Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said in my Member’s statement today, I have some concerns about the line of questioning and the, I suppose, answer to the questions that I asked here in this House on October 19th. Now, being very careful to draw the distinction, I’m not asking the Premier to go back to the decisions or the actions of the 15th Assembly. But in this House on October 19, when the 16th Assembly was in action, when he was the Premier of this government and I sought questions as to the current status of the Deh Cho Bridge project and specifically asked about the extent...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Frame Lake, that Minister’s Statement 1-16(1) be moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that we report progress.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess, Mr. Speaker, the reason why I’m asking if the Premier will table the concession agreement is because we, as Members of this House, are not privy to this agreement, the public is not privy to this agreement, and certainly it has very big implications for our government regardless of the toll that’s being charged. The suggestion of my colleague Mr. Ramsay that a public inquiry be held also speaks to the issue of the transparency of this. Decisions were obviously made at a level behind closed doors that are not publicly discussable. We can’t bring the Cabinet...

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...