David Ramsay

Mahsi, Mr. Lafferty. Mr. Pokiak.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Anything further, Ms. Lee? Thank you. Any further general comments on Bill 3?

Thank you, Minister Bell. I would now like to ask the Standing Committee on Social Programs for their comments. For that I will turn first to Mr. Braden. Sorry; Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Anything further, Ms. Lee?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again, that points clearly to why it is so very, very important that before the government enters into a concession agreement, that it shares the information with Members of this House so that we can ask questions so that we can assess the risk that the government, not just this government but the next governments for the next 35 years are going to be having to live with. So will the Minister commit to sharing that level of detail with this House before a concession agreement is signed off? Thank you.

Thank you for your comments, Mr. Braden. Next on the list I have Ms. Lee.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’m still a little bit confused on this aspect of it, too. Yesterday in the sessional statement by the Premier, the Premier talked of a couple of things: the Deh Cho Bridge project on one hand and then on the other hand we talk of the Taltson expansion, which would take, in his sessional statement, an estimated 2,000 truckloads of fuel from going across that bridge. In my estimation, and the Minister said it earlier today, it’s $250 a truckload; that equates to over $1 million in lost revenue, lost whole revenue on that bridge. Has the government...

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Are there any further general comments on Bill 3? Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what I am hearing the Minister say today is it doesn’t matter what the project costs. If it costs 150 or 160 million, it doesn’t matter what the toll will end up being at the end of the day; $6, $7, or $8, that doesn’t matter. What matters the most to the government is that the bridge gets built. I think that is foolhardy, Mr. Speaker. I think the government has to come up with the real numbers and provide the House with the details on this project. No agreement should be signed off until Members of this House have a chance to look at it and question...

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The motion is to report progress. The motion is not debatable. All those in favour? All those opposed? The motion is carried.

---Carried

I will rise and report progress. Thank you.