Michael Miltenberger

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe that all the parties did the best that they could to move this process along. It’s very complicated and there are a lot of players. There’s a lot of interest, lots of advice and recommendations and all the decisions being made on the process and the decisions made were on what was going to be done in terms of freezing and those types of things all took time. Thank you.

There is not a question of have to be rejected. We did a review of the recommendations. We looked at them closely. We looked at how they all fit together. Some of them are sequential. There are issues related to time, to cost and to scope of the project. In spite of the Member’s comments that money is no object, when you’re in government, in fact, money is a constant object.

But very clearly, the concern is cleaning up the site. We don’t want any delays. Some of the concerns, in our opinion, are that some of their recommendations, because they’re sequential, for example, could add up to three...

Mr. Speaker, I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Great Slave, that Bill 7, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2014-2015, be read for the second time.

This bill makes supplementary appropriations for infrastructure expenditures for the Government of the Northwest Territories for the 2014-2015 fiscal year.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m the responsible Minister in this instance, and that responsibility is mine.

Mr. Speaker I seek unanimous consent to proceed with first reading of Bill 7, Supplementary Appropriation Act (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2014-2015.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you. What I am satisfied with is that we have a process under the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act, with the boards, with the environmental assessments that were done, the Sahtu Land and Water Board, with the NEB that addressed the issues, that we have a piece of legislation that pre-dates those acts. It does not have the ability to overrule federal legislation just from a legal point of view, and even if it did, I don’t believe that would be a requirement because I don’t think there are the concerns raised by the Members. I think it’s been covered by the NEB, by their document...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the Member for the motion and the comments of those that have spoken to the motion. It is a very critical issue, it’s a big initiative and we’ve been listening carefully, there are notes being taken and we have an obligation to provide a response in 120 days. We want the same type of things for our children in the system. Now we’re debating the best way to get there.

So, I appreciate the comments and, as this is direction to Cabinet, we will be abstaining. Thank you.

Madam Chair, I have with me Mr. Michael Aumond, deputy minister of Finance. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I am here to present Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditure), No. 1, 2014-2015. This document provides for an increase of $2 million for capital investment expenditures in the 2014-2015 fiscal year.

The one item in these supplementary estimates is to provide funding to resume the Detah Access Road Project in the 2014-2015 fiscal year.

I am prepared to review the estimates of the supplementary estimates document. Thank you, Madam Chair.

I can feel the love.

---Laughter

We will endeavour to make sure that all the positions are appropriately located. Thank you.