David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister who in his department is responsible for getting that type of information back to Members of this House, because obviously there seems to be a disconnect somewhere between Public Works and Services and the Department of Health and Social Services in what was going to happen with the Dene K’onia facility in Hay River. I would like to ask the Minister who in his department is ultimately responsible for letting Members of this House know that the scope of this project was about to change. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that was five weeks after Public Works and Services’ ad appeared in the News of the North asking for the demolition of the facility in Hay River. Mr. Speaker, again, I would like to ask the Minister if that ad didn’t appear in the newspaper, when was he going to let Members of this House know? How come we had to find out via newspaper and via parents of children that attend the TTC here in Yellowknife? Why was that the case, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger. I’d like to pick up where my colleague Mr. Braden had left off in questions regarding the relocation of the Territorial Treatment Centre from Yellowknife to Hay River. We had discussed this issue at length here in the House last year and, according to the Minister’s own words in this House, a key element to the program relocating to Hay River had to do with there being a facility in Hay River that was going to be renovated and the fact that it was going to be cost...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, good sense and good judgment would have lead the Minister back to the FAM directive that instructs Cabinet to inform and consult with the Members on this side of the House on substantial changes to projects. This didn’t happen and, like I mentioned in my Member’s statement, it’s the second time in less than a year on the same project that the Minister has not come back and consulted with Members of this House. Not having a facility to renovate in Hay River entirely changes the scope and, in fact, if you go back to the debates that took place last year in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. An issue that’s been really upsetting and unsettling for me is that of the proposed relocation of the Territorial Treatment Centre to Hay River. During both the June and October 2005 sessions, I questioned how it was that the Department of Health and Social Services could move capital dollars and a project from one community to another without any consultation with affected Members or committees.

Of course, Mr. Speaker, the government and Minister Miltenberger were adamant that every rule in the FAM directive was followed, but a very strange thing took place on the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize a former Speaker of the House, the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories and former Member for the constituency of Kam Lake, Mr. Tony Whitford.

---Applause

As well, Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize Ms. Amanda Mallon, president of the Northwest Territories Teachers' Association. Thank you.

---Applause

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that was five weeks after Public Works and Services’ ad appeared in the News of the North asking for the demolition of the facility in Hay River. Mr. Speaker, again, I would like to ask the Minister if that ad didn’t appear in the newspaper, when was he going to let Members of this House know? How come we had to find out via newspaper and via parents of children that attend the TTC here in Yellowknife? Why was that the case, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, good sense and good judgment would have lead the Minister back to the FAM directive that instructs Cabinet to inform and consult with the Members on this side of the House on substantial changes to projects. This didn’t happen and, like I mentioned in my Member’s statement, it’s the second time in less than a year on the same project that the Minister has not come back and consulted with Members of this House. Not having a facility to renovate in Hay River entirely changes the scope and, in fact, if you go back to the debates that took place last year in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister who in his department is responsible for getting that type of information back to Members of this House, because obviously there seems to be a disconnect somewhere between Public Works and Services and the Department of Health and Social Services in what was going to happen with the Dene K’onia facility in Hay River. I would like to ask the Minister who in his department is ultimately responsible for letting Members of this House know that the scope of this project was about to change. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize a former Speaker of the House, the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories and former Member for the constituency of Kam Lake, Mr. Tony Whitford.

---Applause

As well, Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize Ms. Amanda Mallon, president of the Northwest Territories Teachers' Association. Thank you.

---Applause