David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to again ask the Minister responsible for the Deh Cho Bridge project, Mr. Handley, some questions. I draw his attention to two recent bridge projects in the territory that have been marred by cost overruns and a lack of pre-engineering. Willow Creek was supposed to cost $4.5 million, and ended up over $7 million. The river between Two Mountains Bridge was crushed by ice. No ice floe study was done prior to this bridge being put in. Is the Premier aware of these two bridge projects, and what will he do to ensure that these problems won’t happen with the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Is the Premier aware that the proposed site of the bridge at the current ferry crossing is, in fact, at the foot of the Fort Providence Rapids where the current in the river is at its fastest? Does the Premier know to date there has been no geotechnical work or ice floe studies? What will this do to the cost of the project and does this cause the Premier any concern? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister responsible for the Deh Cho Bridge project and that is Premier Handley. I would like to know what cost the GNWT has incurred to date for the Deh Cho Bridge project and why we haven’t seen a final design on the bridge project. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just one final supplementary. Is it the government’s intention to waive the BIP on the setup of these units as well when they get into the communities? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know that on Friday the tender closes; the one that is out there. For regular Members, this is our last opportunity in public to question the fellows on the other side of this House, and I almost feel like it is not enough time. We need to have some more debate on this, and I don’t believe the regular Members have been supplied the information that would allow us to believe that hiding under the assumption that it is for nurses, it is for teachers and things like that doesn’t preclude, Mr. Speaker, the fact that the government didn’t do its homework on this, and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will pick up where my colleague from Range Lake left off. I learned my lesson yesterday, Mr. Speaker, in talking about documents that are provided from Cabinet to the regular Members, so I will stay clear of some of those numbers that were contained in those documents. The first question I would have for the Minister, and in fact for all of Cabinet really, is didn’t they learn a lesson with the new Yellowknife Correctional Centre, and do they suffer from a case of amnesia? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to use my Member’s statement today to draw attention to an area of our economy that does not always get the respect it deserves. That area is tourism, Mr. Speaker.

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I believe that the Government of the Northwest Territories has to get serious about tourism and the way we market and promote our territory to Canada and the rest of the world. Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories Arctic Tourism Association carries the mandate from this government to promote and market the Northwest Territories. This organization should be recognized for the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know my colleagues have addressed this issue and this motion in my mind and I will applaud them for that. I won’t take up too much more time on the motion this afternoon.

I think it’s very sad that we had to go to the extent of drafting this motion today to present to the government. It should be embarrassing for the government that the regular Members on this side had to go to this length to tell the government that you have a policy and you should live by the policy. Either you are going to support the northern economy and the northern manufacturing industry or you...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That doesn’t leave me with a great deal of surety on this. The Cabinet knew about this last week, they know that today is the last day of session, Mr. Speaker. Why can’t they make a decision, why do they have to wait until tomorrow, Mr. Speaker? Why is it that the government has to wait until tomorrow to get together to make a decision like this? I can’t for the life of me think of a reason why, except for that they won’t be able to be asked in public again why they waived the BIP on this. Mr. Speaker, does the tender actually split the cost of the units with the...

Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.