Robert Hawkins

I too wish to pass along a welcome and recognition to Quinn Groenehyde. I remember when I first moved here to Yellowknife. He taught us basketball as well as many other things. My compliments go to him.

Mr. Paul Pearce — I worked with him at the Yellowknife Correctional Centre. He’s a good mentor out there. I want to pass special recognition to him.

Mr. Gord Oystrek, a training officer there — he taught us a lot of things in safety. It seems to me that every time he worked harder on us, he smiled as we screamed out in pain.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, to all of those, and congratulations on their...

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to know how much federal money has been sought after in this particular project — the Deh Cho Bridge project, that is. How much has been found today for this project, and what is this Minister doing to get more federal money for this project? I’m speaking specifically to federal money raised, which department it’s come from, and is he hammering on the door of the federal Minister?

Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk about perceived fairness or, I should say, the lack thereof in a recent awarding of a bundled contract of five water treatment plants by the Department of MACA.

An unsuccessful bidder who has documented a number of strange coincidences has contacted me. What they have noted would lead any reasonable person to question whether this was an actual RFP or merely an exercise to ensure that MACA’s preferred contractor was awarded these contracts.

A brief backgrounder. MACA realized that the escalating cost might mean delaying some of the five water treatment plants on...

Mr. Speaker, I do have a bridge question. It’s not quite as exciting as the other Members have portrayed, but I do have some questions on process and inclusion on the project.

Mr. Speaker, a constituent came to me the other day and wanted to be assured on a couple of matters, and the fact is they were all dollar-related issues. And again, for the record, was the ramping-up portion of the bridge project included in the overall tender? We know what the cost of the actual bridge is. I want to know about the earthworks and the work included for bringing the road right up to the bridge. I want to...

Mr. Speaker, these are financially tight times, as everyone is extremely well aware. I just want to be clear for the record, here. The Abbotsford company doing these water treatment plant projects: were they the cheaper, bottom-line dollar company, or was the Northern firm working out of Inuvik with the Yellowknife group the cheaper one?

Mr. Speaker, I wish I could say I was done with MACA on this matter. Unfortunately, the answers are still very disappointing. There’s just continual doublespeak on the result and on where this project is going.

Mr. Speaker, I have a list here of contracts, and the Abbotsford company, the B.C. company I keep referring to — I’m not using their name; I know how that makes people edgy here, so I’m avoiding their actual specific name — did give a proposal for $22,500, and it was a contract to develop a proposal for a water facility.

So could the MACA Minister explain to this House — in good...

I guess if the Minister can give hypothetical answers, you know…. And it kind of puts me in an unfair position, because I can’t ask hypothetical questions to get the facts.

If we’re going to live in this sort of hypothetical world, are they in negotiations with this Northern company, or are they in negotiations with this Abbotsford, B.C., company for these water treatment plants?

Mr. Speaker, I would like to continue questions directed to the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs. I am very disappointed with his answers, because they were very lacking, to say the least.

Although I can’t quote from a letter that hasn’t been tabled in the House — as of yet, I stress — when you write a letter and say, “I regret to inform you your proposal wasn’t the highest, and by the way, the other proponent was the highest,” that then leads one to realize that the project is going to the other group.

Could the Minister explain to me the involvement that this Abbotsford, B.C...

My choice today will be to support this motion, to let my colleagues know that though sometimes I don’t agree with all of their initiatives, I do support their aspirations. So, Mr. Speaker, I won’t be walking over to hug that Member, but on the record, he should know that he has my support on this issue.

I do have some concerns. I am worried about the rollout of it. But certainly we will have to deal with the details when they come forward. I have always supported the initiative of trying to find ways to decrease the cost of community living. What that means, as Mrs. Groenewegen has mentioned...

Mr. Speaker, let’s put it this way. The Minister may be technically right, but when you tell one group, “You didn't get it,” that means the other group did get it. If you're still in negotiations with them….

What involvement did this group have, going back to the original work they had done — this southern company from Abbotsford — with the communities and MACA in preparing for this water treatment process bundled contract? In what process did they have involvement?