David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that. From where I sit, Mr. Speaker, it seems to me that the department has spent a lot of time and effort on the Deh Cho Bridge project and we talked about the Kam Lake access road, the city of Yellowknife bypass road and the Building Canada Fund. Where exactly is that road? I stood up in this House for four years asking about the Kam Lake access road. We are spending our time and effort on the Deh Cho Bridge and we are not spending enough effort in other areas of the territory, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Minister -- he brought...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm wondering if the Minister could provide the House exactly today what the GNWT is liable for. Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. When we are negotiating with Canada, the importance of having the city of Yellowknife bypass road on our list of projects is very important. Again, I’d like to ask the Premier, will the city of Yellowknife bypass road be on the list that is negotiated with the federal government and the Building Canada Fund? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister provide for the House what the current value is on the cost of the legal fees to the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation? Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess you have to, and I talk to a lot of people, and I hear a lot of things. I want to, I just want to say that I’ve heard that the money for…

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I look forward to getting that information at whatever time the Minister can provide it. Yesterday, also in Hansard, both the Minister and the Premier talked about a willingness to get together with Members to discuss the process and try to get a better understanding of that process and what happened in the decision-making. I would like to ask the Minister again today if he would look at a public inquiry to try to find out exactly how the decision was arrived at to sign that concession agreement. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Premier. It gets back to transportation infrastructure in the Northwest Territories and whether we have a list or don’t have a list; I mean, that’s debatable. But what I’d like to know and the reason I’m asking the Premier this question, Mr. Speaker, is I want to know, because during the life of the last government Regular Members were never plugged into a priority planning exercise when it came to transportation infrastructure and we’ve all got interests out there in our ridings. I want to know how the Premier and his government are going to be...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in questioning the department in the past on the operation, collection and administration of tolls on the proposed Deh Cho Bridge, I would like to ask the Minister if the costs associated with the collection of tolls, the administration of tolls, is included in that concession agreement, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I thank the Minister for that response, but it just begs the question if you have rules in place, especially when it comes to our young people out there in our communities who are entering into a selection process with deadlines and time frames, not to mention the amount of volunteers that provide their time to sporting endeavours, I’m wondering why, if we have rules in place, why would we forget the rules and change those rules to allow people to apply after a deadline that was set before that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am going to speak today about the process that the Deh Cho Bridge has been following. Again, for the record, Mr. Speaker, I want to state unequivocally that I support a bridge being built across the Mackenzie River. Some might wonder why I am so upset at the process and again I want to give you some reasons why.

Let’s start with the loan guarantee to the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation. It has increased five times in the life of the last government. The first four times the government told the Regular Members that we were hanging onto the hopes that the federal government...