David Ramsay

Mr. Speaker, the benefits are that we’re not waiting, there is access to the North Slave region 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There is convenience. It’s good for transportation companies. It will be great for university students coming back from university in May. They won’t have to face leaving their vehicles in Hay River and fly to Yellowknife and then fly back to Hay River to pick up their vehicles.

It went into the contract. There were extra costs associated with accelerating the contract in order to get the bridge open by November 30th, and if the Member wants to find exactly where...

Mr. Speaker, that horse left the barn about six years ago. There have been a number of questions that have been asked over the years. I don’t believe it does us much good to be beating a dead horse. The bridge is open. If the Member wants specifics on what exactly that $10 million was used for, that money was used to get the contract complete by November 30th so that the bridge could be put into service and that’s exactly what we did. The government was intent on getting that bridge put into service on November 30th. There was a cost to do that. That is what we did, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Yes, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek consent to proceed with second reading of Bill 2, An Act to Amend the Territorial Parks Act.

I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Bill 2, An Act to Amend the Territorial Parks Act, be read for the second time.

This bill amends the Territorial Parks Act to provide the superintendent with authority to issue orders respecting fines in territorial parks, provide that registered owners of motor vehicles are liable for contraventions involving their vehicles, and add a power to make regulations respecting the setting, use and extinguishment of fires in parks.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, that Bill 2, An Act to Amend the Territorial Parks Act, be read for the first time.

Mr. Speaker, I know that the mines do pay a northern allowance to employees, and certainly they would do the due diligence on their own employees to recognize whether or not they’re entitled to a northern allowance by where they live. So that would happen. As to whether or not we get in a third party, no, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, it is monitored. It is reported and tabled in this House. As to how they validate the numbers, I’d have to go back to the department and try to get a better understanding of exactly how they monitor and whether or not they follow each and every employee away from work and find out where they go and whether or not they have a NWT driver’s licence or health care card. That I’m not 100 percent sure of, but I will find out. Thank you.

We have invited Minister Lebel north. Hopefully, he has some time this summer to journey to the Northwest Territories. Failing that, we’re trying to line up some more meetings in Ottawa with Minister Lebel and other Ministers. Certainly, if we can make a plan here before next fall and the timing is right, if the Member would like to accompany me to a meeting to talk about dredging and a program to dredge the port of Hay River with Minister Lebel, we can certainly look at that. We do need millions and millions of dollars to accomplish this. It’s not something that’s in the financial means of...

All we have allotted in this year’s budget would be $60,000. It would cost $3 million or $4 million to take a good run at a program to start with in the port of Hay River. It’s something that currently is the responsibility of the federal government. Again, we need to continue that dialogue. I know we’ve met in the past with Minister Lebel, and more recently with the parliamentary secretary, Mr. Steven Fletcher. We have to continue to impress upon the federal government the importance of dredging here in the Northwest Territories and, specifically for the Member’s point today, the port of Hay...