Wendy Bisaro

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are addressed to the Minister of Transportation. I listened, with interest, as he gave us an update today on the Deh Cho Bridge. I have to admit there was a bit of a smile on my face when he indicated he’s spoken about this issue many times before, not necessarily from the chair that he’s in at the moment. Towards the middle of his statement the Minister mentioned that it’s now estimated we will require additional funding to complete construction. Again I had to say to myself, I went, yeah, that’s not much of a big surprise. He goes on to cite some of the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will do what I can to shorten my comments. I understand the protocol that he’s referencing. This was hardly an emerging issue or an emerging program. This is something we’ve been doing for a while. I would like to ask the Minister, in retrospect, in knowing that it was five months to go from call for applications to awarding, what will the Minister do to make sure that the process is reviewed so we don’t have this happen again. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to follow up on my statement and ask some questions of the Minister responsible for the Executive, also the Premier, with regard to the NGO Stabilization Fund. I mentioned in my statement that it is gratifying at this point that the funds have been awarded. The various organizations have received their funding, finally. Thank you very much. But I’d like to know if the Minister could advise me and the House why it took five months for the NGOs to receive a response and to receive notification of their awards. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the last few years we’ve heard increasingly about the mining process called hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as fracking, is a process where sand, water and chemicals are blasted into rock formations, such as shale, coal beds and tight sands, to gain access to trapped natural gas deposits. This injection process creates cracks in the rock formations and allows the gas to flow up the well.

Fracking has been linked to earthquakes in the United States, caused gas infiltrations into aquifers and, thus, several communities’ water supply...

Thank you, Minister Beaulieu. Mr. Elkin.

Thank you, Mr. Blake. Minister Lafferty.

Thank you, Minister. Committee, we are open for general comments. Are there any general comments on the Department of Health and Social Services? Seeing none, we will move on to detail. We will bypass the department summary on page 6-2 and move to page 6-4, Health and Social Services, activity summary, health services programs, infrastructure investment summary, total infrastructure investment summary, $28.089 million. Mr. Bromley.

Thank you, Mr. Bromley. I didn’t hear a question there. Did you want to respond, Minister Lafferty?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Your committee has been considering Tabled Document 2-17(1), Northwest Territories Capital Estimates 2012-2013, and would like to report progress. I move that the report of Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Sergeant-at-Arms, would you escort the witnesses – Sorry. I always forget this. Does the committee agree that we will have the witnesses enter the Chamber?