David Ramsay

The details are still being worked out. We hope to have the negotiation concluded by the end of this month and construction would start shortly thereafter.

Again, and I will reiterate this, we are looking at Det’on Cho and the number of companies that they will be bringing in partnership on the construction of this realignment project. Those companies are northern and they will be northern. We have yet to see a finalized negotiated agreement. We will be getting that shortly and make an announcement after that.

The message moving forward is future highway contracts in the Yellowknife area are intended to be tendered.

I can assure the Member that I have had those discussions with both my deputy ministers both in Transportation and at ITI. For me we’re going to have to see how that fits into the government-wide initiative when it comes to decentralization and where our resources are based. We will get to that work.

In the Premier’s response to Mrs. Groenewegen, that work is going to start. We’re going to take a look at some of the decentralization and positions that may in fact find their way into the regional centres. Certainly in the case of the Sahtu, that would figure into that mix.

Again, it’s a process that has only just begun. As far as the timeline goes, I wouldn’t want to take a guess at that, but sooner rather than later.

Mr. Speaker, the negotiations will be concluded here shortly, but certainly the Det’on Cho proposal will include a wide variety of local and northern businesses that will help Det’on Cho as they work to construct the realignment of Highway No. 4. They also will need some support in the areas of administration and management and other areas, and we look forward to seeing a finalized negotiation with Det’on Cho that will include that wide array of northern businesses that will help Det’on Cho achieve the work that’s there.

Mr. Speaker, on an annual basis, 80 percent of all contracts that the Department of Transportation has are tendered. Twenty percent would be negotiated. If the Member wants detail in the past year, I can provide that for him. Thank you.

Certainly, through the Detah access road program that Det’on Cho was involved in, they have proven themselves. I believe this will just benefit Det’on Cho and the Yellowknives Dene tremendously, in that it will give their members more opportunities for employment, for education and for training their own people and advancing their capacity.

As I mentioned, with Giant Mine being on the very doorstep of Chief Drygeese territory, I think having the Giant Mine Liability Fund fund the work of the realignment of Highway No. 4, it’s the very least this government could do to help the Yellowknives Dene...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, it’s Highway No. 4, not 7, and secondly, Mr. Speaker, I know the Member, for having been a Member of this House for the past eight years, I would think that he would know the difference between a sole-sourced contract and a negotiated contract.

Mr. Speaker, if he’s going back in Hansard, I challenge him to find one example of where I stood up as a Member of this House and said one thing negative about a negotiated contract with an Aboriginal company in this territory. I challenge him to find that, Mr. Speaker.

Certainly going forward, Highway No. 7 is a red flag project. It is going to be a priority of this government to try to identify capital dollars to keep that highway maintained at a safe, safe clip.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly I’ve heard the Member on numerous occasions going back to the last session on the need to look at Highway No. 7. As I mentioned back then, and I’ll mention it again today, this government is going to require upwards of $200 million for a complete retrofit of that highway and that’s money that today we just don’t have. Going forward we are going to try to identify capital funds that will get us at least the money that we need on an annual basis to maintain that highway. I think the Member can look forward to that as we go into the next set of business plans...