Yellowknife (Jun 05/06) - MLAs in the 16th Legislative Assembly will get a three per cent raise in pay providing a bill to amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act passes in the house.

Introduced for first reading last week, the change would raise the base pay for MLAs from $87,572 to $90,199. Any increases in pay for members are tagged to the Consumer Price Index, according to the act.

Lift borrowing limit

Finance Minister Floyd Roland wants Ottawa to lift the territories' $300 million borrowing limit. Pointing to the government's "fiscally responsible" policy as rationale, he says the limit goes against the principle of territorial political autonomy.

Roland also spoke about a recent federal report on fiscal imbalance, calling it "a positive step" and he's hopeful a June meeting between federal Minister of Finance James Flaherty, the provincial and territorial premiers to discuss revising fiscal arrangements with Ottawa will see some movement on the issue.

In other finance news, this year the GNWT must repay $290 million in corporate income tax it was overpaid by Ottawa in 2002.

Questionable housing costs?

Housing Corp. Minister David Krutko took some flack from Range Lake MLA Sandy Lee over the $220 million the government plans to spend buying and converting to low-income housing 830 Atco housing units for pipeline construction camps, a deal Lee feels is not the same kind of value as the $100 million for 530 units. Krutko explained the price-per unit difference was based on the fact ATCO conversions will incur land development costs as each is a single dwelling unit compared to many multi-unit dwellings amongst the 530.

Support our premier!

Hay River South MLA Jane Groenewegen had some sharp words for aboriginal leaders in the territory who don't support the premier's bid to improve the territories' take of resource royalties.

"When our premier goes to Ottawa to promote devolution and resource revenue sharing positions someone is sure to get their name and their picture in the media right after declaring to the world that he does not speak for us," she said.

Groenewegen believes that the territories' agenda would be better served if, "We could support and respect the leadership that is in place and that has been elected to speak for us in all our respective governments and organizations."

Centre relocation still haunts Miltenberger

Great Slave MLA Bill Braden hammered the health minister over the upcoming relocation of the Territorial Treat Centre to Hay River from Yellowknife.

"The minister himself has said that it is our duty to provide our services as close as possible to the people who need them," said Braden. "Why does he still insist that Yellowknife, where half the population of the NWT lives, should lose yet another of these badly needed programs?"

In response, Miltenberger said nobody was losing anything and that the facility was simply being moved.