Bob Bromley

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on the questions from my colleague Mrs. Groenewegen. Agriculture obviously presents many opportunities for good jobs that last for generations, are sustainable, provide local employment, they have lots of economic spinoffs in construction, transportation, the service industry and so on. The question of land remains as a big issue and apparently the only opportunity that’s readily available is municipal lands.

We met with the Territorial Farmers’ Association. They need to know what lands are available, what lands had been zoned agriculture and what...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Determined individuals and groups are working to build agriculture as a new sector in the NWT economy. Success has been variable but increasing overall. Egg production is well established in Hay River and the farmers at Paradise Gardens produce a wide range of vegetables, fruit and meat products for local markets. Many recall the days of yore when fields of grain crops grew in Fort Simpson. Gardens throughout the Mackenzie Valley supply communities and schools. The Cunninghams ran commercial gardens in Yellowknife and everyone, including trappers like my colleague’s...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I was just going over the details. One of the patterns I am seeing is, for the first time, the return of dollars that aren’t meant for the Mackenzie Gas Project in recognition of its delay. Of course, it has been delayed for quite a number of years. We have been throwing a lot of money at it. I am happy to see that, with the input from Members pointing out this glitch in the system, particularly the Ministers of Municipal and Community Affairs and ITI are responding by returning some of these dollars to the fold for appropriate expenditure at some other time. I just...

I am happy to hear that and I think that, in combination with the additional benefits, obviously, of reduced greenhouse gas emissions, exemplifies the sort of project I am happy to see happening. Just a comment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that my having raised this, then, will cause the Premier to bring it forward for discussion.

The last one, really, is the justifications on sole-sourced contracts, the unbelievable hoops that our bureaucrats have to jump through to let a sole-sourced contract and yet we’re using a rubberstamp with the same old wording saying these are uniquely qualified companies here. That doesn’t do it, Mr. Speaker. I’m looking for how the Premier will investigate ways to bump that up in a transparent and a much more accountable way so that we can have confidence in our...

I appreciate that that was quite an extensive question. Perhaps to start with, what are the mechanisms for tuning up our contracting processes at the ministerial level? I’ll just note that when talking to bureaucrats they have to jump through a lot of hoops before they issue a sole-sourced contract, for example. That doesn’t seem to be the case here. It’s a rubberstamp, identical wording on all of them. So what are the tune-ups? What are the options for tuning up this process that the Premier can envision? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that commitment. I’ll look forward to that enthusiastic endorsement and some action from this department.

On the last one, the off-road fuel rebates have not been provided to the Territorial Farmers and that’s a big one. Obviously they’re paying the non-motive fuel tax, or the motive fuel tax and this is crippling the organization. There’s clear opportunity for providing some rebates and addressing that question. Will the Minister commit to getting that straightforward resolution taken care of? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Work currently is underway in Yellowknife through private contract to investigate how an integrated look at food security can improve living conditions for all here in Yellowknife. This is work that the department should be doing or at least promoting and participating in, providing leadership and support in all regions of the Northwest Territories. What is the government doing or what can it be doing to provide support for this beyond simply establishing community gardens? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Arlene Hache, executive director for the Centre for Northern Families and a constituent of Weledeh. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I agree that we do need to put a limit on it to be looking after the taxpayers’ dollar here and it’s a good debate on where that limit is. I just want to bounce off my impression of what’s happened here. Had the travel been first class I suspect we probably would have used that $50,000 and I believe the rules would allow first class travel here. So I’m seeing quite a good effort on behalf of all those travelling, to minimize the impact on the public purse and reduce those costs by 50 percent, perhaps more. So I just want to acknowledge that and encourage that whenever...