Jane Groenewegen

The Minister mentions that I’ve brought this up three times. He must think I’m nagging him. I would like to know, I know he sent his people out to look at it, but I would like to know if the Minister would commit to having some kind of an engineer or somebody that builds roads look at this. Because I am very serious; the last time that I drove over that little spot and looked down there I was surprised. Even myself, a layperson, I could see that there had been further erosion. What I’m afraid is that there could be something that needs to be X-rayed under the road to see if there is some kind...

Let’s just say going forward that our 30 percent interest in this project, in this business case as the Premier speaks of it, if the dividends from that flow to this government are significant, is there any way of channelling, designating, allocating that dividend to do something to explore green and affordable energy options for other residents and businesses in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that this dialogue we are having today on the Taltson expansion and the delivery of hydro to the diamond mines is a very good discussion. The Premier has been doing an excellent job of responding to these questions. I would bet you the people out there in the Northwest Territories listening to this are getting a much better understanding of how this whole thing is working. I have been trying to listen to it through objective ears. I think we are accomplishing that.

Mr. Speaker, we cannot deny that the diamond mines have been a tremendous asset to the economy in...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that we report progress.

---Carried

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to table a letter that has been sent to Minister Sandy Lee. It is from the Hay River Seniors’ Society regarding supplementary health benefits and signed by John Brockway, president. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just want to make a few statements about this sitting of the Legislature and why we are back here. The public very well knows that we had our spring budget session, which lasted almost six weeks, and towards the end of that session information and circumstances came to light that required this government to make the decisions with respect to the Deh Cho Bridge Project.

Mr. Speaker, rather than waiting until the May sitting of the Legislature, by which time the government would have had to expend funds through special warrants and bring forward an...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that we report progress.

---Carried

Thank you. I don’t want to be contrary and not support the motion, but, I move the committee strongly recommends that the Premier of the Northwest Territories take immediate action to seek federal authority for a temporary increase to the territorial borrowing authority. Well, good luck with that. I mean we just had it raised from 300 to 500 not so long ago and that was a big ordeal.

We’re not on a shopping trip here. We’re not going down to the federal government and saying, you know, we’ll take one of those or one of those, we’ll take 10 years instead of five years, we’ll take, you know? I...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the committee today would like to deal with Tabled Document 8-16(5), Supplementary Appropriation No. 2, 2010-2011 (Infrastructure Expenditures).

I’d like to ask the Premier, since he brings up the Taltson hydro expansion, how is having our debt card full going to affect our ability to guarantee any loan to do the Taltson expansion?