Jane Groenewegen

Mr. Speaker, the cost of attending post-secondary institutions continues to rise. With the exception of funding for travel, our Student Financial Assistance Program does not have any mechanism to review these costs on a regular basis and adjust funding levels available to students. For example, Mr. Speaker, the University of Alberta has announced that for the 2008-2009 academic year, the cost of tuition will go up by 4.6 per cent, and the cost to stay in student residence will go up by 8.75 per cent. This is fairly representative of what occurs every year at most southern post-secondary...

I rise on a point of order under Rule 492(1) of Beauchesne’s Parliamentary Rules and Forms, which states that a Minister is not at liberty to read quotes for dispatch or other state paper not before the House without being prepared to lay it on the Table. This is in context to the Premier’s response to my questions yesterday when I was asking questions about the concession agreement.

On page 23 of unedited Hansard, Mr. Roland referred to eligible and ineligible costs that could affect different firms involved and also spoke to issues of guaranteed price, fixed-price contracts, refund of...

My questions today are for the Premier.

We elect people to our cabinet to serve and protect the public interest. The Premier, as the former and current Finance Minister, must be fully aware of the demands on our limited resources. Today, as I speak, our high school in Hay River is closed because we have not had the capital required to do a mid-life retrofit on it, as one example. And there are so many more.

Our financial exposure on the Deh Cho Bridge could impact the financial capacity of our government for many years to come and our available capital dollars. Although it would cost us money to...

I move that we report progress.

Motion carried.

It seems, in other words, there has been no contemplation of such a thing happening. There’s probably nothing stopping it from happening. The government’s been able to do it for years and years. I don’t see what would stop a private operator from doing that.

Mr. Speaker, we were promised many, many times during briefings that we would get a chance to have a look at the concession agreement that was signed in the last government. This concession agreement has been now made available.

But I would like the Premier today to remind me why that was not available previously, and why now it’s only...

I appreciate that response from the Premier because in order for us to really have an effective discussion and dialogue with the people of the North about this, that is a very key piece of information that we need.

The Premier outlined some of the precautions and undertakings the government has put in place with respect to this contract. But we've been told — and I need to understand this — that there is a fixed price on the construction of the bridge. I'd like to know what measures have been put in place in the agreement to protect this government in terms of cost overruns.

Mr. Speaker, today I want to tell you how completely disappointed — and disappointed is not a strong enough word — I am with the leadership of our past and present government that would have allowed a process such as that associated with the Deh Cho Bridge Corporation to be entered into. As the details, which were so often withheld, now slowly come to light, the financial harm that our government has been exposed to is unbelievable.

The Deh Cho Bridge will be the most costly piece of capital infrastructure ever embarked upon by our government. And lest you doubt that it is our government — and...

The committee would like to start off today by considering Bill 2, Supplementary Appropriation Act, and will proceed as far as we can with that today.

I am obviously worried about the eligible cost overruns because those are the ones that could very much affect the total price of this project.

To the total price…. We understand we have a business plan in place through a toll charge to recover much of the capital cost of this project. But to the integrity of that business plan and the business case and the projected volumes of traffic that are contained in the business plan, I’d like to know how our government has protected our interests by contemplating the effect of a private operator setting up a ferry on the Mackenzie River to haul traffic...

I would like to move that we report progress.

Motion carried.