Jane Groenewegen

Mr. Chairman, I move that we report progress.

Motion carried.

Mr. Speaker, my questions today are about the negotiated contract for the construction of the replacement of the two schools in Inuvik. There are land claims in place with respect to negotiated contracts in various regions in the Northwest Territories. In the Inuvik region those land claims extend to include the interests of the Gwich’in people. I would like to know if the Cabinet, when negotiating this contract, requested a legal opinion on any obligation they may have to the Gwich’in for a negotiated contract of this nature in Inuvik.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Minister of Finance has kindly offered to provide some additional information on this matter before us right now, so I have a motion, if it could be distributed.

Thank you. Does the Minister know if the Inuvialuit beneficial shareholders benefit directly from any IRC business interests?

Thank you very much. I would appreciate that. Again, just to process: when I asked about Ministers providing letters of support for negotiated contracts in their communities — and Ministers getting involved in discussions about capital projects in their communities at all, I suppose, negotiated or otherwise — it was kind of alluded to that I should know, having been in Cabinet, that there is a process. Something that’s a bit curious to me is that if a Minister provides a letter of support to Cabinet for a negotiated contract for a project in their community, does that Minister then leave the...

Now, supposing that this particular appropriation under ECE gets approval in this House, then the next step will be to draw up and finalize a contract with the party to whom the letter of intent was sent.

I was trying to get at whether there was a significant amount of time between when the letter of intent was sent and when we were talking about this in the House. Then I was going to suggest that perhaps it could have just waited rather than get us into this quasi, possibly legally binding, agreement. But I see there’ve been several months in between: August, September, October — three months...

Is there an actual record of decision from the Financial Management Board, signed off by the Minister of Finance, I would suppose, or someone acting for the Minister of Finance which would grant that appropriation authority up to that limit Mr. Aumond is speaking about?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My questions are going to continue today on the area of the negotiated contract for the Inuvik schools replacement and also, I guess, follow up somewhat on the questions I was asking in the House today that the Premier answered.

In question period a few days ago I asked the Minister of Education if the contract had been awarded for the Inuvik schools replacement. I was told that it had been. Later on in Committee of the Whole, upon further questioning actually, I found out that it was a letter of award and it wasn’t the actual contract that had been signed.

I want to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know that these capital projects come in phases and that appropriations are voted in various years related to the work that will be done in that fiscal year. However, I am concerned that a letter equivalent to a letter of award was offered to a construction company, Dowland construction, without the appropriation having been voted on in this House. That is still before us today; that appropriation under the Department of ECE is still before us today. So I’m concerned about the timing and the process. Whose authority it was under that that letter was sent is important...

Mr. Speaker, obviously I don’t have access to those letters of support. I have seen a list of the people who did provide letters of support, but I haven’t seen those letters of support.

I would like to know if the Premier would be prepared to make those letters of support available to this House and to the Members. Also, did the letter of support from the Gwich’in include anything about receiving part of the work that would be associated with this negotiated contract? It’s my understanding that Dowland Contracting is 51 per cent owned by the Inuvialuit, and it is also my understanding that...