Tom Beaulieu

Mr. Speaker, throughout the term of the 17th Legislative Assembly and guided by 20/20: A Brilliant North, the NWT Public Service Strategic Plan, this government has made it a priority to ensure that the public service is prepared to meet the needs of Northerners now and in the future.

Residents of the NWT want to share in the benefits of an economically stable, well-governed territory. They want a healthy, educated population able to participate fully in a diversified, sustainable economy. They want an independent North built on partnerships and responsible stewardship that will sustain present...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Bill 61, An Act to Amend the Public Airports Act, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Bill 49, An Act to Amend the Deh Cho Bridge Act, be read for the third time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Certainly the people down by the riverbank at Four Mile have been there for many, many years, so it would be nice to be able to light up the roadway, as well, going down to Four Mile. So we’ll have the department look at that area as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I’m pleased to introduce Bill 61, An Act to Amend the Public Airports Act, which proposes to address six areas in legislation aimed at improving how we operate airports throughout the NWT and to clarify sections of the Public Airports Act.

The bill proposes to increase the duration of leases on Commissioner’s public airports land from 20 years to 30 years so tenants will be able to amortize leasehold improvements over longer periods. Such extensions will provide consistency with maximum amortization periods typically offered by lending agencies.

The bill proposes...

We’re not paying it because we don’t have the proper documentation indicating that there was a contract between Rowe’s Construction and we’re not paying it because the money that we got was not for this. The money that we got from the New Brunswick government was to pay for the deficiencies of the bridge, not to cover unfinished business by ATCON that wasn’t paid out. We don’t have any written authorization from ATCON. We don’t have any documentation. There is really nothing there other than the discussions that Mr. Rowe has been having with DOT, and based on that we are continuing to work on...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We would look at that. Right now we’re moving forward with the three demerit points, a suspension of fines, and the main purpose of the act is to stop distracted driving. It’s not to punish people, it’s to stop distracted driving. So, if we had no distracted driving, the act would be a good act.

What we’re doing is we’re putting forward a bill that we think is going to do that at this point. If it doesn’t work, then we’re prepared to look at other options as well.

For the abandoned vehicles, I’ll ask Mr. Loutitt to take that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Ruskin built a bridge for us. We had to pay them. Thank you.

Those are good points. I thank the Member. We will take that into consideration when we’re rolling out the new act.

Because we need to provide the documentation to the Government of New Brunswick that will validate the payment. This is not exactly what we got the money for. We got that money to do the deficiencies on the bridge, pay for the deficiencies on the bridge. There is more work to be done on the bridge. There are more deficiencies. This money wasn’t given to us so that we could pay companies that didn’t get all of the payments for the work that they’ve done with a company that went bankrupt.