Robert Bouchard

A follow-up question on that program. So that is the program that’s already out there and we’re just piggybacking with the federal government, or is this something we’re creating on our own?

I guess in closing I don’t have any questions, but I do have concerns with this project. This government has indicated, and discussed it last Assembly as well, that decentralization was an issue and they’re still looking to increase – from what I can tell – more office space in Yellowknife area, which from what I understand doesn’t seem to discuss anything about decentralization and they’re not willing to discuss that at all. I have a problem with the fact that government is getting into where the private sector should be involved. Being a pure businessman, I guess, and now a politician, I...

So, for my clarification, we never looked into future departments’ needs in the upcoming years. These office spaces that we’re clearing out, potentially may be clearing out, may be filled in by other departments that are squeezed right now.

One of the other concerns that I have in the briefing I received is the government’s assessment that we need to keep a certain percentage ownership versus rental. They referred to a lot of southern numbers. I’d like to just ask the department if they actually considered the cost of doing business in the North, which would be quite a bit higher and that we’re probably pretty close to where we should be as far as the ratios. Those people who do lease from us do have a lot more costs in their operations. Did the department look into that?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My questions today, too, concern the general purpose office building. I’m not 100 percent agreeable to this concept. I have reviewed some of the briefings on the issue. I think we’re looking for some of the dollars that we’re saving over a longer period of time, then we could also do half a dozen things to look at what the territorial government does to save that kind of money. If we look at long term versus rewards, there are a lot of things that the territorial government does that we could eliminate costs.

One of the first questions I have for the Minister is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As the mover of the motion and a Member of the Board of Management I rise to say a few words. As you know, amongst other responsibilities, the Board of Management has a significant role with the administration of a number of laws and the appointment of statutory officers under those laws. One of our responsibilities is to appoint the members to the Human Rights Commission. We have taken this responsibility very seriously, Mr. Speaker.

When we appoint people to the statutory position, we appoint them with the confidence that we are appointing the people that best reflect...

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to deal with the motion I gave notice of earlier today.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

My next question is: Has the department assessed the dredging needs throughout the Northwest Territories?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to bring up the issue of Hay River’s harbour, because most of you know that Hay River is a natural transportation hub. Hay River is the start point for a lot of the barging and tugboats that go up or down the Mackenzie. The harbour is important to commercial vessels, commercial fishing and recreation uses. We have a Canadian Coast Guard based there as well.

The federal government once dredged the harbour to clear the silt that came down the Hay River. The federal government no longer dredges the harbour. The growing sandbars are making it more...