Michael McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I couldn’t say to a great certainty that it is different. We are having a number of developers interested in coming forward. First of all, the facility has to be mobile so that we can move it, however, for the rest of it there are some interesting concepts and designs being put forward that would allow us to build these units fairly close to what a normal stick built house would be, smaller and 16 feet wide, but it would also be mobile. So I think the concept that they are totally different, the building construction methods are different, and I think we are moving...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would have to seek the information. We were expecting these trailer units to last for the term that we have amortized, and for years longer than that, and that is a 20-year period. I don’t have any estimations to refer to, I don’t have that information in front of me. So I don’t know, I can’t say in any certainty. Our amortization and full cost recovery is based on a 20-year period, I can offer that much. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we demand the same quality, the same warranty conditions whether the contract is allocated to a southern supplier or a northern supplier. I am sure there are many owners or trailer owners or mobile home owners in different trailer courts in the NWT that would be very interested to hear that the houses that they are living in and are perfectly happy with are substandard, as the Member has indicated. These units meet a certain standard, they have to have CSE approval and we expect at least a 20 plus year life out of them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the intent of this initiative was to at long last recognize the work that was being done by the alcohol and drug workers, who for many of these years have laboured often in isolation. We got the positions reclassified, we had money added to the budget, and the issue now is would they become employees where they could get the benefits, they could also get the benefit of the supervision and support for training. The intent here is to continue to provide this service in all of our communities. The issue is to work out the arrangements with the various...

Mr. Speaker, yes, we can provide some information, in terms of who was contacted in writing. There is also a Web site that we have available for the Housing Corporation. I also want to point out that this is a portion of our larger capital projects and the information is distributed in the same way. We have $32 million in capital projects. This is going to be around $2.3 million. We do not go around contacting every company to personally knock on their door and say, yes, we have this coming up, would you like to bid? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We will run that through the Housing Corporation to see if we can deal with the deadline. That is the biggest concern at this point. I will guarantee the Member that I will take this issue to Cabinet and indicate the different arguments that have come forward on why we should extend the tendering process for another two weeks. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we’re taking note of the concerns raised in Committee of the Whole and certainly in this House. We take all the questions very seriously. The question to defer by two weeks we will put forward. Our tendered document that the Member has referenced as not having a lot of detail, I’d like to point out to the Member that this document is something I’m prepared to table. It’s a supply tender for commodity. It is not a construction contract. We are looking for a lowest-priced tender in this case. It does meet the technical requirements. The question again for the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there was a commitment made on Friday to provide information to the Members, and I have followed up and we're expecting that information to be here shortly. In response to the question on who made the decision, the initiative was developed in the 14th Assembly, however, the Cabinet of the 15th Assembly confirmed and it was to go ahead to proceed with this whole initiative. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't have an answer to how much was spent in the manufacturing industry over our history. However, Mr. Speaker, I want to point out that we are looking at and we are meeting with developers that have come forward. We have talked to the Construction Association that is willing to look at this as an opportunity to look at a made-in-the-north solution.

We have a number of different ways we can attempt to deal with it. The bottom line, however, does not change; that we have to have units in the communities that we can provide at affordable market rate, competitive...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, on Sunday, March 21st, 2004, Edward Fabien, a former chief of the Katlodeeche First Nation, passed away. Edward Fabien was a resident of the Hay River Reserve and throughout his life was an active member of that community. Edward had a long, distinguished career as the chief of the Katlodeeche First Nation. He was first appointed in 1965 by the elders and served as a chief until 1971. He was also one of the founding chiefs of the NWT Indian Brotherhood, which later became the Dene Nation. Mr. Fabien continued to be involved in local politics and helped...