David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just a couple of things. I guess, first of all, I wanted to ask the Minister if he could provide an update to the House on the situation at Northland Trailer Park here in Yellowknife and whether or not there’s been any plan formulated on how to deal with the infrastructure requirements of that trailer park here in Yellowknife.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So the dates have nothing to do with or don’t coincide with when the construction of that project will finally be finished. My belief is it won’t be in November 2011, it will in fact be closer to April. That’s the point that I was trying to make there. I’d like to ask the Minister in closing, what exactly will the community be doing for this Opportunities and Involvement Fund? How are they going to be involved in this project?

Mr. Speaker, all along, this project was to be a partnership between the community and the Government of the Northwest Territories. It would seem to me, from what I have seen, the economics on this bridge aren’t good. If it is operating on a deficit basis year to year, I would suggest if the Minister is shopping for new paint, he could find some red paint to paint that bridge because it is going to be mired in red ink for the foreseeable future.

Here we are as a government negotiating a deal with a community to guarantee them $200,000 a year. How is that a fair partnership if the Government of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to speak today about an agreement that’s posted on the Department of Transportation’s website. It’s entitled Community Opportunities and Involvement Agreement. It’s an agreement between the community of Fort Providence, represented by the Deh Gah Got’ie First Nation and the Fort Providence Metis Council.

Mr. Speaker, the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation was, for all intents and purposes, the best laid efforts of the community of Fort Providence to construct and manage the Deh Cho Bridge. Events of the past year have led to the dismissal of the original general...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to speak today about devolution and resource revenue sharing. For the past 30 years governments in our Territory have been pursuing an agreement on devolving responsibilities from the federal government and getting a fair share of resource revenue. Mr. Speaker, the AIP that has been negotiated between the federal government and the Government of the Northwest Territories is historic and now more than ever we will need our partners, the aboriginal governments in this Territory, to get on board with us in building a better Territory for all of our residents.

Mr...

Just in closing, I want to again wish the Minister well with the discussion with the federal government. I think we are a central location, we have geography in our favour, obviously, being in the middle. We have a need, we have a lease expiring on a very expensive piece of real estate that we are currently occupying and the need is there. I think it is up to us to show that we have the need, that we need to get out of a costly situation that we are currently in. We are going to be looking at building a dedicated college campus, so it would only make sense that if we are going to do that, then...

I thank the Minister for that. When you are looking at potential partners, it’s often been discussed locally and in this House and certain circles around the Territory about the lack of a university north of 60. I think if you are asking the right questions in pursuing the federal government, there may be some dollars there if a university is going to be built north of 60. I’d like to see it built in the Northwest Territories, built here in Yellowknife hopefully.

Obviously it’s going to be a big capital expense. I think 60 or 70 million dollars would be on the low side. If you look at the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I still am quite confused, because you had a program that was working, you had funding that would have enabled it to continue to 2011-2012, yet the $250,000 is gone somewhere. You’re using it for something else and I’m not quite sure I understand what you’re using it for. Whose decision was it to cut the $250,000 out of the respite care program? Was it the department or was it the authority?

I guess the bottom line for me was that the federal funding was set to expire in 2011-2012, yet there have been changes made to that funding and where that funding is going. I’m trying to follow that $250,000. Maybe the Minister could let me know and let this House know where exactly, if the $250,000 isn’t earmarked for the respite program next year, where exactly that $250,000 is going.

Again, I would like to thank Premier Roland and his government for getting us to where we’re at today. Again, Mr. Speaker, the Northwest Territories is very fortunate to have some strong friends in Ottawa who I know have helped pave the way towards this AIP: Senator Dennis Patterson from Nunavut, former Premier George Braden, former Minister Bruce McLaughlin, and Minister Leona Aglukkaq. Thank you.