Statements in Debates
Mr. Speaker, the best of my knowledge in a negotiation and in any discussions, the fact that only four out of seven aboriginal organizations have signed on has never been an issue with the federal government. They have not raised that at all. They are satisfied with the four that we have been working with us. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome all Members back for this last session of the 15th Legislative Assembly. I know that it has been a busy summer for everyone in your constituencies and attending the various annual assemblies.
Given this is the last session of the 15th Legislative Assembly and, therefore, my last sessional statement as Premier, I want to take this opportunity to formally announce my own intentions regarding the impending election. After talking it over with my wife, Theresa, and my family, I have decided it is time to seek new ways to serve the people of this territory and...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member is right; we’ve had a lot of meetings about this and I’m sure it's frustrating for people who attended meetings with myself with the Inuvialuit president, with the former Minister of DIAND, and in fact I think this was even discussed with the Prime Minister when he was here last week. Mr. Speaker, we will do everything we can, but I would expect that because this is a new expenditure, that this is something that would have to now go to the next government, but we will make that recommendation that they give it the same attention we have and make the...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m told that we have now received a framework for how the infrastructure money will be spent. The Department of Justice are reviewing that now. So I expect we should be proceeding quickly on this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was elected as Premier for the life of this government. This government is alive and working until the writ is dropped. Until that happens, then, yes, we will continue to pursue this negotiation. Now, Mr. Speaker, I might add that this is complicated a bit by the shuffle of Ministers in the federal system. Even as I speak today, I am not sure who is the lead Minister for the North, so there are some delays there. But, Mr. Speaker, we will continue to press on this. That is our job. We will do it for the life of this government. Thank you, Mr...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be very brief.
---Applause
First of all, let me say that Cabinet will not be voting on this motion because it is a recommendation to us. Mr. Speaker, I just want to make a couple of points. Due diligence and transparency, those are things we live by. Due diligence is here and that is why we have the financial situation we enjoy right now that enables us to do this kind of project, is because we have done due diligence over the life of our government.
Mr. Speaker, transparency, yes, we have already committed and we will commit to giving the committee the best...
Mr. Speaker, if we had a nice big fat bank account, we might consider that as being a good investment. Mr. Speaker, quite frankly, we don’t have the resources to be able to buy into this multi-billion dollar project. Mr. Speaker, our position has been to support the Aboriginal Pipeline Group and others in the North to get an ownership. I hope the federal government, if they are considering an equity position, that they consider doing that on behalf of people in the North. The Aboriginal Pipeline Group, to me, would be the logical choice at this point. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Let me say we have gone, again, a long way to saying to the federal government and the proponent that we want to be in the room when there are discussions going on, the results of which we may inherit at some point. Mr. Speaker, we were not aware that this meeting was happening, although we knew generally that these kind of discussions would be taking place at some time in the future. But in reference to the meeting that took place, we did not know of that specific meeting, Mr. Speaker. That is of concern to us.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Housing Corporation, over the years, has gone to great expense to try to deliver the housing in a way that is affordable, but is also done so that northern businesses have maximum opportunity to benefit from it. That’s why in some cases we do the supply, ship and erect where it’s all to one person. In some cases, it’s labour only and we supply the material and in other cases, it’s a combination of those.
Mr. Speaker, I am open to looking at how we do this in a way that is going to meet those smaller companies the Member is referring to that can’t compete with the...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As Members have noticed, we have put out notices in the newspapers. It’s also on the community channel, on the green...(inaudible)…we want people to know that if they are building something or they have something out there, they are going to have to show us that they have the right to be there. Mr. Speaker, we have started that.
Mr. Speaker, we will be posting notices on property where we are not able to identify someone with a lease or a title. We have to follow a process in there giving proper notice. Of course, it varies whether we find out who the owner or the...