David Krutko

I call Committee of the Whole to order. We have several items in Committee of the Whole: Tabled Document 1-16(4), Tabled Document 18-16(4), Tabled Document 19-16(4), Committee Report 1-16(4), Committee Report 2-16(4), and Bill 1. What is the wish of the committee? Mrs. Groenewegen.

Mr. Speaker, one of the findings of the report the Minister mentions is that just on having a permanent access road versus doing a winter gravel haul where you have to build a winter road, an ice road, whatever, is somewhere in the range of 35 to 40 percent savings to government and to the public cost of building capital in the communities. If we can look at those types of savings and look at it in the long term, how much money can we save by simply having access to gravel sources as an illustration of how we, as government, could be doing things better?

So again, Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are directed to the Minister of Transportation. It is in regards to my Member’s statement and the importance of gravel resources for communities to develop public infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, as a government we have several access programs in regards to the Community Access Program and access road construction program. We have the Tuk access road program. We now have the road in regards to the Dettah upgrade access program. We have the Yellowknife bypass road program. We have tons of programs out there, but it just doesn’t seem like you are able to assist...

Bill 1 is now ready for third reading. Thank you. I would like to thank the Minister and his witnesses. What is the wish of the committee? Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The most important element of building public infrastructure is gravel, from those housing lots, to public roads, to water treatment facilities, to schools. Without the access to a year-round gravel source, these simple infrastructure needs take years to complete.

Mr. Speaker, it is essential that communities have access to a gravel source so that they can meet these fundamental challenges. But, Mr. Speaker, add climate change to the mix and you have a whole different problem.

Mr. Speaker, with melting permafrost, shoreline erosion on our rivers and in the oceans, it...

To the bill as a whole.

If I can ask Members to turn to page 1 of the bill.

Again, another one of our major resources is being taken up by a company which is now finding ways, not only shipping diamonds to Antwerp and other places in the world and we end up with nothing. Now we are finding the mine companies that deal with iron ore and heavy metals are finding ways around the Government of the Northwest Territories by simply moving the ore body out of the Northwest Territories, processing it somewhere else so we won’t get the economic and social benefit of that process. So I would like to ask the Minister responsible for Energy Mines and Resources to ensure that any...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Listening to questions by Mr. Yakeleya to the Minister of ITI, I find it pretty amazing this government hasn’t done more to protect the interests of the Sahtu people or, more importantly, that that CANOL Park, which was established under their land claim agreement, but, more importantly, protection of the Sahtu interests in the Northwest Territories, which basically we talk about IBAs, we talk about social impact agreements, we talk about benefits to the people in the Northwest Territories. These resources are going to be transferred from the Northwest Territories into...

Mr. Speaker, I was praising the establishment of the Dementia Centre, so the people who do have dementia in our hospitals will now have a space which is specialized care for dementia patients, so we can move them out of the hospital into this facility. That was my understanding. So from what the Minister is saying, it sounds like no one is going to move from the regions into this facility with dementia, they are going to keep them in the hospitals in the region. So I would just like to get a clarification from the Minister. Is the intention of the Department of Health and Social Services to...