Robert C. McLeod

Mr. Speaker, we are willing to look at all options. We have to recognize, though, that cost could be a factor. If it proves feasible to do, as the Member suggested, and go to some invitational tenders, that is something we will have to look at. But the bottom line is trying to control costs and trying to do economies of scale so we can put more units into the communities and more maintenance work and repair work in some of the units. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as one of four Members in here from the Beaufort-Delta, we’re very fortunate up there that we have a whole wealth of knowledge that we can draw on to help as we represent the people of the Beaufort-Delta. One of the people that I do talk to quite a bit, Mr. Speaker, is with us here in the gallery. Mr. Fred Carmichael has been involved in politics in the Delta for a long time. He’s a recent recipient of the Order of Canada and also just recently celebrated his 75th birthday.

---Applause

So we were very fortunate up there, as all people are across the Northwest...

Mr. Speaker, we will have that discussion with the Executive. If Members and the public feel that this is the proper place to have the volunteer initiative, then that is a discussion that we will have to have. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I will consult with the appropriate department and get a timeline as to the concerns that the Member is raising and communicate those back to her. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as a government we would be willing to communicate to the CRTC our concerns with how the charges are made against the people of the Northwest Territories. So I’ll commit to the Member that we will follow through with that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Consumer Affairs has received a few complaints regarding some of the telephone services across the Northwest Territories and they were told that they had no regulatory role in this area. However, we will follow up on that and maybe communicate to the CRTC our concern with how the phone cards and the charges are made. Thank you.

Thank you. That is one of the options that we looked at, one of the options that was discussed at the Ministers’ forum that I held recently attended by the Housing Corporation employees from across the NWT along with a couple of MLAs and there were a lot of ideas floating around. That was one of them. There is a liability issue, but it would be something I think that would have to be initiated by the LHOs and if everything falls in place as far as insurance and liability go, I think it’s something that they’d be willing to explore. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The $67,000 is for funding to rectify outstanding deficiencies, so any deficiencies would be taken care of with the $67,000. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The communities have contributed money to these particular projects. The bypass road, I know the municipal government, the City of Yellowknife, contributed a significant amount of money. The one in Inuvik, it wasn’t a cost overrun. They had an application in. These were all application based. They had an application in and because of the cancellation of another project, the decision was made to make another contribution of I think it was $263,000 or $303,000, but their share of it. They’ve paid over $3 million out of their own budget for this particular project. It was...

I can commit to the Member and the Members of this House that I’ll provide some statistics every three or four months as to the status of the vacant units.