David Ramsay

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to return to item 9, written questions.

Unanimous consent granted.

Mr. Speaker, I do have the interests of my constituents and the residents here in the Northwest Territories at heart when I do question the Minister.

I want to again get back to the accountability side of things. I think the department should look into a system like they have in Alberta, where it can tell the applicant whether the competition is in the screening, interview, offer or appeal stage. That, to me, is a fairly straightforward accountability measure that the department should be employing.

I’d like to ask the Minister: will he take a look at the system they have in Alberta and try to...

Mr. Speaker, I’ve got some questions today for the Minister of Human Resources. It gets back to my Member’s statement from earlier today where I talked of it taking months to fill vacant positions within the G.N.W.T. public service. Also, some grievances that I’m aware of are two and a half years in duration.

I’d like to ask the Minister what standards are in place in the department in terms of time frames to make sure the positions are filled in a timely and efficient manner and that grievances are addressed.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do withdraw my remarks and apologize to the Premier if I offended him.

Mr. Speaker, I wasn’t going to ask another question, but I’ll have to ask one more question here.

What evidence has the Minister of Transportation got at his disposal that is going to indicate to him that the cost of living will not go up with the building of the Deh Cho Bridge at Fort Providence?

Mr. Speaker, I can advise the Minister that it is well over a million dollars that we have spent on consultants and contractors to work on the file of the Deh Cho Bridge project.

I am wondering if the Minister can supply the House with the reason why the Government of the Northwest Territories would bear the full cost of consultants and contractors looking at the Deh Cho Bridge project when the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation should be responsible for that level of work.

I did the math. It adds up to $242 million. It’s $4.5 million a year indexed over 35 years. It comes out to an investment of $242 million. That’s the real math. That’s the real math, Mr. Speaker.

Interjection.

I thought I heard what I heard. Again, I’ll have to read Hansard again tomorrow when it comes out to see exactly what it was the Premier had said.

I was watching earlier when the Premier mentioned that…. You know, this might not have been caught in Hansard, but he said that I was misleading the House because he pointed at me and said I was responsible for the $242 million figure.

Interjection.

Yes, I do, Mr, Speaker.

Mr. Minister, what immediate actions will you be taking to improve the morale and the overall functionality and credibility of the Department of Human Resources?

Mr. Speaker, all of the items I’ve listed here in my previous questions are the realities that exist today in the Department of Human Resources. All of the MLAs on this side of the House, or most of them, have received disturbing stories from constituents on the realities of working at or receiving services from the Department of Human Resources.

Is the Minister of Human Resources aware of the realities within the Department of Human Resources and the concerns of staff and the public?