Daniel McNeely

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize today here Ms. Jenny Vandermeer-McPherson. Welcome to the Assembly. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, your committee has been considering Bill No. 3, Tabled Documents 445-20(1), Tabled Document 453-20(1), and would like to report progress. And, Mr. Speaker, I move that the report of the Committee of the Whole be concurred with. Mahsi.

Members, we will now call Committee of the Whole to order. What is the wishes of the committee? Member from Boot Lake.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks for that information and response from the Minister here. That leads me to the structural Great Bear River bridge that once was designed and procured in 2006. So if the design was completed at that time, it's similar in location, the colour is the same. So given those specs here that do exist, when is this government going to apply for the land-use permit and the water permits necessary for that structural bridge? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My follow-up to my statement is to my questions to the Minister of strategic infrastructure there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My first question, is the Prohibition Creek access road permit being applied for this summer's half-project, 7-kilometre procurement? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Welcome back, colleagues.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address what can only be described as a historic NWT milestone. The Prime Minister of Canada, on March the 12th, came to Yellowknife and announced NWT priority projects, a referral to the major projects office in Calgary. More specifically to the Sahtu, Mr. Speaker, is the Mackenzie Valley Highway.

Mr. Speaker, additional news of this milestone was we will start building the highway this summer; a moment of construction we were waiting for decades for, Mr. Speaker. However, failure of leadership on renewal or...

Thank you. Members, there is a motion on the floor. All those in favour? It's non-debatable. I see none. Okay, the motion is carried, and I will now report progress.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think we already know that the territory is facing a huge drug addictions problem. It doesn't matter which community you're from. And I've heard stories in the communities that I represent. I've seen things. So I am totally convinced that we have a huge problem, and it's a crisis. So anything that is going to reflect towards minimizing and addressing that problem, I am in total support. I would rather advocate and save one life. And if I did, I am certainly moving in the right direction, whether it's traditional on-land healing. I've never seen executions in my home...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Minister for that response.

My next question on the permit that exists here until this November, and that's the DHU-1 quarry permit at Great Bear, the Great Bear Rock area. Is that project -- is that permit going to be executed and tendered out for the permit allowance for drilling and blasting and stockpiling the material for the Bear River bridge this winter? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thanks to the Premier for that announcement. I too would like to share my pleasure in recognizing the delegation from the Tlego'hli Got'ine government, starting with Sherry Hodgson, the President of the organization; Heidi Hodgson, the vice-president; Jackie MacDonald, Treasurer Secretary; Laurel MacDonald, director; Lisa MacDonald, director; Ethel Blondin-Andrew, chief negotiator; Margaret MacDonald, elder and community advisor; and legal counsel David Rolf; and, advisor Paul Tan. Welcome to the Assembly and welcome to the celebration on the self-government status.