Weledeh

Statements in Debates

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 22)

I don’t think there will be a big crowd there. In fact, the economic analysis done by this government has shown that because of the efficiency of the road, we will lose something in the order of 1,500 or 1,600 person years of employment, which is typical of the oil and gas industry. It’s a very low ratio of person jobs per invest, $1 million investment, and the loss will be very large here according to our studies. So the record we have is $7 million. We’re going to go find the gravel. We didn’t. The government came back, we need another $5 million, we got a few weeks left in the fiscal year...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 22)

The Minister is twisting my words again, but he’s getting pretty good at that. Obviously, I would say that the amount is well over $100 million already. We know that, having already spent $11 million or $12 million on this, so the Minister is already low-balling it here. But I guess I would ask how the hydro development is going to help lower costs for the people of the Beau-Del, but that’s getting a little far astray. The Minister keeps making remarks that take us away from that project. That’s really all I have. I won’t be supporting this project and I would love the opportunity to support a...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 22)

Thank you. On that basis I appreciate the Minister’s comments there. I want to be sure that everybody realizes and I’m getting it right when I discuss this as a go/no go decision point. So I do have a number of comments.

There have been a lot of changes to this project over a very short period of time. Every one of them have pointed at increasing costs to the GNWT and also mounting costs to the total project. So just to review those, the original agreement that the federal government dangled in front of our noses was 75/25 at a cost of $200 million. That was going to cost this government $50...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 22)

Thank you. I hope that works out. As I understand it, these are fairly dramatic in terms of the size and implication. The wiping out a road is a small thing in an event such as this. Obviously, there is a concern there, but it sounds like the department is aware of that and working on that.

The Minister mentioned $2 million for maintenance, and that remains to be seen – again it’s an estimate – and that there will be hiring as a result of that. He used that to justify the economic development aspects of the road. That’s a very strange statement to me. We can hire people without having a road...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 22)

Just for clarity, Madam Chair, are you including here now the $5 million for the Inuvik-Tuk highway 177?

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 22)

Of course, warming is also double the rate in this area compared to down south, and so we will be seeing impacts of that that are not on the road itself but that will connect to the road in an insidious way, and so there will be costs from that. But I am learning that so now the work to be done is not just the 50 bridges and so on, or 60 river crossings and 10 bridges, but it’s also to deal with this highly problematic 12 kilometres, and we have not designed the highway yet on how to deal with that 12 kilometres. Have I got that correct?

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 22)

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I had posed a question, if you will recall, to the Minister. Would you like me to repeat that question?

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 22)

Obviously, for a project of this magnitude, significant work has to be done there. Just in response to the Minister’s response, I didn’t say it was bad. I said the trend of increasing debt is not something I’m happy with. The decisions that are being made that end up with that result.

I’d like to comment a little bit on the dreams, you know, that we want to be doing things. In fact, that’s probably the biggest source of my concerns, is that I am totally convinced we could be doing things, and I’m totally convinced we have the capacity within our people and the resources to do them. I’m...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 22)

I suspect we can conclude a little more than that, but I’ll leave it at that. I would say, also, that clearly is not 67 percent. It’s $200 million. In fact, as the costs go up, the proportion paid for by the Government of Canada goes down, despite the fact that the Minister indicated that the project would not proceed unless it was 75 percent. That’s an observation, but a concerning one. Is there not a policy, could I ask the Minister of Finance, that we’ve generally adhered to in the past where the Government of Canada in fact pays for the road building and GNWT pays and looks after...

Debates of , 17th Assembly, 4th Session (day 22)

Undoubtedly the reason this Minister is such a great Finance Minister. The federal government has committed 60 percent of the project, 67 percent, $200 million. Obviously that’s not full cost. In fact, the federal government has said explicitly that anything beyond this must fully be paid for by GNWT. Am I correct in assuming that if we are $40 million or $50 million or $100 million over, that would be fully the responsibility of the GNWT?