Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to use the occasion of oral questions today to reaffirm my concerns I highlighted in my Member’s statement, which were the cost of the royalties associated with the gravel cost. The issue is quite simple as far as I’m concerned. I would like the Inuvialuit to agree to waive their royalty fee. Now, that doesn’t mean they don’t get to charge for the gravel. I think fair market rate is fair in whatever they decide to do, but it is the royalty fee to be very clear. That would also, in my view, demonstrate two things. The first one, it would show that they have skin in the game on this particular project. To my knowledge they are not investing in this project. Second of all, this would be something so critical that we’d be putting the money into the construction of the road rather than paying for the royalty fee. It would actually cause me to sway towards supporting this particular highway initiative.
My question is, of course, to the Minister of Transportation. At this point, what is the estimated royalty fee that the Inuvialuit would demand for the construction of this highway on the gravel fees? Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The granular royalties are part of the Inuvialuit Land Claim. It’s their right to charge granular royalties on that material. Today we continue to try to work with the Inuvialuit on a royalty regime for the Tuk-Inuvik highway and we are trying to negotiate the best deal for both parties. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I’m trying to phrase this in a manner that makes the most sense. I’d like to support this highway. I’d like to have reasons to support this highway. We have clear issues. Last week the Minister of Transportation said we had a $299 million estimate for this particular highway construction. So the royalty fee must be built into that estimate as the cost of the highway. We have a $299 million estimate to build a highway, so we must know what the royalty fee is and that’s what I’m asking the Minister to lay before the House. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the Member would know the answer to that question. He was at the briefing two weeks ago. Again, we are trying to negotiate with the Inuvialuit. We hope to get a discounted rate on the royalties that would enable the Member to be swayed to support the project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, last week I was asking him questions, or maybe it was the beginning of this week. After five weeks the weeks and days roll together. The other day I was asking the Minister to lay this type of detail down in a public document, one that everyone can see, but the way it’s looking at this point is nobody is going to know the details of the information until the deal is done. How is that fair for public accountability? That’s why I’m asking once again. It’s the Minister’s right to put this number out in the public. It’s not a confidentiality issue with committee; it’s the Minister’s choice. Would the Minister finally lay this price out on the table so we know what we’re talking about in reference to the $299 million fee? What is he afraid of? I dare him to do it.
It’s a good thing it’s not truth or dare, Mr. Speaker. We have our Premier discussing it with the Inuvialuit. We haven’t got a negotiated settlement on the royalties. When we do have, we fully intend to make all of the information public. The Member was privy to the discussion at committee two weeks ago. As soon as we get a completed deal – we don’t negotiate in public, we don’t do that – we’ll share it with the Members, we’ll share it with the public, and everybody will know exactly what it is we are getting ourselves into. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m trying to demonstrate the public’s right to know on this particular issue. The Minister is the one who has coined the dollar amount at $299 million for this project. He’s now saying, oh, don’t worry, the details will follow. The problem is the details follow after the project has been approved and the wheels are already moving.
Again I ask him, tell the House the cost of these particular royalties and demonstrate what is the Inuvialuit’s skin in the game on this particular project. Because as it stands today, they have zero investment in this game and all the game. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, the Inuvialuit have significant skin, as the Member calls it, in this game. The road program goes entirely over ISR lands in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. They have significant impact on this. They have a future need and requirement for granular materials. They have every right to charge royalties to people using granular materials from ISR lands. We, again, continue to negotiate with the Inuvialuit. We will get the best price. We’ll get a fair price. Like I said, hopefully the Member will be swayed by that price to support the project. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.
