Robert Hawkins

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement today, I spoke, of course, very highly to the Devolution Agreement, and I certainly underscored my support for the Devolution Agreement that has been finalized today. As we work towards implementation, the only outstanding issue is a couple small ones, which are, of course, public appreciation for the finer details of the Devolution Agreement.

My question would be to the Premier and is: When will we have some type of public dialogue that boils down the finer details of what the Devolution Agreement actually means, and what type of process do we...

Have those negotiated contracts already started and with whom?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s probably an understatement today to say it was a spectacular move forward on the evolution of the people of the Northwest Territories and our governance model with the Prime Minister here today to announce that the devolution negotiations have come to an end. Of course, that only means one thing: We are pushing forward to an implementation of, finally, the authority and respect that we deserve. I would say that today is certainly a great day for the people of the Northwest Territories.

In that great day there are a lot of questions about what this future will bring...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Minister just said going to tender. Is this project going to be put out for public tender?

This is like complaining about the ship that’s already long since sailed. It provides very little value other than those four most satisfying words in the English language, which are “I told you so.” The fact is this provides little value in the lead up and preparing for this particular initiative, because how do we prepare for it in a manner that makes sense to talk about these things? And that’s a failing of the process. That’s a failing of the Minister. That’s a failing of the system. How does the Minister defend that this simple piece of information that was asked for over a week ago or...

The Minister says how we don’t do this. The fact is we don’t approve $300 million projects. Quite frankly, once we’ve approved the $60 million portion, I consider the road on its way. You would think that the concerns of Members would have been treated with more respect on this process. The fact that it’s almost as if the information’s been denied Members for their ability to go out and do their work and due diligence on this. The fact is, middle of December to beginning of March, if nothing’s changed on the original risk matrix, it’s odd. Maybe the Minister can help explain why it changed in...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I did promise I had a few questions on this particular section and I would save my questions to the $60 million page. One of the issues I raised last week, and I think you even highlighted it in a comment earlier, was about publicizing a risk matrix on the Inuvik-Tuk highway, and I appreciate the fact that it’s now shown up on our desk here, but one of the issues I was trying to get at and get a response from the Minister was that this would be in hand and publicized before we’d be making a decision. This information, in a large sense, has shown up in the middle of the...

Mr. Chair, so I guess this is the way they wind the clock down on me on this one. Is this money that’s being requested, the $5 million for the Tuktoyaktuk side brings it to, I guess, Source 177 is $5 million and it’s a fiscal commitment in this budget year up to March 31st. What guarantees that money will be spent? I’m not talking about the $60 million. Thank you.

The deputy minister said earlier that they needed to drill more holes, I assume to test gravel sources. Where is the gravel that they believe they’ve found? Is it enough and what’s the quality of the gravel? In essence, what does drilling more holes and testing mean?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just quickly, I know some Members may prefer something larger. Myself, I prefer a vote in this Assembly. I think the people elect us for a particular reason: to lead on these particular issues. As proof, as you noticed today, we had five out of the seven Aboriginal groups signing on, so it shows broader support for this initiative, by all means. I prefer a public vote in this Assembly, and maybe the Premier could speak to how he feels that that will get the message on and carry forward these initiatives. Because I think citizens want to know are their leaders leading...