Robert Bouchard

I appreciate that commitment to communicate with Members if their projects are getting dumped back. I would recommend that to all the Ministers when they’re coming forward on this discussion. I think that’s going to be a factor I’m going to bring forward, because we’ve seen that in this deliberation of the capital budget when we’ve reviewed it, that some of those projects, those dates seems to switch and some Members are saying, when did that happen, we didn’t hear that, I didn’t hear that. If we could start to communicate that when that does happen.

Obviously, I’m concerned about, as I...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions will be following my statement about northern students and student financial assistance, questions for ECE. The first question I have is I know we are dealing with students who have lived in the Northwest Territories, grew up in the Northwest Territories, have left their jurisdiction for a period of time and now have to re-establish their residency. We aren’t talking about some person coming from the South who has nothing to do with the Northwest Territories; we are talking about Northerners coming back. I want the Minister to commit to changing that...

Thank you, Minister Miltenberger. Next on my list I have Mr. Moses.

I guess I have concern with the priority of the Hay River dredging. It seems to be way low on the GNWT and Minister’s mind. I’m wondering why the Department of Transportation just went through a whole process through Build Canada, through infrastructure funding and the Hay River dredging isn’t on that agenda for the 10-year plan for the infrastructure under Build Canada in partnership with the GNWT. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member’s statement on dredging, I will have questions for the Minister of Transportation. Last session I asked the Minister to follow up with working on dredging.

I just wanted to ask the Minister, has he taken any steps to getting any closer to dredging of the Hay River? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, will support this point of privilege. I think the debate is not whether we are helping our residents and not seeing a 25 percent increase; I think it was how it was done and how it was rolled out, and communication has been broken down in our consensus government and this is just one example of it.

As Regular Members, we’re finding out information after the fact. We’re finding out information that’s being discussed by Cabinet, by that side of the House, without communicating with us. The whole concept behind consensus government is that we’re included in that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister led me right into the question that I wanted to ask him. He talks about a federal responsibility versus 25 percent territorial.

In the discussion about infrastructure and the creation of new roads, wasn’t that a federal responsibility? We are currently building roads in the Northwest Territories, new roads, and we are putting in 25 percent. Where is our at least 25 percent for dredging? Why are we diverting this issue of dredging? Yet, with other things when the federal government’s responsibility is there, we are willing to put territorial money into it.

So, the question I have is: The Minister indicated he wrote a letter in February and we haven’t followed up. We haven’t had any other conversation with any other federal Minister responsible for the dredging of the Hay River. I just want to confirm that.

Has the Minister had any conversation with the federal government about the dredging since his letter of February? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Four years ago we were elected to this House. One of the first statements I made was about dredging of the Hay River and the requirement for this. This issue has been before this Assembly for more than a decade to look at Hay River dredging, and our government continues to ignore that. Our government keeps saying, federally it’s a responsibility. Again, the Premier makes a statement about key infrastructure today, and he talks about a whole bunch of different highways, a whole bunch of road construction, which is also supposed to be a federal responsibility.

I’m getting...

Thank you, Mr. Nadli. The motion is in order. To the motion.