Robert Hawkins

I again reaffirm my belief that this will open up international tourism as well as international business.

One thing the Minister neglected to mention was: when can I expect this study to be open for public consumption? When does the Minister expect that this study will be made available for everyone to take a good look at?

I’d like to know if the Minister of Transportation has been working with the Minister of ITI — the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Investment — to discuss and further find out more information as to the economic boom that would be provided to the Northwest Territories.

Is the study looking at those types of considerations? Is his department working with ITI to make sure this relevant information is being brought forward to make the business case to expand the Yellowknife Airport?

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to clearly state for the residents of Fort Smith that it was not my intention to portray all residents of the community of Fort Smith in a negative light. As we all know very well, it is usually the actions of a few individuals and not the community that causes this type of issue to rise to the surface. Those are the people to blame for this problem. Those who have chosen to make the lives of others miserable need to be brought to task.

Since I have made the concerns of my constituents public, I have been approached by even more people with similar...

Mr. Speaker, I have three documents that I would like to table.

The first document is a letter from Municipal and Community Affairs to Gallant Construction. It’s referring to the water treatment proposal stuff I talked about today.

The second document I would like to table is a letter from Gallant to Hon. Michael McLeod. It’s again in reference to the water treatment proposal stuff I talked about today.

Document 30-16(2), Letters Regarding RFP for Community Water Treatment Plants, tabled.

The third item I would like to table is a list of consulting contracts outside the G.N.W.T. It is too lengthy...

Mr. Speaker, I have a letter from Municipal and Community Affairs that says to the Northern firm, the one group from the North that applied on this RFP to do this proposal. They were told that they didn't get it. That only leads to the assumption — or I should say, the obvious position — that the southern firm must have been awarded the project, because we only had two groups applying for it. The Northern one didn't get it; the southern did. What was their involvement?

Mr. Speaker, my constituent raised a concern about an infusion of federal cash, as I’ve highlighted already, and it sounds like some work is being done. I certainly look forward to it being successful.

The other issue that they raised — which I think is a very good one — is how is this going to play out on the tolls? Are we expecting an adjustment in the potential tolls being under $7 at this point, with the cost of the bridge? Does it have an effect on the tolls if we do get the $50 million applied to the greater cost of the bridge? What is going to be the adjustment on the tolls, and what are...

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...