Michael McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am happy to hear that the Member is pleased, at least with the process. He’s raised a number of concerns, the first one being the issue of tenders still being put out later than we would anticipate because of the change in the timing and the approval process. I think that is a concern that has also been voiced by the NWT Construction Association, although they are very pleased that we have changed the timing of our capital budget approval. They’ve endorsed it. We have consulted with them.

Our challenge, of course, over the last two years is the number of projects we have...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I also want to thank the Member for her comments and some of the feedback she’s provided on her take of the benefits and the positive results we’re seeing and some of the changes we’ve made in the last little while.

Of course, there are concerns that all of us recognize up front, including carryovers. It’s always been an issue and historically we’ve seen that number grow. I’m pleased to report that this coming year we would expect that amount is going to be a lot less than we’ve seen. We’re still crunching the numbers. We don’t have all the numbers in, but as of today...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. With me I have Paul Guy, deputy minister of Public Works and Services.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Once again, we are very pleased to hear that the Member has recognized that the capital process is improved and it’s working a lot better. The New Deal, of course, has changed the way we do business and our relationship with the community governments. It’s given the communities more responsibility and it’s also given them a lot more freedom and flexibility to invest in projects that they see fit. This was an issue that we heard for many years historically, about the inability of communities to decide what was their priority.

At the time of the New Deal coming into play...

Mr. Speaker, obviously the Member is still not paying attention.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, we committed to committee and provided information to committee on our findings. We provided a number of options that we would like considered as we move forward. We have response from committee. We are also watching, with great interest, as Alberta unveils their legislation sometime this fall. We have also had discussions with the CCMTA, the federal body that deals with best practices. They are coming out with recommendations that we would like to compile the findings of all that information with what we...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t think anybody is going to argue that a driver’s performance is severely undermined while talking on the cell phone or texting. I don’t think anybody is going to argue that driving around in your Lexus, drinking coffee, chewing gum and trying to stop your two kids from fighting in the back is considered a hazard.

Mr. Speaker, the Member pointed out in his Member’s statement that I, as a Minister, was amusing or flirting with legislation. I would suggest the Member make a date in the standing committee that we are working with, to find out where this piece of...

Thank you. I just returned from a federal/provincial/territorial conference in Halifax and we did discuss a number of issues related to Transportation, including a strategic plan for all of Canada, including the Northwest Territories. We have a number of our officials that are leading the research and development of planning in this area and we certainly have all agreed that the future is going to be a lot different from the environment that we’ve dealt with in the past and our infrastructure is going to have to adapt to that. We had agreement from the new federal infrastructure Minister to...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We recently visited the communities in the Member’s riding and the concerns he’s raising today were brought forward by a number of residents of Nahendeh. Of course, the condition of Highway No. 7 has been a concern for this government and all the people that travel it. It’s a piece of infrastructure that we inherited some time ago from the federal government. It was constructed during the Hire North days and the construction code for roads were a little different than they are today.

We recognize that it needs some attention. It is a concern. It’s an aging piece of...

Mr. Speaker, if the Member hasn’t recognized yet, the leaders provide direction to our Department of Transportation. We, of course, take any issues that affect the safety of our travelling public very seriously. It is a priority. As the Member is aware, we need to engage all the Members of this House as we move forward. We have already had a motion in this House defeated. We have to make sure that it takes into consideration all the different issues that may be addressed under distracted driving. It is going to take something that we want to move forward carefully. We want to make sure we get...

Mr. Speaker, if the Member had attended committee meetings he would have known that we had informed the committee that we plan to move forward on this piece of legislation. We are right now looking at as to how comprehensive a distracted driving legislation policy document should be. We are also looking at recommendations made to allow for municipalities to opt out. This is difficult, of course, so we have to look at it from a number of different assessments. However, we would like to see something in place for consideration by committee and this House sometime in the new year. Thank you.