Robert Hawkins

Speaking in general to capital planning, that is, what type of correspondence has the Minister received? If you could speak to the general nature thereof as to the intent of what the request was or move forward to the initiative. The nature of the general request needs to be built into the capital planning process, so if the Minister can speak to the nature and how often this request has come forward.

Mr. Chair, I would say this: If Aurora College said they would like to build a new college, does someone within the Department of ECE have that authority to say no, or does someone have the authority to say yes, and who is that authority? Thank you.

What planning position of development, technical information, planning documents, or needs assessment has the Aurora College provided to the department on their own initiative?

As it stands today, is the president of the college treated as an associate deputy minister when they report to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment? Are they treated as a director? Are they treated as an assistant deputy minister? Can you help define the role, because I want to get to the planning question, and I want to make sure that if it’s clear on the record who is in charge of the president. Or are they on a shoulder-to-shoulder support role with the deputy minister in a similar manner and they report up through the Minister? I guess, in essence, who’s in charge of the...

Back to the technical plans and needs assessments specific to the college over the last, including this, year for the plan going forward as well as the past two fiscal years. What is the department able to share as to the work developed and foreseen for the planning portion of the capital planning of the Aurora College?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Paying the interest on the loan is actually a bit of a misnomer. We would have had to pay that fee anyway. Where did the money really go and what benefit did the territorial citizens receive? The Minister is correct about the tolls being a wash when it comes to the money, but the tolls themselves wouldn’t have added up to $7.6 million of slush money to open up this particular bridge.

Where are the facts of where the money went to and what was the received benefit by opening it up a year early? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thanks, Mr. Chairman. The Minister just made note of documents. I’d like if maybe he could elaborate for the House which documents he’s referring to. That’s certainly a new question. What dollar amounts are associated with those documents? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, what were the costs and savings realized when this government drove the contract from $192 million to $202 million? Thank you.

Is any budget being considered for this fiscal year on a needs assessment for Aurora College? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For the first time in history, the NWT will have a bridge that crosses the Mackenzie and that’s a great thing. Although we are now reaping the benefits of a truly all-season road, which also includes the additional costs that the government promised would never happen, many citizens can’t help but keep asking, could the government have done this for less.

This Assembly approved an extra $10 million last spring to finish this project before the end of 2012, and as far as Minister Ramsay is concerned, that’s all water under the bridge for now. But the reality remains that...