Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is with great respect and admiration that I stand here today and recognize Mr. Alex Morin, a respected elder and a long-time resident of Hay River who recently celebrated his 90th birthday on May 22nd.

Mr. Morin grew up in a commercial fishing family, and it was the allure of the Great Slave Lake and the resources it had to offer that brought him to the NWT at the young age of 17. Alex, as he prefers to be called, is originally from Ile-a-la-Crosse, a small commercial fishing community in Saskatchewan. Alex and his wife made Hay River their home, where they raised...

Thank you, Madam Chair. The other thing is with respect to contracts. In the past, the contracts, years ago, they used to be broken down and then we kind of start combining them together and making them bigger. What that did was discourage northern contractors, the smaller ones, from bidding and not getting work. Has the department looked at possibly breaking those contracts down, or the way they're putting the contracts out, to ensure that small businesses, small contractors, can pick up some of the work on their own? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. One last question. You mentioned that you sent emails to contractors. What type of response have you received from those contractors, and has there been any follow-up with telephone calls to them or meetings with them? Thank you, Madam Chair.

No further questions. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. With respect to the projects, have you looked at whether they can be delivered on time? You probably have a timeline for them, and I just want to know that because I want to make sure that contractors that are out there know what is going to happen, and I think it's important to them for their survival. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The other issue I guess with fuel is the barging of the fuel and it's going north. I've been to Sachs Harbour when the fuel has actually showed up and it had to get turned around and sent back because it didn't meet spec. Do we take that into account, those types of things into account, during delivery or in our costing? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. We are going through this process now, and the last time we were here, we weren't too concerned about COVID, and now we are. I'm just wondering, with these estimates, how factual are they, and are they going to change significantly or remain the same because of COVID? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Do you have an example of a rack price in Edmonton? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Yes, I guess we have employees staying at home and probably burning out because it is difficult to be home day after day and trying to work from home. I understand that, as well. However, with respect to SMCC and corrections, what I see, I guess I equate burn-out with a safety issue, as well. How are you going to reconcile those two to ensure that nothing goes sideways in the facilities?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I guess there was, I think, some discussion on fuel and fuel prices. I am just wondering, with transporting fuel, how do we arrive at a price for that? Is it based on some real numbers, or is it based on what MTS requires to break even? Thank you, Madam Chair.