Statements in Debates
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to ask just one final question, I guess, about fuelling. Now that prices are low, I’d like to ask the Minister responsible for the Power Corporation: why can’t we go out there? I’ll bet that the cost of fuel does go up in the near future. Why can’t we go out today and buy the fuel that we need for this winter and for next summer’s resupply? We can buy fuel that far in advance. I think that even if we have to borrow the money, if we can ensure that power rates in the communities are going to stay at a lower rate, we should be going out there and buying that fuel...
Mr. Speaker, I can understand and appreciate some of the previous costs. A lot of previous costs, as well, were because of bonuses paid to the senior management at the Power Corporation. I agree with my colleagues over here that are calling for a full scale review of the Power Corporation. I believe that they should find the way and the means within to pay for the fuel that they have had to pay for in the past and the costs that they have to pay for the past and not go and try to get it out of the pockets of residents in the Northwest Territories.
Again, I want to ask the Minister: given the...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My final question. Given the gravity of the situation, the financial meltdown globally and the possibility that the federal government may look at cuts to equalization going forward, I’m wondering: why wouldn’t the Premier come to Members of the House and tell us, “I have to go to this meeting; I have to be at this meeting”? Why wasn’t that quoted to us? Why does the Premier make that decision on his own to stay in the House and not attend this meeting?
I thank the Premier for that. I’m glad he did get in touch with Premier Charest on the results of that meeting.
Like I said earlier, I think there is a good possibility that if the federal government starts running deficits, they’ll start choosing between deep program cuts and…. I’d hazard a guess that they would also take a look at axing programs. Possibly equalization might be included in that. Again, I want to make sure that the Premier understands the gravity of not being at this meeting.
I want to ask him again: what exactly warranted his presence in the House yesterday so that he couldn’t...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to speak today about the Premiers’ conference that was held recently in Montreal. There is one Premier out of the 13 provincial and territorial leaders who was absent from that meeting. That was our Premier, Mr. Roland.
The Premiers were meeting to discuss the global economic crisis and how the provinces and territories will be impacted by these volatile economic times. More important is the fact that the federal government will be a key player in fiscal issues pertaining to the provinces and territories. The backdrop to this meeting is the global financial...
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just want to start off by saying I do support it, and I can see the business case. I’m a former businessman. I understand saving money and the fact that if we build a building, we could potentially save up to $2 million a year, and I think it’s about $39 million over the course of it.
However, it’s a huge building, and I question the size of it. At over 40,000 square feet that’s an immense building. If you put that into a community the size of Inuvik, what does that do to the local market? I think it’s incumbent upon the government to do that type of study, a market...
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just had a few more comments on the Inuvik schools, if I could, similar to questions I have raised in the past and comments I have had in the past getting back to accountability. Again, I am supportive of the schools being replaced in Inuvik, but if you look at what the public sector would do if they had to replace an aging piece of infrastructure, it would have happened and it would have happened in a much more timely fashion. I don’t think we would have seen the scope changes, the design changes. I know that departments are up against it, because they’ve got a...
I thank the Minister for that. I agree with what he’s saying. I wasn’t a Member of the Legislative Assembly during the life of the 14th Legislative Assembly when North Slave Correctional Centre was built, but that building and the young offenders unit that joins it were built at millions and millions of dollars. I forget the final figure. It was probably $20 million over budget, maybe even more.
You would think that as a government we would learn a thing or two along the way. When you go to a construction method that allows designs to change on the fly, it’s going to cost you money. So why...
Mr. Speaker, the Minister makes a good case. Ontario is a province. The Northwest Territories obviously is a territory, and I believe that it is vitally more important for us as a territory to maximize the opportunity. Ontario has a tremendous amount of other opportunities all over the province, and we are struggling here to find opportunities for our people. We have four operating diamond mines in our territory, yet as a government we just don’t seem to grasp that we can do more and we should be doing more in terms of diamonds. I want to get a better understanding from the Minister. Again...
Mr. Speaker, I want to continue with some questions today for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment. Again it has to do with diamond policy, strategy and vision of the Government of the Northwest Territories as it relates to our diamond file.
I mentioned yesterday that the previous government blew up the diamond division at ITI midway through the life of the last government. I know we are doing work in the area of developing a review of the policy that’s in place for diamonds. I’m wondering: if the division isn’t there, who exactly is doing the work of the review of the policy and...