Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Deputy Premier. In my Member’s statement I spoke about the recent federal election. We here in the Northwest Territories only have four months left in the life of this government and we have some major files currently at play in Ottawa, like the Mackenzie gas project, the Mackenzie Valley Highway, the Tuk-Inuvik commitment for $150 million for that road, the many other infrastructure needs around our territory. I mentioned earlier, too, Northland Trailer Park here in Yellowknife and the infrastructure to advance our needs there. I’d like to begin by asking the Deputy Premier what strategy does this government have to advance these many priorities with the federal government. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Deputy Premier, Mr. Miltenberger.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We should keep in mind the long list that the Member has laid out. We have active files on... We have many things on the go. All those, the pause button was hit, as it were, on the federal side as the election kicked into gear. The election is now over. As the Member said, we have now the good fortune of a majority government that will give us consistency over the next four years. We’re still waiting to find out the line-up in terms of the Cabinet. We have all these files ready to re-engage, we have a Federal Engagement Strategy. The Ministers and the Members in this House know, for the most part, their counterparts know, but that may change and we’ll have to allow that to happen, but we are ready to go with all the work that’s already underway on those initiatives, keeping in mind, as the Member said, we have about four months left. Thank you.
I thank the Deputy Premier for that response. The new federal Cabinet will be sworn in soon. I’d like to ask the Deputy Premier if once that happens, are there any plans by this government to invite the Ministers, you know, in dealing with the many issues I mentioned earlier that we have here in the Northwest Territories, are there invitations that are going to go out to your federal counterparts in Ottawa to get them north to discuss these issues before the end of the life of this government? Thank you.
Thank you. Yes, the letters are basically there. We’re just waiting for the appropriate individual’s name to be able to put in there, find out if there’s any change in key staff that we have to contact, but there will be basically a full court press on all those issues that we’ve talked about, and others, to move forward with all time constraints that we now face as a government. Thank you.
Thank you. Over the life of this government we’ve talked many times about engaging the federal government in a meaningful way and having a building up on that relationship that we do have with the federal government. I’d like to ask the Deputy Premier, in looking at relationship building with the federal government, will that be a key part of the transition document that this Cabinet is going to prepare for the next government which will be elected on October the 3rd? Thank you.
Thank you. We have the benefit of a stable Cabinet here. We’ve been dealing with the Conservative government now for the last five years. In many cases there’s been relationships developed among the various Ministers at the federal and territorial level. As we move forward, we do have to look at how do we nurture that relationship. How do we, as has already been stated, better work with our Member of Parliament? Another issue for this Legislature to consider is the role that we have in Ottawa, the presence that we have or should have in Ottawa, is that adequate? And if we are going to be seriously considered and be able to move our own agenda, should that be looked at so that it can be done more effectively on the ground? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve been fortunate to have good working relationships with our neighbours in the Yukon and in Nunavut, and considering, as I mentioned earlier, the Northwest Territories is the only jurisdiction in the country that doesn’t have a Conservative Member of Parliament representing it, I’m wondering if there’s going to be any effort by the Government of the Northwest Territories to ramp up our pan-territorial initiatives and work even closer with both our neighbours in the Yukon and in Nunavut? Thank you.
The Premier has made a great effort to nurture that relationship. He’s put out common documents, pan-territorial documents. We’ve dealt with issues, health issues, on a pan-territorial basis. In fact, as we stand here today, the three territorial leaders, along with the Minister Aglukkaq, representing the Canadian government, is in Nuuk, Greenland, to talk about issues of great importance in the circumpolar world. So it’s a relationship that there is common, there’s strength in common effort that we are small in population, large in geography, but we have huge political ties and a vested interest in working together. I believe that the Premier and this government are committed to that and I’m sure the 17th Assembly will carry that on. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
