Jane Groenewegen

This will be my final supplementary. I do know the Minister does drive that road from time to time. Just before he gets to Paradise Gardens, if he could just look down to the right. It’s just before Paradise, but the person who hits that road when it caves in will be going to Paradise. If he could just commit to visually himself look at it so he’s familiar with it, I would really appreciate it.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Transportation and it’s about a road situation in his constituency, but my constituents have to drive over the road. I know I’ve talked to the Minister about this before. My constituency ends at the Hay River/Enterprise border. Your constituency starts at the same spot. But just beyond there, on the highway -- and I know your people have gone out and looked at it and you may have gone out and looked at it too -- there is an erosion on the roadside there that literally when you look down it’s a straight down cliff. It’s like the water...

Mr. Speaker, the Premier went on to elaborate more on the benefits of having the diamond mines here. I am not arguing that at all. It is a tremendous benefit to the Territory. Hay River, Yellowknife, the IBAs, the many benefits that we have realized from the development of these diamond mines is unquestionable. However, we also have amazing hydro potential. What the Premier is saying is that we do not have the ability to finance that or pay for that for the private customers and residents of the Northwest Territories, but this single customer base by way of the diamond mines is the only...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to join my colleagues today who have very eloquently spoken to the issue of the Deze Energy Corporation. This corporation actually had its origins in a previous government and it does have similarities to the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation.

This was the idea and brainchild of a government and of people who are not any longer sitting at this table. Yet we here as a government... Oh, well, some of them are still here.

---Laughter

The idea of the structure and ownership of this corporation has merit in the fact that I think recognition should be given to the First...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be voting in favour of the motion.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier points out the furthermore that all employees and officials actively cooperate. I think that raises an interesting point, not to suggest that this government has not or would not fully cooperate with the Auditor General. However, Mr. Speaker, this is an unusual project where much of the activity was undertaken by a third party, the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation. That information and that documentation are things that were not always readily available to this government perhaps, but certainly not to this side...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that consideration of Tabled Document 8-16(5), Supplementary Appropriation No. 2, 2010-2011 (Infrastructure Expenditures), be now concluded and that Tabled Document 8-16(5) be reported and recommended as ready for further consideration in formal session through the form of an appropriation bill. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I feel like I have already said so much about the Deh Cho Bridge. It is probably the single topic that I have spoken to most in this Legislature in my 15 years that I have been an MLA. I don’t know what good it is to rehash everything that has already been brought up by other Members here today except I do feel obligated to my constituents to be on the record in this matter.

I think Mr. Abernethy did an excellent job of summarizing the situation where we find ourselves today.

Mr. Chairman, if we could argue that the bridge over the Mackenzie River is a useful piece of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Sorry, dumb question there. I forgot the Taltson was $700 million and I guess that is a bit outside of our debt limit. What do we do -- this is a hypothetical question -- I was going to say what do we do if something unforeseen comes up that’s in the millions of dollars? If we had brought the Deh Cho Bridge onto our books through a normal process similar to the Inuvik school, if we had brought that money onto our books in a similar fashion, this would be three or four years’ worth of our capital budget. Is there any possibility that we could still do that, understanding...

Mr. Speaker, if we leave the Deh Cho Bridge debt on the books long term and that becomes part of our borrowing limit for the long haul, does the Premier not see that as really tying the hands of this government since it does not affect our fiscal capacity and does not affect our ability to deliver programs and services, it doesn’t anticipate anything unforeseen and it limits our borrowing ability? Does the Premier not see that as affecting our fiscal situation?

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...