Charles Dent

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In a democratic system, as the Member is aware, the courts are an independent leg of the governance process. So we have the government, the Assembly and the courts. It’s a responsibility of the government to support the courts with adequate fiscal resources to conduct their business and adequate physical space to conduct their business. So we are going to follow through on that requirement. Mr. Speaker, when Public Works and Services did their assessment, they advised us that the net present value of leasing equivalent space in the Territories was in the order of $60...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I said, where we’ve seen significant changes in project costs have been through the construction management process and this government is not prepared to undertake that process for this building. We are going to get the full set of plans done and then go out to public tender. Once we have the results in, we will award the contract. That way you know what the cost of the building is going to be. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The estimate that we have was provided by Public Works and Services. It is a Class 'D', so an initial estimate, and it was prepared by Public Works and Services within the last few months, just since fall. Right now they have estimated the cost to be about $41 million.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don’t believe we need anything further to empower anybody to follow up on things. A DEA has the authority now to ensure that kids are attending school; it could become a child protection issue if parents aren’t ensuring that their kids attend school. We already have the tools to do it from that side, but that is not going to work. That doesn’t help the kid to be successful. Forcing them to be there when their parents don’t support them being in school is a waste of time. We have to work with families to make sure that the families are supportive of kids being in...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to challenge one thing that the Member said and that is that truancy is becoming more and more of a problem. In fact in the last 10 years, the attendance at school has increased dramatically across the Northwest Territories.

---Applause

Ten years ago the attendance rate for high-school-aged children in the Northwest Territories was less than 40 percent; this year it is well over 70 percent. We are making impressive strides in getting children all across the Territories to attend school.

If the Member wants to look into it, I have been asked this question...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Strong, dynamic women have contributed to the sustained development and progress of the North. From March 6 to 12, 2005, we celebrate International Women’s Week to recognize the contribution women have made to our society. Today has been designated a special day to honour their contributions.

With the national theme “You are Here - Women, Canada and the World,” I want to acknowledge women who have helped shape the North through their wisdom and actions, both big and small. Northern women improve our world everyday, by making a difference in the workplace, representing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Further to my Return to Written Question 73-15(3), I wish to table the following document entitled Number of New Teachers Hired from 2001 to 2005. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On all of the capital projects we have there is a similar amount of consultation, whether it’s a school or hospital or the courts. When you’re talking about building projects, we have a similar amount of consultation. We have been pressured by the courts for many years to respond to their needs and this is something that we have to do. It has been proposed by governments prior to this one. Two governments prior to this one have announced that they were going to put the money for a courthouse in the capital plan, but did not follow through on those commitments, and this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The function of the courts is not expected to change significantly in the future. There will still be a need for courts and for their operations. The unfortunate fact is that we don’t expect that the amount they are using will go down. There isn’t much you can do about not providing the space. Right now we don’t have adequate space. One way or the other we’re going to have to provide it. So we have consulted with Public Works and Services and have been advised that there are two choices: either rent more space or build new space. The advice from Public Works and...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government has decided to initiate this project by going to a full set of plans and then going out to tender. So before we break ground we’ll know the full cost of the project. This isn’t going to be handled through a construction management process where the costs could escalate after the construction has started. It is our intention to make sure that we know the costs before proceeding with it. All of the amounts that will be spent on the building will have to be voted by this Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.