Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thanks to the Premier. That’s a good expectation. I expect that we won’t have a groundswell of support against devolution. I think there is general acceptance and people are very happy about devolution. I guess if there’s no opportunity for people to suggest changes to the agreement and if the Premier is willing to put it to a vote for Members, can I ask the Premier why he was not willing to put it to a vote through a plebiscite to the general public?

So just to follow up, this is not activity. I gather this is, I think this is in the Sahtu area or from Wrigley and up, but I gather that this is not an activity or the activity in that area could not be foreseen when we were doing the budget. Is that correct?

I want to thank the Premier for that very thorough response. I would hope that might maybe be posted somewhere so that people will be able to go and read it, if they haven’t heard it here.

The Premier has been very clear. Several times he has said it’s a done deal. I think that’s where I am finding it a bit conflicting. If it is a done deal, why are we bothering to go out and consult?

I’d like to know from the Minister, then, just for clarification, for those people who are not represented by an Aboriginal government, there’s public engagement. If I have a conflicting opinion, if I wish to see...

That’s good. Thanks, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What a historic day yesterday. Devolution has arrived after a long and a hard-fought battle. That we’ve reached this point is wonderful. I am in full support of devolution and very happy. It’s not something I thought I would see during my tenure here at the Legislative Assembly. I offer congratulations to the Premier, the Aboriginal governments and all the hardworking GNWT negotiations staff, past and present, who brought us to this point.

Today I’d like to follow up on an exchange that I had last week during budget deliberations with the Premier, and recent comments by...

Thanks to the Minister. It’s good to hear that we’re making a base adjustment. I’m just wondering, when we give approval for appropriation of funds, basically after the fact the way we are doing here from what it sounds like, is there a financial impact on us? Are we spending this money and getting reimbursed at a later date? Are we paying interest costs or whatever? Basically, is it costing us money to be out this $4.7 million? Thank you.

Mr. Menicoche, what is the wish of committee?

Thank you, committee. Does committee agree that we have concluded consideration of Tabled Document 50-17(4), Supplementary Estimates (Infrastructure Expenditures), No. 1, 2013-14?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just wanted to provide a bit of an explanation of where I’m coming from with my questions and concerns. I didn’t really go into that fully when I asked questions earlier.

First of all, I’d like to thank Mr. Bromley for bringing up the point that there really is a glacier as part of that road, the Wisconsin Glacier. It is noted in the risk matrix, which the department has recently provided for us. I’d like to also note that the Minister of Finance earlier stated, when he was making some remarks, words to the effect that Members from the south who have everything in the...

Thanks to the Minister. So, I mean, we’re working on a best guess, and I guess that with any project we’re working on a best guess, but it doesn’t give me much comfort at this point, unfortunately. It’s been mentioned several times already that we have been given, so to speak, $200 million from the federal government, and that’s a huge amount of money. I certainly appreciate the commitment of the federal government to the project. However, it’s my belief, and I believe it’s practiced elsewhere, that new roads are 100 percent paid for by the federal government and we are now getting 67 percent...