David Ramsay

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister talks about the Building Canada Fund. I would like to ask the Minister today what projects are included on that list of Building Canada Fund? Is the Yellowknife bypass road on that list, Mr. Speaker? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am kind of feeling like the late Rodney Dangerfield and not getting much satisfaction.

---Laughter

I am going to try again. I have questions for the Minister of Transportation. With the P3 project, obviously the government and the Department of Transportation have put a lot of time, effort and resources into the pursuit of the Deh Cho Bridge project and the process. Meanwhile, I am seeing other projects in the territory such as the city of Yellowknife Kam Lake bypass. We have the Tuk access road as well as the Kakisa Bridge. Other projects are being left out or...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion I gave notice of earlier today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it seemed to me that the deadline for the Government of the Northwest Territories to sign this concession agreement was October 1st. It was signed on September 28th and somebody somewhere has to be held accountable for why that decision to sign that agreement was done on September 28th. We can go back and forth all we want, but all the public deserves, and what Members of this side of the House deserve, are some answers. I would like to have some answers from the Premier on why the rush to sign the concession agreement, an incomplete document, was done...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, governments of all kinds, the federal government and other provincial governments, conduct public inquiries on previous governments all of the time. It happens. Case in point is the Mulroney/Schreiber affair in Ottawa. They are pulling him before a committee of Parliament. It happens, I think, when it comes to public money and the rollout of this project, and by most accounts, this process has been flawed. Again, I would like to ask the Premier, will he entertain a full public inquiry into the Deh Cho Bridge project and the processes that were...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’m not a lawyer, but it would seem to me the first question that I would ask is why would a government sign a document with 12 outstanding issues? That’s foolhardy, Mr. Speaker. That’s why I think we need a public inquiry as to why that concession agreement was signed on the 28th of September. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister commit to a public inquiry? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Considering that the concession agreement was signed on September the 28th, I’m wondering how effective the negotiations between the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation could have been when, if in fact they were working on an October 1st deadline, how could the government negotiate a fair agreement if October 1st was the deadline to negotiate? At the 11th hour, the agreement was signed on the 28th of September. It’s two months later and no word from the department on the signing of that document. I think that’s absurd, Mr...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to recognize a constituent, Mr. Greg Debogorski, who is with us today. He does a tremendous amount of work on behalf of seniors here in Yellowknife and in the Northwest Territories. Thank you.

---Applause

WHEREAS Rule 85 requires that Members be appointed to the Standing Committee on Government Operations;

NOW THEREFORE I MOVE, seconded by the honourable Member for Weledeh, that the following Members be appointed to the Standing Committee on Government Operations:

Mr. Glen Abernethy, the Member for Great Slave;

Mr. David Krutko, the Member for Mackenzie Delta;

Mr. Kevin Menicoche, the Member for Nahendeh;

Mr. Jackie Jacobson, the Member for Nunakput;

Mr. Robert Hawkins, the Member for Yellowknife Centre;

AND FURTHER, that the following Members be appointed to the Standing Committee on Government...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I give notice that on Thursday, November 29, 2007, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Weledeh, that the following Members be appointed to the Standing Committee on Government Operations: Mr. Glen Abernethy, the Member for Great Slave; Mr. David Krutko, the Member for Mackenzie Delta; Mr. Kevin Menicoche, the Member for Nahendeh; Mr. Jackie Jacobson, the Member for Nunakput; Mr. Robert Hawkins, the Member for Yellowknife Centre; and further that the following Members be appointed to the Standing Committee on...