Jane Groenewegen

Mr. Speaker, in view of the many pressing needs of the people of the Northwest Territories for everything from better education, to homes and houses in our communities, to health services — we have no doctors going into Nunakput, we heard today — in view of all those pressing needs, does the Premier not think that he has a duty to very clearly tell people, before we commit to it, that this government was entering into an obligation and a liability for $165 million?

Mr. Speaker, with this being Education Week, I, along with several of my colleagues, would like to acknowledge the educators of our Territory. In particular, I would like to recognize those who invest their skills and energy to educate the students of Hay River.

These weeks set aside to recognize specific professions are a good idea. However, if we are to truly respect and recognize our teachers, we could most sincerely do that by ensuring that our schools and their staff are adequately resourced to make the most positive impact possible in the education tasks of our children.

To that end, I...

Mr. Speaker, it is unfathomable that this Premier can say we should have a debate on one simple question alone: do we support this project or not? How could we possibly say whether we support the project or not if we did not have access to the details of it? That's like saying, “I'll buy a house, and I won't look at it or inspect it, and I won't understand any of the terms of the financing, but I'll just….” It is “Do I want a house, or don't I want a house?” That's how simply he’s putting the question.

And to the fact that, yes, we do have the information — yes, we do have it now, after the...

Mr. Speaker, the Members on the opposite side are putting words…. They are adding words. They are embellishing this. They are using things like “head on a platter,” “lying.” I never said lying.

I stood on a point of order to the fact that the Premier was offering…. He was misleading the House with the information he was giving. So if they want to describe that in whatever way they want to, that is what I said. And that is what I will set out to prove.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that the Schedule to Bill 1 be amended to:

decrease by $115,000 the interim appropriation amount set out in Part 2, item 15, Public Works and Services, by striking out $6,534,000 and substituting $6,419,000;

decrease by $540,000 the interim appropriation amount set out in Part 2, item 17, Justice, by striking out $1,610,000 and substituting $1,070,000;

decrease by $80,000 the interim appropriation amount set out in Part 2, item 18, Education, Culture and Employment, by striking out $21,626,000 and substituting $21,546,000;

decrease by $735,000 the amount set out in...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Premier, then, if he would also communicate to his Ministers and the departments that this may be an area where they might like to look for some savings that would contribute to that total amount that we need to save over the next two years, and if he would put some guidelines and some parameters in place to provide guidance and leadership for Ministers and other departments as well.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier said he’d have to have a specific example. Let me give you an example. “John Todd Holdings Ltd., consulting services, $48,000.” What kind of process goes into approving such a contract?

Mr. Speaker, this has been a time when we’ve been hearing a lot about cuts to government spending. There is a very significant piece of Territorial infrastructure out there that has been talked about, and there have been some very large dollars attached to the anticipation of such a structure. I’m talking about a courthouse here in Yellowknife.

Mr. Speaker, many long-time residents of the N.W.T. remember the days when the courthouse in Yellowknife was located on the second floor of the Federal Building, better known as the post office, so at one point the federal government did pay for and...

Mr. Chairman, I would like to move that we report progress.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just to describe for Members what is being proposed here in this motion to delete: Public Works and Services is records storage; Justice is the perimeter fencing at North Slave Correctional Facility; the $80,000 in Education is for the renovations to the Lahm Ridge Tower. Those are the three items this motion proposes to delete from the interim capital appropriations.