Robert Bouchard

The Minister has indicated that industry is interested. I’m wondering if the Minister will commit to assessing the Hay River harbour and the full dredging needs in working with all the proponents, whether it’s industry or whether it’s the federal government, to build a needs assessment for the dredging in the Hay River area?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to welcome Grade 6 from Hay River as well. I have the rest of the list: Angela Boutilier, Ally Carston, Marisa Carter, Michaela Crook, Fiona Huang, Aimee Jacobs, Gabrielle Kirby, Shelby Lawrence, Madison Loutit, Aaron Mackie, Taylor Maurice, Savanna Moore, Shania Pierre, Donny Seaton, Nicholas Smallgeese, Tyrell Wilgosh. Also three chaperones: Mr. Mike Wilgosh, Mrs. Tara Kirby and Mr. Jamie Smith. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for joining us today at lunch and thank you for all the organizing to help with the event for the Grade 6 class.

Thank you. Back in December I asked some similar questions about dredging in Hay River and the federal government’s responsibility. The Minister indicated that he was going to begin negotiations and discussions with the federal government on this project. Can the Minister give me an update on has he had any meetings on this issue with the federal government?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Department of Transportation is one of the larger budgets and one of the most interesting, and one of the ones that I probably get the most calls about.

One of the first issues I want to bring up with the department in the processes that they have, I know the department has reviewed and tried to deliberate on how to implement their contracts, their tenders and their projects. I’ve been getting a lot of complaints on the fact that a lot of the projects are getting overwhelmingly large and being bundled together. Whether it’s the culvert projects or whether it’s signage...

Yes, Madam Chair. I’d like to make a motion to report progress.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I’ll make my comments really brief here. I do believe this is one of the more important budgets. It’s the second largest and it represents over 20 percent of our budget. Like my colleagues, I am concerned that we have only seen a 1 percent increase in this budget. The importance of it is also in the fact that I think education, being the larger component of it, is important in the territory. It’s the investment in the future. And that’s at several different levels, whether it’s at early childhood, K to 12 and post-secondary and the apprenticeships. I think we should look...

Mr. Speaker, yes, I would like that information. I would like to know what the department is doing to encourage purchasing through the different departments and facilities.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I indicated my concern with the future of the commercial fishing industry in Hay River. My question today will be for the Minister of ITI. What is the department doing to innovate and to assist commercial industry in the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Some of my colleagues have indicated that they’re in turmoil with this decision or this motion. I’m at the same point. I understand that we have a lot of issues with the current education system and some of the graduation levels. However, I’m not certain that with the changing of this motion would alleviate all those problems. I think we need to look at what the impacts of this would do. The department’s indicated that they wish to continue to use it, and before we make a rash change, I think we should assess what the values are. I would be agreeable to discussing this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My next question is concerning one of the issues that face the commercial fishermen right now and that’s the high cost of fuel. One of the things that they pay is they pay the full taxes on the road tax. I know the department has looked in the past at this and they recently reviewed this policy. Is there somehow they can support the commercial fishing industry, because the gas is not used on a road system?