David Ramsay

I thank the Minister for that. There is probably a tremendous amount of equipment if you look at the three clinics that are currently in operation. If the new clinic can’t use it, I have been to a number of health centres in small communities that are in desperate need of any equipment. We should put that equipment to the best use possible. It shouldn’t just end up being thrown out or end up at a government surplus facility. If it can be used in the small communities and it has some usefulness, it should be sent there as soon as it can be.

Again, if we signed the lease three months ago, I am...

I thank the Minister of Finance for that. Maybe the Minister of Health would have that level of detail with her today.

Mr. Speaker, I guess a final question for the Premier. It’s nice that we can have this back and forth in public. Like I said, there are other things that I believe, as a Member of this House, should be on the table with the federal government. They are not today. How does the Premier address those concerns that individual Members might have, and how do we get those concerns on the table with the federal government?

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to thank the Minister. I know that he does have a genuine interest, like a number of my colleagues in this House, in finally seeing a heritage trust fund set up in the Northwest Territories. I know that he will work to try to get that done.

Again, I just want to get a better understanding of why an equity position in the pipeline isn’t attached to the negotiations that are currently ongoing with the federal government for resource revenue sharing and devolution. Why isn’t that part of it? Why isn’t the heritage trust fund a part of those negotiations today?

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Again, I’m standing here every day waiting for someone to grasp something I have said. Unfortunately, I believe all they hear over there is the criticism. It’s time they expand their horizons and actually listen to what I and other Regular Members on this side of the House are saying. We’re not just criticizing. We’re making suggestions in order that we can make consensus government work. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, that gets me to my next question. This billion dollar deal that’s on the table with the federal government in relation to the negotiations for resource revenue sharing and devolution was formulated by Cabinet. Now, I’m saying today, and I’ve said it before in this House, that there are other competing priorities, such as an equity position in the pipeline, such as the heritage trust fund. Members in this House just haven’t had the ability, like Cabinet, to put those types of things on the table or to discuss what the most important thing is for us going forward to the federal...

Mr. Speaker, I want to continue on from my statement earlier today when I was talking about how easy it is to come into this Assembly and ask questions of the government. I do think it is easier to ask questions than answer questions. I know I am critical; I know I question the government. But I also try, in questioning the government, to provide some suggestions and recommendations and to try to make things work here. You can’t just be critical. You have to try to work together.

One of the issues that’s really eating at me lately is this Mackenzie Gas Project. I want to get a better...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’ve been a Member of this Legislative Assembly for just over five years now, and I continue to enjoy bringing up issues that are important to both my constituents and residents in the Northwest Territories.

I do believe it is easier to stand over here, day in and day out, and ask questions than it would be to be on that side of the House and answer them. I have been very critical of this government’s performance, because it’s my job to do so. I am of the belief that if you are going to be critical, you should also provide suggestions on how you could do things better. I...

Again, I’m just having a little bit of trouble understanding how you can award a contract that hasn’t been approved by the House. Anyway, I guess it’s just a funny thing when you’re negotiating what would appear…. I mean, nobody has yet told me what exactly it’s going to cost. There have been numbers thrown around, anywhere between $120 million and $140 million.

If I could, I’d just provide a recommendation, if you will. This is a project for which we need to expedite the process; we need to find out exactly what we’re building and put a cap on it before it grows in cost any more than it...

I’m just having a little bit of trouble understanding, then, because earlier today, I believe, the Minister said that a contract was signed. Specifically, what are they signing? Obviously, it sounds like the negotiations are still ongoing; there hasn’t been approval. When does the approval of the Members of this House come into play? I know we approved some dollars last year, but they’re carried over, and that project still hasn’t proceeded. So what are we signing? Is it a blank cheque?