Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, during my reply to the opening address last Friday, I stated that I would accept any ruling you made on the point of privilege made by Mr. Miltenberger. I do accept your ruling, Mr. Speaker, and had hoped to have a chance to address the matter immediately yesterday. Mr. Speaker, the issue of the Deh Cho Bridge is a serious and highly sensitive one, particularly for those of us who have watched the project evolve from the beginning.
During the in-camera briefing offered by Minister McLeod last week, I strongly urged him to issue a press release prior to the commencement of the House on Friday to enable all Members to debate this issue and let the public in on this very important matter. The Minister did issue a press release Friday morning and I thank him for that. As is now obvious, there were specific details included in the in-camera briefing that were not included in the Minister’s press release.
I did not and sometimes don’t always understand why certain pieces of information are more sensitive than others, but certainly I was not aware that some parts of the in-camera briefing were, in fact, intentionally left out of the press release.
Mr. Speaker, it is always a challenge in our system of government to manage and keep track of the information that is public, what is not public and even after my 15 years as a Member of this Assembly, I still miss things, and for that I do apologize.
This being said, Mr. Speaker, in expressing my concerns about the recent developments in the Deh Cho Bridge Project, I made reference to a specific number that was provided to the committee in camera, but not included in the Minister’s press release.
Mr. Speaker, I apologize to my colleagues for this oversight and to the Minister of Transportation. I have great respect for the privileges of this House and the important role that confidentiality plays in the work that we do. I hope my colleagues will accept the fact that this was not an error made in bad faith or with the intention to limit the ability of committees to do their work.
Mr. Speaker, I will continue to do my best, to be diligent in the future as I continue to monitor the progress and the management of the Deh Cho Bridge Project and work with my colleagues on this side of the House to hold this government to account on this project, to share with the public what we can but to respect the committee structure and the privileges of this House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Member for Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro.
