Wally Schumann

I don't know which plans would have been put into place once the roads was closed. That would be up to the local people. It's unfortunate the road closed in a quickened manner. That happened because of safety reasons, but now with the new purchase of the barge company, maybe we can use them.

Mr. Speaker, I wish to table the following document entitled "Economic Opportunities Strategy: Progress Report 2015-2016." Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, that's not how this works. We're always open to all types of feedback, good or bad, and we'll try to improve the system as we move forward.

I will have to check with the department to see where we are with a number of these things. Like I said, with the painting and the repairs and stuff going on and the site preparation, I cannot commit to this House if it is going to be ready or not for graduation this weekend. We will see what the department comes back with about how things are going on the ground.

No, I will not commit to do a comprehensive review across the Northwest Territories. As I have told the Member before in this House, I have been part of both sides of this equation, and I believe that the process in place is a fair and equitable one for all businesses in the Northwest Territories. Yes, maybe we have to tweak a few things to make everything better. It does not matter if it is from health care to education to procurement, but I am willing to sit down and have those conversations. However at this point, I am not willing to do a territorial-wide review.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As of the latest information I had, we are still going through some refit stuff. There is actually some painting going on both of the ferries in the Member's riding. There is ongoing work and also site preparation to launch the ferries. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

No, I will not go to a constituency meeting with the Member. We just did a tour with a number of MLAs and deputy ministers of his riding, particularly around manufacturers in the NWT. We have a public process to participate in procurement process in the Northwest Territories. We can allow input to there. People can write letters to me, as I've said, or contact me. As I've said in this House before, I believe the last time I spoke, I did not have one complaint around procurement in the Northwest Territories and, since the last session, I maybe had one or two complaints about procurement in the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I don't think much has changed since last session. I will not commit to doing that. I'm willing to sit down, as I said, with the Member and discuss the problems that he's having with one of his constituents. I believe we have a very robust system in place for procurement in the Government of the Northwest Territories. Is it perfect? No, but we are working on that on a daily basis and trying to make things better for all residents in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, if the conditions are right and we get the shore work completed that allow access to the ferries, I don't see an issue with launching that ferry sooner than the other ones. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We don't anticipate any issues or delays. I think, going forward right now, there's some retrofit work happening on the ferries and they're proceeding as scheduled. Normal shipping season or ferry traffic usually starts the first or second week of June, and we don't anticipate anything different at this time.