Mr. Speaker, the communities of Lutselk’e and Whati have also been in the same situation as Deline. Again, I ask the Minister this specific project that’s been on the books for a long, long time with this government in terms of continued support, why was it not mentioned in the budget as the two other projects that have been ongoing with this government in terms of the funding? That’s what upsets me and upsets the people in Deline in terms of this mini-project. Why was it not mentioned?

Mr. Speaker, as I listened yesterday to the territorial government budget address, I was very sad to hear that our region in terms of programs and services hadn’t been mentioned. A case in point: the hydro initiatives. I understand that Lutselk’e and Whati were mentioned but Deline has been working for many years on the mini-hydro project and they see no support on Deline being mentioned in terms of this project.

That is why I am very frustrated with this government in terms of things that are very high for us in the Sahtu region and other areas, the cost of living, energy, infrastructure… I...

Certainly, I can argue for a lot of good business in the Northwest Territories that could certainly be welcomed to see this type of Opportunities Fund to come to their availability to talk about jobs, employment. These are home-grown, northern aboriginal people in our regions that would certainly welcome this type of opportunity. My question is, are there any other proposals in play for accessing this Opportunities Fund? If so, what processes are involved that require Regular Members on this side to have some of their consultation, decision, input in terms of this new policy? Certainly, this...

Mr. Speaker, my questions are to the Minister of Finance. The loan that one of the Members was mentioning is with Discovery Air. With our small government and with so many demands that we’ve heard in the last couple of years, especially in the last couple of months, especially in our small communities, why are we willing to risk $34 million on a high-risk loan to a company which indications show through financial reports was close to bankruptcy? Why did we do this?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Part of the requirements, I understand that a society has to be set up to manage and administrate the funds here. My understanding from ITI, the Honourable Robert McLeod, was in terms of the revisions of a policy that would look at...Would the policy look at forming a society as part of the directors? Would you see directors being involved in the input? Can we see some regional input in terms of the society?

Just on the due diligence that was done, due diligence was paid by Discovery Air. This is a loan that I think we should discuss with the Government of the Northwest Territories. This company is located in London, Ontario. The acquisition of loan is to pay out in Quebec. The Calgary helicopter base is closed.

My question to the Minister is, what are we really getting out of this high-risk move in terms of people in the Northwest Territories that see this $34 million bailout, investment, loan, whatever we call it? What are we really getting out of this high-risk move for the people in the...

Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to make my statement, along with the honourable Members from Mackenzie Delta and Kam Lake, in terms of the optics of this loan being discussed with Discovery Air and in terms of the newspaper that printed the story in our communities in the Sahtu.

This afternoon I was on a call from the grand chief of the Sahtu region and I asked him what his thoughts were on the Discovery Air bailout loan and investment. He said, “Where is the government going? What are they thinking? We said we can use a percentage of that type of dollars in our region to help us with our roads...

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister commit to all these good reasons why we should have a meeting ASAP?

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister commit to all these good reasons why we should have a meeting ASAP?

Certainly through the memberships and we certainly appreciate the time and records that the department has gone out of its way to assist the two communities. We want to ask, in this type of discussion here, when the department, in terms of responding to the additional requests of the two runways, specifically Fort Good Hope and Deline, in terms of additional runway requirement lengths that they’re asking for. Because we’ve already talked about some partnerships and we are looking forward to this department to respond in a positive way that will see a benefit in terms of stimulating the economy...