Michael McLeod

Mr. Speaker, the concept of a highway down the Mackenzie Valley has been around for many, many years, even from way back as far as the Diefenbaker days. The idea has been brought forward from the Government of the Northwest Territories on many occasions. Almost at every Assembly there’s been strategies developed over the years and they have included the concept of a highway, and we’ve indicated that there is a desire to see this move forward. Documents such as Corridors for Canada were drafted and included highways and to really no avail. It’s our interpretation that maybe we needed to do more...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We certainly listened to the Member’s statement with great interest as he did some comparables there regarding the CANOL Trail and how fast that was built.

Mr. Speaker, I have to point out we are all anxious to see this road move ahead. We have had some good discussions with the federal government and certainly don’t want to wait until there’s another war before we see investment, Mr. Speaker.

We have done a lot of work in the life of this government on the Mackenzie Valley Highway, probably more work than has been done for quite a few years. We were able to partner with...

Mr. Speaker, that is what I plan to do. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s not very often I get visitors in the gallery so I’d like to welcome Ms. Sylvia Nadli, the award winner for the Wise Women Award for this year. It’s her first time at the Legislative Assembly so I’d like to say welcome and to have safe travels home. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, in 1992 the Status of Women Council began presenting the annual Wise Women Awards. This award honours the outstanding women throughout the five regions of the Northwest Territories. Recipients of this prestigious award are described by the Status of Women Council as community role models who demonstrate wisdom, perseverance and deification while standing up for women, children and families in the communities. They strive to make the North a better place to live, to work and to raise families.

Mr. Speaker, this year I’m very pleased to announce that Ms. Sylvia Nadli has been...

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to update Members and the public on the Community Access Program administered by the Department of Transportation.

Communities and residents are benefiting greatly from this program, especially in our small rural and remote communities.

The Community Access Program provides funding contributions to communities for local access roads, trails and winter roads to nearby attractions such as hunting, fishing and wood gathering areas and recreational sites. The 16th Legislative Assembly significantly expanded this program through the Refocusing Government...

We are closely tracking all expenditures. We have a breakdown, we have cash flow charts, we have variances, we have spreadsheets that provide all the information that the Member has brought forward, we have a breakdown of the budget by various components, we provide year-to-year expenditures on each item and we forecast each expenditure to the completion of the project, so we do have all the information and we do track it very closely. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, Transportation and our officials track all expenditures and have the monthly reports, the daily reports and the annual auditing of all revenues and expenditures. Thank you.

It would depend on who the responsibility of the delay or the cost overrun, who it would apply to. If it was the contractor’s issue, then they would have to eat those costs. If it was the responsibility of our government, if it was an issue that could be attributed to something we did or we were responsible for, then we’d have to pay for it.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The plan is to still meet in the middle, but the approach has changed somewhat, as the Member has indicated. The delay in steel has caused the approach to change. The plan is now to work on the north side and things are going very well. The contractor has been doing some very good work in launching the steel. We should be hitting the fourth pier or the final pier on the north side relatively soon and construction will continue with the tower as we deal with the breakup of the ice. The plan is to have all the trusses be worked on and put together during the breakup time...