Jane Groenewegen

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Justice today. Mr. Speaker, the Premier shared with us a process whereby money gets approved in our system and had indicated that you can’t just add money back into budgets or spend money at will. It needs to go through a process to be voted on and to be debated and consulted on and so on. I would like to ask Minister Dent a question today, because I find it curious that cost overruns in one area results in, what I think to be, cuts in another area. I would like to ask Mr. Dent what process he went through whereby...

Thank you, Mr. Krutko. Mr. Braden.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well then I really have to question what this entire debate in Committee of the Whole with respect to department’s budget is all about if we have no opportunity as Members to affect any change in that budget. As Members all know, we’re already looking at expansion of government presence and government roles in various regions throughout the Northwest Territories for the upcoming fiscal year that are nowhere indicated in the budget. So I’m a bit disappointed with the Premier’s answer on that. All I’m asking for is that if the decisions were made on good and sound...

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to extend question period.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So based on historical information of the number of remand clients that are now located in Hay River, the Minister is telling me that 70 percent of the cost of transportation does not exceed $18,000, based on historical use of that service. Thank you. Mr. Speaker.

The Standing Committee on Governance and Economic Development met with the Minister of Transportation and his staff on January 17, 2005, to review the Department of Transportation’s draft main estimates for 2005-2006.

The Department of Transportation’s mandate is to provide for the safe, accessible and reliable movement of people and goods throughout the Northwest Territories.

The Deh Cho Bridge is being built through a public/private partnership arrangement between the GNWT and the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation. The Deh Cho Bridge Corporation will raise the capital, design, build, operate and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister is absolutely right. He cannot predict, but I think it is very interesting that information that came from his department indicates that the Department of Justice does not anticipate any increase in crime as a result of the pipeline or any major resource development.

Mr. Speaker, I don’t know which newspaper the Minister reads or which news broadcast he listens to, and I would like to suggest to you that he may not have a crystal ball, but I don’t think it takes a rocket scientist to figure out there is going to be a greater demand on our...

Thank you. Is the committee agreed?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Justice. Mr. Speaker, it seems like this entire decision, with respect to the justice system, has all been based on cost savings. I have to say again today, Mr. Speaker, I do not believe those numbers. The $400,000; how that number was arrived at and how it was calculated is just not sound math or calculation in my opinion.

Mr. Speaker, I want an in-depth analysis of how much this is actually going to save. Because that is what we have narrowed it down to. This is only about saving money, this is not about fairness or...

I call Committee of the Whole to order. We have a number of items on the agenda before us today. What is the wish of the committee? Mr. Menicoche.