Robert Bouchard

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In follow-up to my Member’s statement about dredging, we are concerned about the sediment buildup in the Hay River area.

My first question to the Minister of Transportation is: Does the territorial government and the Department of Transportation have any dredging programs planned for the Hay River area this year?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Spring is now over. The ice is gone from our rivers and now we’re starting to see more activity around the Hay River industry around the water.

Hay River is a natural transportation hub. It is the starting point for barges and tugs that go down the Mackenzie and supply goods throughout the Northwest Territories. The harbour is important to the commercial vessels, commercial fishing and recreation users. As well, we have a Coast Guard based there.

The federal government once dredged the harbour clear of silt that comes down the Hay River. In 1994 the federal government...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My colleagues have made a good point on both sides of this argument. My thoughts are similar to theirs. The high energy costs in the Northwest Territories are going up. Some of the projects that have been invested in have not worked. We have wasted some dollars on some of these projects. My other concern is that I’m not really willing to give up either.

Right now there must be some potentials out there. I know from discussions with some of my colleagues, that biomass is one of the highest returns dollar for dollar. Your return on your cost of living would go down quite a...

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...

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?

My next question is concerning the government facilities. Does the Minister have information on how much fish is bought in the Northwest Territories through our government facilities such as correctional facilities and schools and stuff like that?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to begin my Member’s statement today giving best wishes to the NWT Fishermen’s Federation who are hosting their annual general meeting today, and apologies that I cannot be there for them. However, I would like to discuss the fishing industry in my Member’s statement today.

The NWT Fishermen’s Federation has been a vital part of the Hay River industry and a traditional economy in the Hay River area. I am concerned with the future of the industry. Some of the issues that are faced by the industry right now are the high costs of gasoline, training and getting...

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...