Floyd Roland

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as in my initial response as Premier, I will undertake to look at this matter of where we have gone at that point, sit down with Members to see what the next steps may be that we may look at as an Assembly. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, if the conditions aren’t met, and there is a time limit to the conditions being set in place, if they are not met, then I will commit, as Premier of the 16th Legislative Assembly, before any further decisions are made on this that I will work with committee members. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is correct. If all conditions are met, then the Government of the Northwest Territories' liability, if we decided for reasons of our own as the 16th Assembly to pull back from that project, the liability can grow significantly if the liabilities or the conditions have been met by the other parties. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the area of the volunteer sector has played a prominent role within the government and a number of departments. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs now has that area of responsibility and the Minister in charge has been working with a number of departments. So there are a number of initiatives that have worked their way into the system, maybe not to the level as groups would like, and if it’s the will of this Assembly that we re-look at that, where it sits, be prepared to review that scenario, I can say now that just because it would sit in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in response to the questions on the 19th of this October, looking at the issues there, as I responded, the liabilities on our government remain the same as long as the conditions hadn’t been made, there’s no final contract on this project when signed. They’re waiting for a number of factors to be settled yet. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the government of the 16th Assembly, we're starting out on a path as we set priorities here for the Northwest Territories. I can't reference the work of the previous Assembly, as we are now in our time of government. What I can say is with the Deh Cho Bridge, we know where it's at in the sense of the agreements that were signed. There are a number of outstanding issues that this government has to look at when it comes to the final matters that are being worked on. The fact is, recently there was an advertisement put out on the navigable waters...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are facts out there. I am not going into the previous work of the life of the 15th Assembly. We have to move forward on what we have and the information we have. Let’s put the facts out there. The number that’s been talked about in the media, in the agreement and information, was $150 million. The Deh Cho Bridge Corporation is working on securing its final pieces of financing out there. The government’s responsibility will be what’s announced out there and been put out there for public record and that is the cost of operating the ferry today, plus...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Member is making it sound like we're going to have to deal with a closure. We're going to work to ensure that the services are there for individuals who are in need across the Northwest Territories. We have an arrangement with a number of organizations. This one, as the Member has raised, is something we will continue to work with and look at. As we have portfolios assigned, Ministers will be looking at the issues that come to their table, and, believe me, they're already there. As one Member said, it's been a while and it will be a number of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I guess I go back to the fact that it’s the beauty of the system we’re in, consensus government, the fact that as we begin our business plan process review, how that’s structured, the number of years that that is reviewed under that, this is one of the considerations that can be put into place as we proceed. So I’d be happy to sit down with Members as we begin that process to see if that is one of the things that I can do and how it affects the business planning as is prepared now by the Government of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am looking at where we will go forward, not how we go backward. So I think as we put out there, I am one who will stand on the fact that we will be open and work with Members of this Assembly. It’s a two-way street here. We need to work together. If we provide information to Members that is confidential so that you can feel that we are doing the appropriate thing, then we need to be secure that we have that information to you in confidence. We are early days in this government. As a new Transportation Minister is assigned, one of their tasks will be to...