Oral questions. Mr. Miltenberger.

The Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, Ms. Thompson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There is no plan to remove the position from Fort Smith. Thank you.

Oral questions. Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker and welcome back. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Premier. Mr. Speaker, is it normal practice of this government to allow seven, eight, nine months to pass after the award date of a contract or tender has expired? Thank you.

Mr. Premier.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Maybe the Member can clarify his question, I do not know what he is asking. Thank you.

Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I will repeat my question. I am asking the Premier, is it a normal practice of this government once an expiry date or a date has been set for the awarding of a contract to allow seven, eight, nine months to pass without awarding that contract?

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, it is not a normal practice of this government to allow seven to eight months to award a contract after the closing date. It normally takes about a month to six weeks to do that, and in some circumstances it may, I do not know.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what conditions would have to exist in order for the awarding of a contract to be delayed by seven, eight, nine months?

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If the Member could be specific to a contract that is taking that long then I can find out what conditions would have to exist, but he would have to let me know what he is talking about. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. O'Brien.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, a situation exists in my region, the Keewatin region, where the awarding of a multi-million dollar contract, multi-year contract for the delivery of medevac services in the Keewatin. It is my understanding that the award date was sometime in October past, eight, nine months ago and it is my understanding also that to-date this contract has still not been awarded. Given the fact that it is a multi-million dollar contract, why has the contract not been awarded and what premium does this government pay with such a delay? Thank you.

Mr. Morin.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be pleased to look into that issue for the Member and once I have all the fact I will make sure to give those facts to the Member. So I will take that question as notice. Thank you.

The question was taken as notice. Oral questions, Mr. Ningark.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think Mr. Speaker, more so than any other Members of this House, I am glad to see you back.

-- Laughter

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is directed to the honourable Minister of Transportation. Mr. Speaker, we have had a number of discussions, myself, the mayor of Taloyoak, and the SAO, with the Department of Transportation and Arctic Airports regarding a runway in Taloyoak. Mr. Speaker, as the Minister realizes we have had many discussions. The people of Taloyoak in this case have put effort into the request of extending the runway of Taloyoak. We should be planning ahead, not going backward. The runway of Taloyoak was shortened as a result of the new regulations of the Department of Transportation of this country. The hamlet of Taloyoak is willing to put $100,000 of their own money into the project. The hamlet of Taloyoak is willing to be negotiating the contract price per meter down. The community of Taloyoak is willing to provide hamlet equipment and staff at the base cost. The hamlet of Taloyoak, Mr. Speaker, is doing all the questioning and background research. Mr. Speaker, we have done our research at the community level. We have had numerous meetings with the Minister and his officials. My question to the honourable Minister is, what is the status of the request of the community of Taloyoak? Thank you.

The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Antoine.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the recent responses to the community Taloyoak, I have informed the community that over the next few months the department would undertake a review of the runway length issue and that this review would be conducted in consultation with the community and the carriers, the air carriers themselves. Once all these factors are considered, we will then decide on the direction that we are going to take. As you know, Mr. Speaker, there have been a number of requests of the nature that my honourable colleague is mentioning. Not only Taloyoak has requested us to look into it but other communities. As a result of that and because of the fiscal restraint that we have undertaken in this department, we have to review each request very carefully and then we would like to determine the strategy of some sort on how to move from here. Thank you.