David Ramsay

Mr. Speaker, when I was speaking earlier I talked of other jurisdictions, other provinces and territories, for that matter, in this country that, to me, seem much more aggressive, they seem to pursue things with much more vigor and passion than our government does. I’m talking about opportunities like I mentioned earlier: federal penitentiary; I’m talking about opportunities for an increased military presence here in the North; I’m talking about the jobs that are located in Ottawa; I’m talking about the film industry, looking at innovation and technology and opportunities in that regard.

You...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, we wouldn’t be using our own money. It would be a federal penitentiary. A federal institution, much like I’ve asked this government to go to Ottawa and demand that those 800-or-so-odd jobs that are located in Gatineau in Ottawa that pertain to northern development are located here. It’s much the same as asking this government to go to the federal government and demand that more military jobs are located here in the Northwest Territories. It’s the same thing. It’s not our money. So how hard is it to go and ask for it? That’s my question. When will the Minister...

As a government I believe we have to be searching out opportunities. I disagree with the Minister. Here’s an opportunity to get some real economic development in one of our communities here in the Northwest Territories. I’m talking 300 jobs, multiple families with the possibility of moving to the Northwest Territories, increasing our revenue stream, business opportunities, contract opportunities for businesses. This is something the government has to pay attention to. They have to have some vision, they have to have some passion, and they have to have some vigor. They’re low when it comes to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Yesterday, we had the Minister of Justice in front of us during Committee of the Whole and I wanted to expand on a couple of items related to the Department of Justice that I brought to his attention.

The first is an issue that I’ve discussed with him previously and that is the fact that there are a number of aging penitentiaries across this country that sooner or later the federal government will have to replace and look at building a new federal penal institution somewhere in this country. My belief and desire is for that facility to be located here in the Northwest...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to report to the Assembly that the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Infrastructure has reviewed Bill 11, An Act to Amend the Workers’ Compensation Act. The committee wishes to report that Bill 11 is now ready for consideration in Committee of the Whole as amended and reprinted. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I agree with the Minister. I think, as a government, we should be all over the federal government when there comes any opportunity to get federal investment in this Territory. Again, Mr. Speaker, I don’t see that happening with this government. I’ve been talking about some ideas here for the last two and a half years and, you know, we’ve been managing, it seems like bouncing from issue to issue to issue without really concentrating on some bigger prizes, Mr. Speaker, and those are the opportunities that exist in trying to get some federal investment here in our Territory. I’d like to ask the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to ask some questions. I suppose I’ll ask some questions of the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, and it gets back to some of my previous questions to the Minister of Justice. From where I sit, Mr. Speaker, I think the government is letting opportunities slip past us. I believe we’re soundly asleep at the switch oftentimes, and I think somebody has to ring the alarm clock and wake these guys up over here so that they understand that there are opportunities out there. We have to multi-task. If you’re a Minister, I don’t understand how a...

On a construction infrastructure project like the Deh Cho Bridge, I’m just wondering, in terms of management, construction management, corporate management, things like that, typically what would a project like that encounter in terms of a percentage of cost. If we’re looking at close to $30 million on construction management, construction overhead, to me that number seems a little bit inflated and it’s close to 15 percent of the total project costs. I’m just wondering, is that industry norm or standard or how do we explain that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to continue asking questions about sole-source contracts that the government has recently entered into. I guess the first question that I probably should ask the Premier about is I’m wondering if the contract to BDK Consulting and Communications for work provided for the cultural component of our participation at Vancouver 2010, was that contract sole sourced and how much was it for?

I thank Mr. Neudorf for that. On the breakdown of the $15 million, though, if you look at the projected estimate, February 2010, if $5.5 million is going toward interest, where’s the other $9.5 million going? Thank you.