Bill Braden

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. It’s always a pleasure to stand in this Assembly and acknowledge the significant milestones and achievements on behalf of constituents and residents. In this light, it was a great moment for a tremendous northern family, a Yellowknife family and the whole NWT to see that Leela Gilday was acknowledged as the Juno Award winner for aboriginal recordings...

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Okay. Thank you. There is further in the supp an offsetting amount, a similar amount. Thank you. That satisfies my question about new money or just switching pockets here. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think I’ve exhausted that one. I do hope the Minister has taken some notice to sometimes the degree of information provided and just how clearly stated some of these programs are, these projects are. Mr. Chairman, that’s all, thanks.

How many buildings and how many caretakers are we talking about here, Madam Chair?

I am sorry. I am no further ahead. What is it paying for? What is this $800,000 supplying, Madam Chair?

No further questions, Madam Chair. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, other information I have does indeed indicate that there have been delays in maintenance on the boat and getting it ready to launch. In fact, that has been a factor in the delay in getting the Merv Hardie ferry in the water. Can the Minister confirm that there have been maintenance issues that have delayed the launch of the ferry service this spring, Mr. Speaker?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions this morning are for Mr. Menicoche, the Minister of Transportation, about the urgent fuel situation at the Yellowknife Airport. Mr. Speaker, I have been advised by some of our airline carriers, one which supplies fixed wing scheduled charter service, that his company is now on rationing. He has been reduced from normal fuel consumption of about 24,000 litres a day to 7,600. He has been cut back by two-thirds. One helicopter company is rationed to only 400 litres of fuel a day. Mr. Speaker, I am advised that one of the two fuel suppliers at the...

Mr. Speaker, I guess I’m a bit disappointed to hear that the GNWT has not got a more firm or more aggressive position on this at this point. The DIAND Minister, Jim Prentice, clearly has the mandate to make this happen. In light of the, as I indicated in my statement, absence so far of any substantive legacy project from the already massive development that is underway in the NWT, will the Minister seriously consider the advantages that legacy projects such as hydro, roads and communication projects will have and press that case for federal government investment, Mr. Speaker?

Mr. Speaker, my questions this morning are for Mr. Bell, the Minister responsible for Industry, Tourism and Investment, and it concerns the suggestion floated a few days ago by Tristone Capital that the Mackenzie Valley pipeline won’t cut it on commercial terms unless the federal government jumps in with a suggested $2 billion worth of support. Mr. Speaker, my first question is does the GNWT agree with the suggestion that the federal government must put taxpayers' money into the Mackenzie gas project to make it viable? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The financial and community, territorial and federal governments, and certainly the developers of the Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline project, are, I think, still trying to get used to the stunning news of a couple of months ago about the revision, cost and the timing of the pipeline. The cost is more than doubled to something like $16 billion Canadian with a completion date for the project now in 2014. One global energy advisor, a company called Tristone Capital, in a report just last week, said that the very high-risk project, in order to earn the high returns that...