David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m going to speak to the principle of the bill. It’s not a bill that I can see myself supporting for a number of reasons. I think first and foremost I’m not convinced that the decisions that the government has made pertaining to the Deh Cho Bridge Project after the issues with the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation came to light and we’ve taken over the project. The first thing the government did was take the recommendation of the former project managers there to go to a sole-source contract with Ruskin. My opinion is that was the wrong thing to do. I do believe we should have...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have to have some type of competitive advantage here in the Northwest Territories to maintain our population base, especially for senior citizens. I’d like to ask the Minister if she can explain to me how she feels that this proposed change to supplementary health is fair when it is a redistribution. She talks about it herself. She says there are going to be winners. Who are the losers?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to follow up on some of my colleagues’ questions who have been questioning the Minister of Health and Social Services to the proposed changes to supplementary health. The interesting thing for me, I was at the briefing on Tuesday and the information provided was good information, but again, Mr. Speaker, with all the trouble that was caused last year, about a year ago, just over a year ago and the issue is back before us again, I don’t understand why it took that long to get that level of detailed information in front of the Standing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

WHEREAS Members of this and previous Assemblies have expressed numerous concerns about the economic viability of the Deh Cho Bridge Project and the far-reaching impacts of this project on the financial well-being of the Northwest Territories;

AND WHEREAS the Deh Cho Bridge Project has been described as a public/private partnership between the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation and a private builder;

AND WHEREAS the fundamental features of this partnership, including the long-term liabilities and obligations of the Government of the...

There certainly are some parallels here between the government’s participation with the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation and Deze Energy Corporation. We backstopped the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation in the early stages, to the tune of almost $10 million. I’d like to ask the Premier how much investment the Government of the Northwest Territories, through the Power Corporation and the Hydro Corporation, have invested in Deze Energy. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to join my colleagues in asking the Premier some questions on the Taltson Hydroelectric Expansion Project and the government’s involvement with Deze Energy Corp. First of all, I think the question that I’d like to ask the Premier, and I know a number of folks across the Northwest Territories watch the proceedings of the House, I’d like to ask the Premier if he could explain to the public and to the Members of this House exactly how the $700 million or the estimated cost of the expansion and the transmission line is going to be paid for. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to join in on voicing my concern over how the government is handling the Taltson Hydroelectric Expansion Project. Mr. Speaker, this government is currently in the middle of dealing with the $181 million Deh Cho Bridge saga. I would like to think that somewhere along the line Cabinet has learned some valuable lessons when it comes to letting others do our bidding for us we end up holding the bag.

Mr. Speaker, it is little doubt that our participation in the bridge project was ill conceived and it will go down in history as being one of the biggest...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First off I’d like to thank all the Members that have stood up and indicated they will support the motion that we have before us today.

Just to a few of the comments I heard, yes, the Auditor General was too busy to look into the process that allowed the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation and the relationship between the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation. That was a few years back. We all know much has changed in that time. For example, the contractor of record, ATCON Construction, of which we had a $165 million negotiated contract, is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This motion that comes before us today I believe is very timely. I’ve often stood up in this House and asked for some responsibility and accountability when it comes to this project. I’ve questioned this project since becoming a Member of this House back in 2001.

The deal, and I won’t give a long history lesson here as we talked at length yesterday about this project, but it was signed off three days prior to the last territorial election. This project did make some sense at one point in time when the project in its entirety was self-financing. That wasn’t the case when...