Jane Groenewegen

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to talk about a number of things related to education in Hay River. During the last session I raised concerns about the situation of Diamond Jenness Secondary School and how the deficiencies were impacting on a quality environment for the delivery of education at the high school. I am very pleased to report that Minister McLeod, with Public Works and Services, and Minister Lafferty, with Education, Culture and Employment, came to Hay River last week with Mr. Speaker and myself, and their officials. We did tour the Diamond Jenness Secondary School, among other...

Well, Mr. Speaker, if we could have gotten a copy of that concession agreement, we might have sought our own legal opinion about whether or not our liability would have been extended with the signing of the concession agreement.

The Premier is asserting that for us now to kill the legislation, to kill the project, would expose us to some liability. He’s obviously privy to information that we are not privy to, because we haven’t even seen the concession agreement yet, never mind voted on it or supported it.

Anyway, I’d like to know what the Auditor General thinks of this whole process. There must...

Well, I see we have one supporter.

You know, when we talk about government cuts…. CBC went out to the street, and people heard about reductions in government spending. They said, “Why are we building a Deh Cho Bridge, then?” The Union of Northern Workers have said, “Why are we building a Deh Cho Bridge?” The people who are going to be paying the tolls have said, “Why are we building a Deh Cho Bridge?” I’d like to ask the Premier, or anybody who wants to answer over there: what is now driving this project?

I would like to recognize and welcome the representatives of the Union of Northern Workers, and in particular — I don't have my glasses on today — I’m sure that's Roy Courtoreille up there, who does good work on behalf of the UNW in Hay River.

I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Kam Lake, that Minister’s Statement 1-16(2) be moved into Committee of the Whole for consideration.

Motion carried.

Unfortunately, it’s too little, too late, in my opinion. Unlike my colleague Mr. Ramsay, who keeps saying he supports the bridge, I don’t support the bridge anymore. I want to have been given a chance to decide how I wanted to spend $2 million indexed over the next 35 years, and I was not given the opportunity to vote on that expenditure and that commitment.

I would like to ask the Premier if he will please make available to the Members the legal opinion that was solicited by cabinet which says that our liability has been extended by the signing of that concession agreement.

Mr. Speaker, the Premier is absolutely right: this project is going to require a vote after the fact to appropriate the funds. And it is way after the fact, because the facts have completely changed.

You know, this is about government expenditure. This project is going to call for $2 million a year, at least, indexed over 35 years, plus $750,000 a year for administration to collect the toll. Can we put a motion in the House, here, to kill this legislation today? You said we could have done it in the last government — remove this legislation from the books. What about a vote now?

Mr. Speaker, I’m going to wade in on the bridge again today. I have questions.

How can a piece of legislation passed two Assemblies ago, which envisioned a self-financing $50 million capital project, possibly still be a go — with a green light — today in the 16th Assembly, having more than tripled in price? Almost all the parameters of the project have changed, and never once has an opportunity been given back to the Members to confirm that they actually support this project. In a public government, in 2008, with Members duly elected to run the Northwest Territories, how can such a thing have...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I was asked to raise this by the Territorial Farmers’ Association and I realize that it may be cumbersome, but the cost of doing business is continually going up. The price of the product is not going up. This is discouraging people from being involved in any of our renewable resource sector activities that are not involved with roads. The cost of fuel, it’s going to be an all-time high now again. I look forward to working with the Minister on trying to find some way of alleviating the cost of doing business in these sectors. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I think we did determine that trying to determine the use of the product at point of sale was too difficult and too cumbersome. It is understood and agreed we can’t do that. We can’t even keep track of the difference between stuff going for diesel for home heating fuel to diesel going for filling your vehicle. We can’t even keep that straight. So I don’t suggest that we try to do it at the point of sale. What I am suggesting is that somehow when people file their personal income tax return and they are involved in those activities which are included in their...