Robert C. McLeod
Statements in Debates
We would be glad to help the community. This is a new industry in the community, and there is some knowledge that needs to be gained. I will work with my colleague at ITI, and we will see if there are any opportunities for us to collaborate in sending somebody into the community and giving a short course as the Member had asked for. I will work with them. We will see if we can get someone in there as quickly as possible to give a course to the community so, that way, they can go harvest the mushrooms in their riding. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I want to be diplomatic, Mr. Speaker, but I am just going to say no. The responsibility of a lot of that work in the community was devolved to the communities a number of years ago. Most communities have done really well with it. There are other programs, I am sure, that they can access to help with some of the work that needs to go on.
Through the Small Community Employment strategy through the Small Community Employment Committee, or Small Community Committee, I think there were dollars that were given to every community in the Northwest Territories. Part of that could be used for programs...
I will share anything publicly, but, out of respect for the consensus system, I need to share the information with committee first, because we have seen what happens if we somehow release some information to the public before we get it to committee. So, once we have the discussion with committee and we have our discussion with Ottawa, I will be more than happy to release anything publicly so people out there can realize and know what a great job that the officials within the Government of the Northwest Territories did mitigating the impacts of carbon pricing on the people of Northwest...
I will be making it available to the public, including tabling. I can table the letter, but what I need to do before that, out of respect for a consensus system, is share. We have a briefing with committee, and I want to give committee an update before I am in a position to release anything publicly.
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I appreciate the Member's attempt at giving some credit to the department. It was going along really well until I heard the "but." I take the Member's point, though. I mean, he is right. We did have a briefing this morning. We provided Members with a lot of information on the numbers that we had, and some of the questions were on the detail of why those numbers came to be. I absolutely take the Member's point. I will work with the departments to ensure that, as we go forward or we debate another capital estimate, that we have the level of detail that...
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, the Member is correct. The short construction season, we understand, and my understanding is that there is trouble finding contractors sometimes to go into some of these places. That would be a couple of the reasons for the amount of carry-overs: short construction season and the issue with finding contractors. If there are contractors listening out there, there is an opportunity, because there is fairly significant carry-over. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Again, through you, Mr. Chair, I would like to go to the Minister of Justice.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. The anticipated completion date would be July of this year, is my understanding. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I believe they do keep track of the work, and I think it's part of the contract, and things may have changed, but you normally have to put your northern content in there. So all we need to do is have a conversation with Infrastructure as to what percentage was done by Northerners, and obviously we would like to see the bulk of this work done by northern companies, and I think for the most part, now maybe in the southern part of the territories there's a bit more challenge because they're a little easier accessible for the southern companies to move in, but we...
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, we are not exactly sure where the location is yet. I can commit to providing more information to the Members as it becomes available, but we take the Member's point. I will commit to provide him more information. I don't think the exact locations have been chosen yet. Maybe it is something we will have to work on. Thank you, Mr. Chair.