help build a little pride in northern awareness so we can buy and shop local? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.