Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the issue of a public/private partnership raises the question of how those kinds of arrangements for projecting an expenditure or committing to an expenditure that goes out 35 years is an interesting anomaly for our government. I’d like to know, I’d like to be able to find out how it coincides with our Financial Administration Act and to do that I need a copy of that concession agreement. So I’d like to ask the Minister, will he table a copy of the concession agreement, even with its unfinished 12 chapters, in this House? Thank you.

Okay. Let me ask this then, Mr. Speaker. The concession agreement lays out conditions that the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation needs to meet in order for this agreement to proceed. There are deadlines contained as in any agreement. There would be timelines included in that agreement. If those conditions are not met within those timelines, could I please have this Premier’s commitment that this government will not embark on any further extensions or changes to those timelines should the conditions not be met? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When the conditions are met and if, for some reason, through political wishes or direction of this 16th Assembly, we don’t proceed, we are considerably more at risk of an unquantified, at this time, liability. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the working of a consensus government is based on our credibility on this side of the House to ask questions and to receive accountable and transparent answers from the other side. That’s the whole basis of this debate in the House. I mean, Mr. Roland can split hairs about this, but he knows the intent of my question and some of my colleagues was to find out what had transpired and where our government sat in terms of commitment. My question is to the Premier. In retrospect, was the signing of the concession agreement not a very key piece of...

On October 19, 2007, when the 16th Assembly was sitting in this House and I was asking Mr. Roland questions as the Premier, did he know that the concession agreement had been signed with the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a matter has arisen so soon that will test our Premier’s leadership and his commitment to transparency and accountability. On October 19th, I stood in this House and asked questions about the extent of our government’s liability with respect to the Deh Cho Bridge project. During the life of the 15th Assembly, many questions and concerns were raised by Members on this side of the House regarding the bridge acquisition process. Our concerns, for the most part, were unanswered. On August 31st, the 15th Assembly was dissolved, leaving Ministers in place to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to table a transcript of the proceedings of a public meeting to discuss the loss of Constable Christopher Worden held by the Town of Hay River on October 22nd containing many questions to the departments of this government regarding resources for Hay River. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we refer to this as a public/private partnership, but may I suggest that this is a mostly public project. There is very little private in this. We are a public government and we are expending public funds. I think the public has a right to know what it is exactly that we are committing to. The Deh Cho Bridge project is anticipated to come in at $165 million. This is the largest capital project ever undertaken by the Government of the Northwest Territories. We need public accountability and public transparency on this and maybe we’ll consult with the Access...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with respect to the Deh Cho Bridge 3P project, we have an infrastructure deficit in the Northwest Territories. We have a lending limit. Acquiring capital projects through public/private partnerships is something that is not a foreign concept. It hasn’t been a very happy concept for this government, might I say, to date. However, if the government were going to consider this method for acquiring capital infrastructure in the future, I think it would be prudent to have a P3 policy in place for this government, because obviously we’re flying right now by the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that was the case exactly on the day that I asked these questions, yet no reference was made to the concession agreement having been signed, putting this government at that potential significant, greater liability should the conditions be met.

In response, in another question, the Premier states, “it’s not too late. The 16th Assembly and its mandate has not signed a deal on proceeding forward...” I’d like to ask the Premier how he could reconcile that to the fact that a concession agreement had been signed. Thank you.