Bob Bromley

I appreciate those comments and that update. My last question here is we seem to be getting pretty wet seasons and certainly our falls have become quite wet compared to what they used to be with a lot of freeze/thaw cycles to it. We’ve had a good amount of work going with the Ingraham Trail, some work on the Dettah road and the Highway No. 3 and so on. Are there any observations or insights being collected on what this means to the cost of our capital projects and transportation in the Yellowknife region? Thank you.

That’s an amazing turnaround from what I had been told previously. Somehow we’re getting a cost efficiency of about 300 percent, which is wonderful news.

The Minister committed to me some time ago in the House that he would provide me with the plan and the full costing for the entire reconstruction of the Dettah road in preparation for chipsealing. I’ve never received that, but I understand from Mr. Neudorf that perhaps that work is still going on. I’d be happy to provide Hansard, if that’s of interest, but I’m still very interested in that and I’m encouraged to hear that perhaps we can do it...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’d like to start with the access road to Dettah. I’m wondering if the Minister could provide me with an update on what is being achieved this year and what the budget will cover for next year. Thank you.

Thanks again for those comments. I recognize it’s difficult to commit at this point and I am happy to see work is being done at this point. I hope we do go forward with that opportunity.

It’s shocking, of course, that nearly 20 percent of our earned income in the NWT economy is paid to people who don’t pay taxes in the NWT. I recognize that the MOU between the government and the diamond mines is working on that to base workers here in the North and that there is some effort to look at immigration to sort of help in an indirect way, however, tools do exist that can help us recover some of the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Following up on my Member’s statement, my questions are for the Minister of Finance. Yesterday the Premier was asked about the current state of devolution negotiations and gave answers describing their status. Completion of a deal will take some time, and meanwhile, the revenues owed to our citizens for the sale of our resources go uncollected. Many Members have called for a resource tax as a desirable interim measure. Will the Minister commit to bringing forward a proposal for the increase of revenues through resource rents as part of his package of recommendations in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The report that came out in the National Post today reporting that the federal government has decided not to proceed with its investment with the MGP really changes nothing in regards to the need for a comprehensive reply to the Joint Review Panel report. The federal government could reverse its decision at any time or economics could improve for unexpected reasons. The independent analysis and even the comments of the members of the Joint Review Panel indicate that GNWT negotiated a bad socio-economic benefits agreement for our public with the proponents. We even may...

Mr. Speaker, the reason I seek these assurances is because we did such a lousy job in the previous review of the submissions to the JRP panel. I really would like to hear the reiterative responses there. Recognizing that there is always demand on the staff and the expertise and to have a comprehensive and coordinated response, we need to have our staff ready to be able to reply within the time frames available. Will the Premier commit, and what preparations have been made to ensuring that our in-house expertise is clearing their desks and will be able to give a really meaningful piece of...

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate comments of the Premier on the news report and, like I say, I think, regardless of that, that could change any time. So we need to do this work. I will ask again, will the Premier, with the coordinated response of the split personalities of ENR and ITI apparently coordinating a review, as I understand it -- the Minister of ENR for the Joint Review Panel report, the Minister of ITI for dealing with the NEB documents and eventual decision -- will Members be assured of input to our responses? Will the Premier commit to ensuring our input to those responses? Thank you, Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The report of the Joint Review Panel on the Mackenzie Gas Project is expected within the next two months. In past years, requests for new MGP-related departmental funding has frequently been turned down because we couldn’t be sure the project would go ahead. Meanwhile, this government has trumpeted its support for the project, apparently on any terms.

The MGP would be one of the biggest events in the history of the NWT and, typically for mega projects here, the federal government stands to collect bounteous royalty revenues while the NWT faces social and environmental...