Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Minister Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to talk about a very frustrating flaw in our procurement policy. We hire engineering services for the Department of Transportation for transportation infrastructure on a standing offer agreement basis.

A constituent of mine, Darrell Dean, born and raised in Hay River, Aboriginal, owns a drilling company called Procore. This company has expended resources to buy equipment and hire employees to be involved in geotechnical work. Last winter and again this winter he has observed our government continuing to use the services of a southern company called Mobile...

Agreed. Thank you. I will ask the Sergeant-at-Arms to escort Mr. Miltenberger’s witnesses to the witness table.

I’ll ask Mr. Miltenberger if he’ll please introduce his witnesses for the record.

Question is being called.

---Carried

Department of Transportation, as per your documents it is item number 11. Appropriation authority required, $29.848 million. Mr. Miltenberger.

I’d like to call Committee of the Whole back to order. We are still dealing with Tabled Document 1-17(2), Interim Appropriation 2012-2013. Yesterday when we had left off, we had dealt with all the departments with the exception of the Department of Transportation. Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you. Is committee agreed?

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Next on my list I have Mr. Bromley.

I’m sure that the Alberta Health Services is very interested in having a say in this as well. Certainly, we do spend millions of dollars on a contract with them and they give us excellent service and have over the years. This Municipal Airport closure is something that could prove to be problematic. I would like to ask the Minister if his department would not be bystanders in this discussion but will really put some resources into examining the viability of this Garrison alternative and take the first step and a proactive step to determine if that is a better solution than Edmonton...

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my questions that were posed by Mr. Hawkins from Yellowknife Centre with respect to that welcome news that we read in the media recently that there is an alternate airport to the Municipal Airport being contemplated as a landing point for medevacs out of the North, that being the Garrison. Now, I can’t say that I heard every single answer that Mr. Beaulieu provided, but might I suggest that the cooperation and the agreement… The contract between our government and the Alberta Health Services for medical service for our NWT residents in Alberta...