Jane Groenewegen

Mr. Speaker, in view of the many pressing needs of the people of the Northwest Territories for everything from better education, to homes and houses in our communities, to health services — we have no doctors going into Nunakput, we heard today — in view of all those pressing needs, does the Premier not think that he has a duty to very clearly tell people, before we commit to it, that this government was entering into an obligation and a liability for $165 million?

Mr. Speaker, with this being Education Week, I, along with several of my colleagues, would like to acknowledge the educators of our Territory. In particular, I would like to recognize those who invest their skills and energy to educate the students of Hay River.

These weeks set aside to recognize specific professions are a good idea. However, if we are to truly respect and recognize our teachers, we could most sincerely do that by ensuring that our schools and their staff are adequately resourced to make the most positive impact possible in the education tasks of our children.

To that end, I...

Mr. Speaker, it is unfathomable that this Premier can say we should have a debate on one simple question alone: do we support this project or not? How could we possibly say whether we support the project or not if we did not have access to the details of it? That's like saying, “I'll buy a house, and I won't look at it or inspect it, and I won't understand any of the terms of the financing, but I'll just….” It is “Do I want a house, or don't I want a house?” That's how simply he’s putting the question.

And to the fact that, yes, we do have the information — yes, we do have it now, after the...

Mr. Speaker, the Members on the opposite side are putting words…. They are adding words. They are embellishing this. They are using things like “head on a platter,” “lying.” I never said lying.

I stood on a point of order to the fact that the Premier was offering…. He was misleading the House with the information he was giving. So if they want to describe that in whatever way they want to, that is what I said. And that is what I will set out to prove.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just to describe for Members what is being proposed here in this motion to delete: Public Works and Services is records storage; Justice is the perimeter fencing at North Slave Correctional Facility; the $80,000 in Education is for the renovations to the Lahm Ridge Tower. Those are the three items this motion proposes to delete from the interim capital appropriations.

Mr. Chairman, the committee today would like to consider Bill 3 and then continue with Bill 1, in that order. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, so these contracts are normally sole-sourced contracts, and we do spend a fair amount of money. I haven’t even gone into the ones where we hire people who actually reside in the Northwest Territories or who have their shingles hung out in the Northwest Territories.

In view of some of the need for cutbacks, does the Premier see any opportunity for savings on this particular type of discretionary spending?

Mr. Speaker, as many people will know, the Regular Members of the Legislative Assembly have been meeting lately to talk about ideas for strategic reductions, since the government has advised us that we need to find $135 million over the next two years. It’s been a very interesting discussion, and at some point our report and recommendations will be made public.

For those who don’t know, there’s a very interesting document available in our library. It’s called “Contracts Over $5,000.” It’s a public description of all contracts over $5,000. To anybody who wants some interesting reading material...

Mr. Chairman, I move that sub-clause 3(2) of Bill 1 be amended by striking out $491,566,000 and substituting $490,831,000.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that the Schedule to Bill 1 be amended to:

decrease by $115,000 the interim appropriation amount set out in Part 2, item 15, Public Works and Services, by striking out $6,534,000 and substituting $6,419,000;

decrease by $540,000 the interim appropriation amount set out in Part 2, item 17, Justice, by striking out $1,610,000 and substituting $1,070,000;

decrease by $80,000 the interim appropriation amount set out in Part 2, item 18, Education, Culture and Employment, by striking out $21,626,000 and substituting $21,546,000;

decrease by $735,000 the amount set out in...