Julie Green

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, this supplementary estimate represents a very large carry-over compared to previous years. This is money that could have been spent in our economy, but instead is being carried over. It seems to be the result of several factors; one is the large amount of money that's coming in to the territory from the federal government. Also, there seems to be a lack of capacity in the Department of Infrastructure to get contracts out the door. Also, miscellaneous issues with subcontractors. When the time comes for questions, I will ask the Minister to talk about the size of...

Thank you to the Minister for that commitment. Nothing further.

The Status of Women Council is not being given this opportunity. The campaign schools have been arbitrarily taken into the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs, and we have been given various reasons. They are overspending, and they are not capable of reaching women who are not in the territorial government campaigns. In fact, the Minister has had the campaign schools evaluated at least once and possibly twice. I have never seen any evidence of this evaluation. Is she now ready to share it?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Earlier today I asked for some clarification about the energy retrofit program for public housing, and I think what I got out of that was a number of units, but I am not clear what it means to retrofit these homes to make them more energy efficient. What is the criteria for the energy efficiency, and which of the homes will be retrofitted? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last winter the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs offered two campaign schools for women. During our last session, the Minister responsible for the Status of Women said the move was temporary, but according to the mandate letter provided to her at the end of April, she will "collaborate with the Department of Executive and Indigenous Affairs and MACA to support delivery of the workshops." On what basis is the Minister making this change? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I appreciate the Minister's offer, but it really isn't necessary. I don't need more detail. I am just trying to understand why there are so many carry-overs from last year. One is the short construction season. I am wondering whether it is also difficult to find contractors in some of these small locations. I am just trying to get a sense of what the barrier is here. Thank you.

I appreciate the Minister's commitment to do that. As I have said in my statement, our record of bringing these big construction projects in on time and on budget hasn't been great. Deh Cho bridge, fibre optic line, and now the Tuk road. My more general question is: what evaluation of the project planning, budgeting, execution, and performance is taking place in the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk highway, and how are we carrying these lessons forward to the other road projects now under consideration? Mahsi.

The government news release said that this was an all-weather road that was complete and would link Canada from coast to coast to coast. There was no hedging around of "it would be open some of the time" or that it was mostly complete. I would like the Minister to tell us what he thinks the impact of the current status of the road is having on tourist interest, the community grand opening planned for July, and the new business that we created to promote tourism.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Tuktoyaktuk road. Come the thaw, we have all heard the sad stories of the road closure. Major stretches of the road have dissolved into a slushy mess. An Inuvik Drum headline offers the optimistic forecast "Highway to remain open in the summer," and the best flattery from an engineer responsible for the project is that it won't "go to snot". Air service to the community was re-established last week as motorists took flight from a highway they can't depend on, despite it being an all-weather road, to get them there or get them home. The RV grapevine will be...

My concern is that the inadequacy of the construction will now be labelled "maintenance" or "repair." Will the Minister tell us the amount of projected maintenance costs in this first season, and commit to reporting on the actual costs at freeze-up?