Sandy Lee

But, Mr .Speaker, this government has already stated that the viability of ATCO project depends on the pipeline going ahead and Imperial Oil using the ATCO project. But, Mr. Speaker, that is not up to the government to decide. It’s up to Imperial Oil. If they decide to go with the pipeline, who are they going to buy their housing from?

Mr. Speaker, I believe that I need to ask questions like has the government looked to see what housing building options are available other than this idea? They need to do that test. With $300 million, can we do a stick-built house? Those are questions that...

…because my questions, Mr. Speaker, of this project have nothing to do with the capacity of ATCO to build these Novel trailers or any other trailers they build. ATCO is a well-established company in the North. They employ a lot of people and I have no problem accepting that that company can do the job. The question here we have to ask is, if we have a $300 million project with social housing, how do we best spend that? We need to do the due diligence test that takes us at the end of that analysis that, in fact, ATCO Novel is the best way to go. We are not there yet. To say, whenever we are...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to do a brief reply to the budget address, as well. Let me just make one general comment about the budget, Mr. Speaker, first.

I do share Mr. Braden’s point that there has been quite a bit of feedback from the people out there on not only on what is in the budget, but what is not in the budget. I think for future references, the Minister of Finance should be mindful of the fact that the budget document is not just a communication tool for him to speak to the Minister of Finance in Ottawa. It is a document for everyone...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I think that’s a good restatement of what I was looking for on the part of the Minister. I would like, at this time, to make a motion to report progress.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. For the record, I did get an invitation to see the Novel project in Calgary and I don’t believe I need to see the site to make these arguments and ask for information. I do believe this project has to stand on its own. I would also extend an invitation to the Minister to come and visit my riding where I am sure there are at least 1,400 mobile homes already. My question is not, and has never been, about mobile homes. It’s not a question about whether ATCO units are suitable. I am sure they are very beautiful and adequate. I don’t have a problem with that. I want the...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, as much as I appreciate the information that was given to me through the answers to my written questions, when you read it closely it's quite surprising how little detail there is still for a project this big. I mean, we’re talking about a $297 million project that is supposed to provide over 1,400 homes and it’s a project where the Minister is stating that CMHC and Housing Canada is supposed to give $119 million and the GNWT is supposed to give $116 million. We’re talking really, really, really big money and I am surprised with the answers that the...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The written answer that the Minister gave to my question says that this project will cost $297 million. CMHC contribution will be $119 million. I am assuming that the federal financing goes in there. GNWT contribution will be $116 million and the industry contribution will be $62 million. Mr. Chair, the Minister states that ATCO is the only one with the trademark of Novel, but that is not to say that that might be the only company in the world who could do some kind of a conversion. I don’t know that. What I want to know is that this government has done due...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I used the last opportunity I had to speak on generality, so I would like to try to focus on specifics here. It is in regards to the Novel housing which was mentioned in the Minister of Finance’s budget statement. Also, I had the opportunity to ask the corporation some specific written questions. I received a reply on that. I appreciate the answers. It was quite lengthy. It contained a lot of information, but I do still need some clarifications. The first one is -- and I will try to be brief in my questions -- one of the things that the Minister indicated is that...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Members of the Standing Committee on Social Programs, as Members of the Accountability and Oversight Committee, were involved in the new pre-budget consultation process with the people of the Northwest Territories in late August of 2005. Hearings were held north and south of the Lake, and gave ordinary northerners and non-governmental organizations the opportunity to provide input to MLAs on the priorities that the budget should focus on.

The committee then met with the Minister and his officials on Wednesday, September 21, 2005, to review the draft business plan of...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can tell you that the plant operators have met with most of the Yellowknife MLAs, and certainly this is an issue that is important to us and that needs to be addressed. It seems to me that the core question is with respect to price for the core customers. So I think the diamond plant is not looking for a special privilege, but just to get a fair core customer price, and the question remains as to what that is and as to whether or not there is a premium being charged and, if so, how much. I guess what came out of my discussion of this that really surprised me is lack...