Katrina Nokleby

Against.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure regarding the Inuvik Airport.

When I hear the Minister say that the delay at this point is around funding, I find myself quite confused considering the announcement of $150 million was made in 2019. Can the Minister speak to why the conversation about funding, particularly when we would be breaking this project up into phases and different work packages, would be waiting as of now two years three years later. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

In favour.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I’d like to provide some clarity around the issues at the Inuvik Airport. Media has reported that the need to dig a trench is the issue; however, it appears upon further investigation this is not correct. The real issue with the airport project and why a delay now could cost this construction year has to do with the permafrost our coldhearted friend that causes so many headaches for engineers and contractors in the North.

Due to ground conditions, construction of the runway expansion in Inuvik requires that the design and construction factor in the...

Against.

In favour.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

In my statement, I discussed the fact that China has generally been having a monopoly around some of the critical minerals that we're looking at to go forward in the green economy. Can the Minister speak about whether or not, given the current global situation and China's involvement perhaps with the war in Ukraine, if we're seeing an uptake around interests in our resource sector from perhaps companies that maybe were using China before and maybe now are looking for a more ethical source...

In favour.

Thank you. Now I'm super confused because it is my understanding that if this technical piece of the work, the trench, isn't completed within time, that there will be a delay.

So I'm not sure where this conflicting information is coming from. But can the Minister speak to whether or not if that trench is not dug this year, can it be dug next year with no delays? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't think that answered my question. There clearly needs to be a look at investigating how this project got so far over scope or out of budget before it ever was flagged. We should not be at a point where a project is at $40 million over budget without it raising alarm bells long before that.

I guess my last question, though, is around will we actually save this construction season? Is there a push regardless of who's paying for it to get the trench that my colleague was mentioning on Monday or the critical work that needs to be completed this season is there a push...