Floyd Roland

Mr. Speaker, once again, we have to be careful of what we say in this House.

For the record, I committed to Members that before we made a decision to extend, alter or change anything, as Members of the 16th Legislative Assembly, I would get hold of Members. I did that on two occasions, going to Members or making phone calls to Members, before the deadline. Not after the 31st. Before the deadline. So let’s get that correct.

Mr. Chairman, the project is scheduled to continue. The piles are scheduled for the fall of 2008, with panel construction to be completed by 2012. That’s on both facilities. The complex facilities are both adjoining each other.

The work or the review… .The cash flow has changed, as the Member stated, from ’08-’09 to ’09-’10, because that is a reflection of the work that they will be able to get completed. So the work is still proceeding. But from where they are today, they would not be able to complete as much of the work as they had scheduled.

The construction is continuing. It has not been...

I guess I’ll have to apologize. No, I didn’t get the gist of what was happening. I was basking in the glow of just being named the tenth Premier of the Northwest Territories. I wasn’t expecting any questions that would require a lot of background detail. In fact, I stood here — and I didn’t have the updated notes from all the departments — and responded to all the questions that were put before me. I think we used up almost a whole question period, in fact.

I had Members saying good job for not being given an opportunity to know where Members were coming from or to get the background. I...

Mr. Chairman, you’d be surprised to see how many repeat offenders end up going back into the facility at different times of the year.

Probably more important is the fact that with such an open environment, items can be exchanged between those who might consider helping their friends or associates, and those who are now incarcerated. That is something that one must look at as part of the scenario that must be reviewed.

The department has put it in here as needing to be done, but we will respect the wishes of the Assembly. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we need to go back a little bit and see what the actual question was that I responded to. The questions were about actual contracts for doing the work for ordering materials. That’s my understanding. I have to qualify this; otherwise, I’ll be thrown out for saying something or committing to something else.

I’ve been trying to respond to Members of this House the majority of the time on this specific project. I’ve looked at the information, I’ve provided what knowledge I had and what issues I was trying to address on the day, and I’ve responded since then when we’ve got the...

Mr. Chairman, I think this is a matter of both scenarios: containing those who are incarcerated in the facility and, in some cases, keeping people away from those who are in the facility. Part of their mandate is the safety of both inmates as well as the public. What they have provided for information is to secure the environment around those facilities.

Yes, questions about the 16th Legislative Assembly. The fact is that Members did not ask the question itself. I responded to questions that were given to me in this House when the Members asked for the specific information, worked with the departments, brought that information, and had that delivered to committee.

Mr. Chairman, I’ll have to defer that to the Minister of Justice. I believe he has more accurate information than I could provide or even had provided the other day, so I’ll go to the Minister of Justice for that.

Mr. Speaker, as Finance Minister for the 16th Legislative Assembly, the requirements that have been made upon myself to provide information have been provided. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, again, the Minister of Public Works and Services probably has more detail on this project.