Bob Bromley

As we pour money down this black hole, which we know will drain our coffers for decades to come, we are hearing rumours that the gravel being laid is sinking into the tundra. Mr. Speaker, what is the Minister not telling us about this albatross?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are to the Minister of Transportation today. Once again we find this government buying a pig in a poke. We are spending hundreds of millions of dollars of our citizens’ precious infrastructure dollars in a black hole project whose costs we do not even know. Having authorized $70 million for ‘14-15 for the Inuvik-Tuk highway, we are now an incredible $160 million into this project, and we do not even have a firm estimate of the cost. We are just saying it’s capped at $300 million so we are going to shoehorn it into this estimate. How can this be? Mahsi.

Thank you. Such power. The Minister can shove aside the environmental rights of our citizens at his will.

Under Section 4.(4) the Minister is obliged to carry out an investigation and that the only reason that the Minister may discontinue an investigation is whereas per section 4.(6) “the Minister is of the opinion that the release or the likely release does not constitute a threat to the environment.”

Is the Minister of the opinion that the release of unknown contaminants into the environment does not constitute a threat to the environment and the public trust? Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Environment today and I would like to follow up on the Minister’s refusal to our citizens’ request to investigate the issue of unknown fracking chemicals being released into the environment.

While on a fracking tour, we learned that not only are the chemicals that are injected in the wells often not disclosed, but that under the intense pressure and heat found deep in these wells, the injected chemicals react with each other and with the stuff that is in the ground and create new chemicals.

Is the Minister of the Environment aware...

Thank you Mr. Speaker. I, again, would like to recognize some Pages: Shiri MacPherson is actually in the House this time, daughter of our Law Clerk; Jacob Shubert, I don’t know if he’s in the House; and Niva Stephenson. I know Niva’s proud papa is in the gallery today and I’d also like to recognize John Stephenson, a constituent of Weledeh. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve looked high and low and spent decades trying to find different solutions that will move our educational systems forward. However, recently, over probably the last decade, we’ve found exciting and informative advances in our knowledge about brain development and the development of our capacity to learn and to be healthy throughout life.

This has been exciting and it is becoming known throughout society now. It goes far to explain our failures to date in achieving our education goals. I believe our Education department is well aware of this, as are all of my...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thanks to the Minister for his opening remarks. I just want to put in a word here of appreciation, on behalf of the folks in Detah and all those that use that road, to my colleagues and to the Minister and all my colleagues in the House for approving this or proposing this expenditure.

It’s been a very long time. I think people know that the road was originally just thrown in almost on an incidental basis. They got a tractor out there and basically put soil and gravel on top of the vegetation. It wasn’t even properly cleared. As a result, it’s suffered a lot of problems...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item 8 on the Order Paper. Thank you.

---Unanimous consent granted

Mr. Speaker, the data are crystal clear. The research is crystal clear. Brain development primarily takes place by age three and development of the neuro pathways takes place by age three, so the focus needs to be in the ages zero to three. Research is also showing that starting kindergarten at age four with junior kindergarten does not provide net benefits to learning over normal kindergarten programs, as my colleague Ms. Bisaro has outlined.

Given this evidence, does the Minister agree that, because the most important brain development occurs from age zero to three, that establishing junior...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my Member’s statement earlier today with questions to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment specifically related to the Education Renewal Initiative. I’d like to focus on the latest research on how our children are doing. We have been testing young children approaching school age with a test called the Early Development Indicator. Could the Minister confirm that the latest data from the Early Development Indicator work is showing that 35 to 60 percent of children approaching school age in our smaller communities have development...