David Krutko

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, it took political will and lobbying to the Premier to get this Minister to move on this effort so that he could back down from his reluctance to negotiate contracts. It took public influence to get this Cabinet and government to agree to two projects in my riding.

There were letters from Fort McPherson and Tsiigehtchic. None were approved to Cabinet. The only reason that went to Cabinet is because the Premier was speaking to the public individuals in the communities by the community leadership so that we can see some benefit from these projects in our communities...

A motion is on the floor to report progress. The motion is not debatable.

---Carried

Mr. Speaker, I think the message we’re trying to send here to the Ministers and the different departments is that we want you to not only meet but we want you to beat those numbers from last year and get more summer students into the public workforce. I’d like to ask the Minister when did you start planning to hire summer students, and more importantly, what are we doing by way of promoting those opportunities so the students are aware that those opportunities are out there.

The information that the Minister provided definitely doesn’t illustrate the picture he’s trying to portray here. There’s been five years of negotiated contracts with the Housing Corporation expending over $12 million in capital investment. Only $800,000 was expended in five years in my riding. Out of that, $9.67 million went to companies outside of my riding. That’s the point I’m trying to get at. We have negotiated contracts, policies and procedures, we have sole-sourced, we have a whole bunch of opportunities we have to use. So I’d like to ask the Minister why is your department not using...

Question is being called.

---Carried

Does the committee agree that this concludes Committee Report 5-16(6)?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the Minister of ITI, Mr. McLeod. It’s in regard to the position that he holds in regard to the area of Industry, Tourism and Investment. I think that a lot of times we lose sight that we do have subsidiaries out there, regardless if it’s through the Business Credit Corporation. In my riding we have the Fort McPherson Canvas Shop, which, again, gives younger people the opportunity to get training, but more importantly, get their first jobs.

Also, the other area in which the Minister is responsible is the area of tourism, in which a lot of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Contracts are a means to develop economic growth in our communities, but more importantly, government infrastructure such as housing, replacement of schools and public facilities. Mr. Speaker, I’ve asked through a written question in this House how many negotiated contracts were let in my riding, the Mackenzie Delta, for the last five years. Surprisingly, it was $876,000 in five years.

Mr. Speaker, out of a total capital investment of almost $12 million, $9.6 million was expended to contractors from outside my constituency.

Mr. Speaker, economic development is a key...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On the last point that the Premier mentioned, the work plan, apparently you have only two Aboriginal groups developing a work plan, which you have six groups outside the table who have to follow a work plan developed by two groups that are going to have an impact on their region. I would like to ask the Premier how you explain the lack of Dene participation in the Devolution Agreement to the other parties and to other Canadians.

One of the issues that the Dene leadership have issue with is why does the federal government still retain one-third of the Norman Wells oilfield in which the Dene-Metis claim clearly identifies the Norman Wells Proven Area as their land claim package.

The other area of contention is this 5 percent cap that’s in place. I’d like to ask the Premier what areas the government is willing to push to improve the devolution package that would satisfy the concerns of the Dene governments.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are mechanisms we can use to entice people to the table, but more importantly, mechanisms, if we can’t work with them, let’s find a person who can through arbitration. Bring someone in who can bring the parties to the table, bring the parties with their issues, and at the end of the day, have a deal for all Northerners and have the best deal we can for the Northwest Territories and the people that we serve.

Mr. Speaker, there has to be questions out there and resolutions to these outstanding problems. Mr. Speaker, Dene issues and Dene concerns are valid. They have...