Statements in Debates
Yes, Mr. Chairman.
At this point I don’t believe that there’s any indication that the federal government is not supporting the project. I think many of the Members are aware that it’s a high priority for the people of the Northwest Territories. We try to have those kind of remarks pried out of the Minister. At this point he’s indicated that we’d have to wait to see what the federal budget announces, if there’s anything there. We followed and worked with the Minister over the last several months to ensure that he’s very familiar with this project. We’ve taken this recommendation that we direct our requests in...
I think most Members of Cabinet and Members of this government have really been very straightforward with the federal Minister. He’s talked with a number of people; my Cabinet colleagues for sure. He understands where the priority lies with this government on the Mackenzie Valley Highway. He’s worked with us to fund some of the projects, the PDR work that’s necessary to compile all the backup information and baseline studies that are required. He allowed us to move forward more than any other government in our history on this project. I don’t know if there’s any way to make that any clearer. I...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We did have the opportunity to have a discussion in a formal setting with the Westec members in Vancouver on Friday. We also had the opportunity to meet privately with Minister Strahl. We had a very good discussion. We wanted to take the occasion to bring forward the desire of this House to ensure the Minister is aware that we place a lot of priority on the Mackenzie Valley Highway and we also wanted to ensure that the Members of Westec are aware of our desire to move forward. We also had the opportunity to talk about other projects that were in the mix, and some...
I’m not sure whether we’re going to threaten the MLAs to take part. We would expect most MLAs would want to be involved with the program to providing advertisements on the different radio stations and television stations. Also, I’m sure that many would want to sign up for a Take the Pledge Program.
The legislation for distracted driving has gone through the process. We have done the due diligence on it and provided our findings to standing committee. The legislation is now in the process of being drafted. We’re working with Justice on this. We’re hoping that we’ll have the draft legislation...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad the Member has raised the issue of safety for our travelling public, whether it’s on our roads or our trails or our waterways. It’s an issue that you have to be constantly promoting.
This past couple years we’ve initiated a Drive Alive activity list program that focuses on different areas. Last year we had a number of things that we worked on. This year we want to continue that. We’ll be providing advertisements and also asking some of our colleagues from the MLAs to participate. We have developed a helmet safety program through posters and other means. We’re...
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to take the opportunity today to thank two hardworking Pages that are here from the biggest little school in the Northwest Territories, the Kakisa Territorial School. The school is a very small school. It has nine students this year. It has a very high standard for their students. They work hard to support them.
Today we have Dalton Simba and Joey Lacorne-Chicot with us. They’ve been here all week. They’ve come in with their chaperone, Patrick Chicot, on Sunday. They’ve had the opportunity to take in the sights of Yellowknife and enjoy Chinese food and pizza and...
Thank you. We’re always pleased to provide the Members of this House with information and updates on what is happening with the project. There’s a lot of interest, of course, as the project moves forward. We have committed to provide a briefing to the Members and we certainly will bring all the information we can. Of course, I indicated earlier that we will not be giving the Members a copy of the contract. That would be something that would require some approvals from other people that are involved in this project. But we will certainly give the dates. When this was transferred over I think we...
Mr. Speaker, the GNWT assumed the contract through and as part of the letter of agreement that was signed between the GNWT and Deh Cho Bridge Corporation in 2010-11 fiscal year, so it will now start to show up in our books once we do the appropriate changes. Thank you.
There’s still a number of internal review processes, as I mentioned earlier, to go through. Of course, I can’t give a 100 percent guarantee that it’s going to pass. We’ve already had one motion on the floor that didn’t get the full support. The details are all in the bill, including the timing. I don’t have that information in front of me. Certainly it will come forward as we move this document forward. Thank you.