Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Member for her statement and questions today in the House. I think it’s a great opportunity, not only for Hay River but for the Northwest Territories, and if we can plug in the tourism angle, and arts and crafts, and a number of other things around the territory into that channel in promoting the Northwest Territories, I think that’s a good initiative. We’d be more than happy, at ITI, to sit down with the Member and see what support the community needs to have a staff person located there to maximize our opportunities through that channel. Thank you.
That’s what I wanted to hear and I’ll look forward to working on this with the Minister. Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have to say that the $299 million was not hypothetical; those are the Minister’s own words. So let’s roll down to some of this.
It’s not hypothetical when the GNWT is brokering a deal with the federal government. So maybe the Minister can enlighten this House, and educate the public, on what the risks are with this particular deal if and when cost overruns do happen. And that’s not hypothetical because there’s not one single GNWT project that hasn’t had cost overruns. These are real risk matrix problems that the department will be working on.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That confidential briefing was provided to Members two weeks ago. It included a risk matrix. I also committed during that meeting to provide Members with an updated risk matrix.
We don’t have a funding agreement with the federal government. We haven’t wrapped up negotiations with the Inuvialuit on royalties and land tenure. There are some things that we have to finalize before we can get that number into committee and get another presentation before the standing committee. No decision has been made on this project. We are still awaiting word from the federal government. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I can’t argue with the facts that the Minister just said. He’s right; no decisions have been made. But I can tell you, clearly, that there is a deal being brokered that sounds like a decision made by Cabinet.
Speaking to the risk matrix, would the Minister be willing and certainly be innovative by providing a plain language document of the risk matrix based on the Inuvik-Tuk Highway Project so Northerners can fully understand what their territorial government is taking on and what burden they may be burdened with? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, that would be pages 9 and 10 of the briefing that was provided, the deck that was provided to the committee. The Member is well aware of what the risks are. We laid them all out on the table two weeks ago.
As the project moves forward, we will continue to lay out the risks associated with this project. For a project that’s close to $300 million, there will be some risks. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, when it goes $299 million and you say it’s close to $300 million, that is pretty well $300 million, so we can’t undersell this. I do not have the authority to release the risk matrix, but the problem is that the public is being denied the facts of how risky this project is and how scary it looks from this side of the House. Only the Minister has that authority.
Will the Minister release a plain language document, the details, the risks that have been identified and what potential burdens that Northerners may be taking on similar to what just happened to the Deh Cho Bridge? They need to be fully informed.
Mr. Speaker, we will have a project soon. Hopefully sometime this week we’ll get answers back from the federal government. Our objective is to have that risk assessment, the risk matrix out for public consumption hopefully by the end of this week.
For the Member to stand up in the House and say that it’s only going to be Cabinet’s decision on this project and that we are brokering a deal, he’s making it seem like we’re doing this behind closed doors. That decision will be made on the floor of this House by Members of this Legislative Assembly. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Mr. Speaker, I think the Minister’s light on detail when it comes to how risky the risk matrix actually is. It talks about potential problems.
Will the Minister fully commit to this House in a clear answer as to all the particular risks in a plain language document so Northerners from north to south, from east to west, all Northerners will have a full opportunity to realize what risks are involved in this project and how serious the GNWT is in ignoring some of the risks and what we may be taking on as taxpayers? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we are not ignoring the risks. The reality is, in a project this size, there are risks. There are risks in everything. There are risks when you walk outside the door. We will, like we provided to the Members of this House, provide publicly the risks associated with this project. We are still trying to put this together. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask a few more questions to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment and try to clarify what he’s describing in terms of steady increases to our minimum wage. On that process, I’m a little confused.
I think the Minister has explained that there will be a committee and that this committee will do some investigation. They will then make a recommendation to the Minister. If that is correct, he can clarify that for me and confirm that.
The other question I have is: Who will be on this committee? He said it’s a small and efficient group, but how many members and who will they be? Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Bisaro. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The recommendations will be brought to my attention to factors in setting up a minimum wage for the NWT. As you know, we increased our minimum wage in April 2010, another one in April 2011 and we’re still working on 2012. So those are just some of the areas we’re currently exploring. The people that will be part of the standing committee, I don’t have the actual list in front of me, but I can provide that to the Member once they’re established. Mahsi.
Thank you. I hear the Minister saying that this is going to be a committee. I didn’t hear how many members. I’d like to know how many people are going to be sitting on this committee. I presume it’s going to be GNWT employees and I worry about the added workload that it’s going to mean for them. I gather this committee will be a permanent committee. So all these things I’d like the Minister to clarify. How many members on the committee, is it a permanent committee and how much time does he expect this will add to their already heavy workload? Thank you.
Mahsi. This particular committee, obviously, will be established. Definitely we’ll have some staff on there because we deal with the minimum wage, cost factor and so forth. But we have to minimize the hours, the costs towards the committee.
Again, I don’t have the detailed information because this is all new. We’re just establishing the committee in the spring, within the next couple of weeks. So once I have all of the information, I will be providing it to the Members. Mahsi.
