David Krutko

Mr. Chair, I know for a fact that in the past there have been situations where the government found themselves caught in the middle, where they allocated a specific contractor who listed their subcontractors on that contract and neglected to give their subcontractors work, where the individual subcontractors countersued, saying: I had a contractual obligation under your contract to be your sub in this contract; I was listed, but you didn’t use me. I’d like to know: do you have a list of who the subcontractors are for this particular project, and does that include the Gwich’in Development...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just following up on the lines with regard to the letters of support for projects. I know that the letters of support, in most cases, are subject to certain wording. Especially when looking at the socio-economic possibilities of jobs, employment opportunities and contracts, that support is subject to those types of arrangements being concluded before these contracts are entered into.

I’d like to ask the Minister: exactly how much weight do these support letters have by way of businesses ensuring there are employment opportunities for affected communities and also ensuring...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’d like to thank my colleagues who support the motion. Again, the motion is to ensure that we do invest our dollars where it’s most urgently needed. No offence to my colleague in Fort Smith, but there is still $1.4 million that’s going to be expended on the chipseal project this year. I think it’s clear that this government has to ensure that public safety is paramount for whatever we do here.

With that, Mr. Chair, I would request a recorded vote on this motion.

Well, the project that comes to mind, just offhand, is the Tulita project. The Tulita community corporation has a hotel. It wasn’t used. They brought in a camp. Same thing in regard to Fort Good Hope. There’s a hotel there that’s owned locally. In Fort McPherson they’ve been building a municipal facility; again, there’s a hotel there that wasn’t used. There are also individuals who have B & Bs established in those communities, and they’re not being used either. So just on that knowledge that’s out there right now, if you’re telling me that that’s not being allowed, well, it’s pretty obvious...

Mr. Chair, I move that $1.4 million be deleted from the activity Highways under Department of Transportation, Capital Estimates 2009–2010, on pages 8-10 and 8-11, for the Highway 5 Km 0–266 Chipseal Project.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. One of the issues that I see coming to light here is that we have a major capital layout in regard to capital projects, but there also has to be a socio-economic component too. And it is capital layout that is out there ensuring that the communities benefit from these projects, not only from the infrastructure itself but also jobs and business opportunities. More importantly, it also ensures that communities do have an opportunity to build capacity around these projects by way of apprenticeship programs — getting people trained in different areas, either in regard to...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have seen, especially this summer and last year, that there have been some major challenges we’re facing on our highways. We had a major highway closure on Highway No. 7, and a culvert collapsed on Highway No. 8. The road condition of Highway No. 6, and also….

You know, we’re starting to close highways down, and we’re finding that it is a question of public safety. Yet we continue to spend major capital dollars on highways that have already been developed with chipseal and major overhauls. We are now in a situation where roads are actually being closed because of the...

I’d like to call the Committee of the Whole to order. Under consideration is Minister’s Statement 80-16(2), Tabled Document 93-16(2), Bills 14, 15, 16 and 17. What is the wish of the committee? Mrs. Groenewegen.

I know there was a major overhaul in regard to the ferry on the Mackenzie crossing at Tsiigehtchic. There were four engines replaced on the vessel. I know that this summer they had problems with one of the engines, which went down. They were operating with only three engines.

I’d like to know if there was any warranty in regard to that particular project. Why is it that with brand new engines we’re already seeing these problems by way of new replacements? Not even a year into the project we’re already having problems with it. What types of warranties do we cover on these types of replacements...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just spoke to the gentleman responsible for reviewing, and right now they’re doing a review in regard to the requirements in Inuvik region. They’re telling me that there’s no need for that large an office building in Inuvik, which will definitely have an effect on the market. If the private sector is already in Inuvik doing this review, how can the Premier tell me they’ve been talking to the sector that they are concerned about in regard to what effect this is going to have on them?

Again, I’d like to ask the Premier: could you put a hold on this project until a...