Thanks to the Minister. I guess if the Minister is looking to be efficient and to reduce work, I really don’t understand why he’s establishing a committee. We are committed to death, I think, in this government.
I’d like to know from the Minister why we would not simply do something as simple as tying minimum wage to the cost of living and do increases to the minimum wage when our cost of living increases. Thank you.
Mahsi. Obviously, that will be taken into consideration, as well, and I want to hear from the employers, the employees and the representatives, not only my staff telling me this is good. I want to hear from the general public. So that’s why we’re establishing this committee. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final, short supplementary, Ms. Bisaro.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess if the Minister is going to establish a committee, then that’s going to happen, but I think we could canvas our employers once, agree to tie it to the cost of living and then we’re done.
My question to the Minister now is, if this committee is established in the spring, when are we going to see our next increase to the minimum wage? It’s been two years since we’ve had one. Thank you.
Mahsi. Once the committee is established, they do their work and get their recommendations to me, I’m hoping that either the spring session or early this year I want to reintroduce that to this House. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To no surprise to the House, and certainly the Minister, I have a few more Inuvik-Tuk highway questions. I’ve been getting feedback from people in the Beau-Del region that the GNWT, in this Inuvik-Tuk Highway Project, will be buying the equipment and turning it over to the contractor. Would the Minister be able to provide some highlights as to what type of contract and deals are being put together for the potential proponent who will be building the Inuvik-Tuk highway? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If we haven’t made decisions in this House on whether to move the project forward, we haven’t got the funding agreement from the federal government and the approvals from the federal government, that hasn’t happened. So, obviously, we have not made a decision on procurement for the Inuvik-Tuk highway. That will happen after we get all the approvals. When we get the decision to move forward in this House is when we will make decisions on procurement and not until then. Thank you.
Thank you. The Minister has an interesting point, but the fact is, it doesn’t preclude the opportunity to do and work out some of these deals informally, or even formally, until the final decision is before the House.
So has there been any deals worked on by the Department of Transportation with perspective proponents who will construct the Inuvik highway and whereby we buy, as in where the GNWT buys, the construction equipment and we turn it over free of charge at the end of the project? Thank you.
Thank you. I have no idea who the Member is talking to, but it’s not the same people we’re talking to. Thank you.
Thank you. In the stewardship of good taxpayer spending, will the Minister commit to this House that the GNWT will not be buying any construction equipment for any particular proponent who ends up with this contract if it does proceed, and there will be no giving away any GNWT assets we purchase through our government, and we will not be supporting a contract that buys the equipment so they get it for free? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. That’s a hypothetical question, but I’ll allow the Minister to respond. Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have nothing to add aside from echoing your comments that it is a hypothetical question. Thank you.
Thank you. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate your guidance on that being hypothetical, but that’s also a reality that’s coming to my office as a phone call to be afraid of. So it’s important to get these issues out.
My last question is: Will all of this information be before the public long before a final decision is made in this House? Citizens need to see these facts and understand them and be able to talk to their duly elected officials here and have the good discussion with them before they make the final decision, because if it comes after the decision is made, it becomes useless information. Thank you.
Thank you. That’s a very open-ended question. The Member referenced this information. Not knowing specifically what information the Member is talking about, I can’t say yes to that. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Speaking to the risk matrix, if that helps the Minister for a bit of guidance, even though we spent a lot of time last time, would he be willing to publish all that information? As to the potential risks the GNWT and the citizens of the Northwest Territories would be taking on as a risk, would he be willing to publicize all that information on our website long before a final decision is proposed in this House? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier during question period I did commit, like we’ve committed to Members when we were before the standing committee, we provided the risks, we’ve been upfront with Members on what the potential risks are. Likewise, we intend to be as fully upfront with the public here. We will get the information on our website as soon as we have a deal.
We do not have a deal, we do not know where all those risks are today, we’ve shared all the risks that we know with Members of this House two weeks ago during committee. So as we move along, we will continue to share the information with Members and with the public.
Thank you. The Minister keeps speaking to this as if a deal has already been formalized and it’s just a matter of it being signed off to the feds.
What new construction technology has been advanced that we will guarantee a solid construction of the Inuvik-Tuk Highway Project? I liken it to the Highway No. 3 that has been invested in for many, many years and millions of dollars and we continue to always be in bad shape. So what new construction techniques has the Department of Transportation innovated to guarantee it as a real, good, solid, quality piece of work? Thank you.
Thank you. The Department of Transportation is not going to construct the road. I’m a politician and not Bob the Builder. Thank you.
Thank you. Maybe the Minister forgets his role. Quite frankly, the department is in charge of the project, the department is paying for the project. Maybe my next question to the manager of this project is: Who is in charge of the construction of the Inuvik-Tuk highway and who will be responsible for the quality of work?
That would be the Department of Transportation.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, now that we’ve narrowed down that the Department of Transportation is Bob the Builder on this particular reference, what innovative construction techniques have been found by the Department of Transportation to ensure that this highway will be built and maintain a decent standard? I liken it to Highway No. 3 as we’ve all seen fall apart over the years after and even during its building.
