This is page numbers 451 - 494 of the Hansard for the 15th Assembly, 6th Session. The original version can be accessed on the Legislative Assembly's website or by contacting the Legislative Assembly Library. The word of the day was work.

Topics

Supplementary To Question 164-15(6): Caribou Management Issues
Question 164-15(6): Caribou Management Issues
Item 7: Oral Questions

Page 460

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 164-15(6): Caribou Management Issues
Question 164-15(6): Caribou Management Issues
Item 7: Oral Questions

Page 460

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There's been contact with all the different regions regarding the situation with the caribou herds in those specific areas. We've had action plans discussed with the different resource management groups and aboriginal governments. Some of the actions have been readily accepted, others we're still discussing on if there's better ways to do and implement some of these actions. Mr. Speaker, they're all at various stages and I certainly could provide that information to the Member if he wanted. It's quite a lengthy process and there's a lot of different actions. Some apply to some areas and others don't. So, Mr. Speaker, I'll have to commit to do that.

Further Return To Question 164-15(6): Caribou Management Issues
Question 164-15(6): Caribou Management Issues
Item 7: Oral Questions

Page 460

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final supplementary, Mr. Braden.

Supplementary To Question 164-15(6): Caribou Management Issues
Question 164-15(6): Caribou Management Issues
Item 7: Oral Questions

Page 460

Bill Braden

Bill Braden Great Slave

Thanks for the information. Mr. Speaker, given the high profile, the seriousness, the significance of caribou in our economy and our lifestyle up here, can the Minister advise is there a solid communications strategy in place that will be distributing this information and helping to inform everybody of the results and the steps as they are developed, Mr. Speaker?

Supplementary To Question 164-15(6): Caribou Management Issues
Question 164-15(6): Caribou Management Issues
Item 7: Oral Questions

Page 460

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Braden. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 164-15(6): Caribou Management Issues
Question 164-15(6): Caribou Management Issues
Item 7: Oral Questions

Page 460

Michael McLeod

Michael McLeod Deh Cho

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are action plans that we're working jointly in the Beaufort-Delta and the Sahtu. There is still some concern in this area where we've made recommendations to the Wekeezhii board and we don't anticipate that we'll hear back from that board until the end of September, Mr. Speaker. Then certainly if our legal division has a review, we can provide what we can make public at that time, Mr. Speaker.

Further Return To Question 164-15(6): Caribou Management Issues
Question 164-15(6): Caribou Management Issues
Item 7: Oral Questions

Page 460

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Oral questions. The honourable Member from Range Lake, Ms. Lee.

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today my questions are in following up to the Member's statement I made about the proposal being put forward by the SideDoor in support of a program that would, I think, create another opportunity for the youth in the community to spend their time productively. Mr. Speaker, I have to say that in my time as an MLA, I've had the good fortune of meeting and working with a lot of young people who are doing great things, a lot of positive things, taking full advantage of all the financial assistance and everything available to reach their potential, but we all know that there are youth who could use help with being in more productive places. We need to organize programs that are attractive to them and skateboarding seems to be something that is really attractive to young people. The SideDoor has a good program to do that. They have already done a pilot program on this in April and they want to continue to do this. I know that they have already submitted a proposal to the government, through the Premier, and I'd like to ask either the Premier or any Minister responsible about where they are with this proposal. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Return To Question 165-15(6): Sidedoor Proposal For Youth Programming
Question 165-15(6): Sidedoor Proposal For Youth Programming
Item 7: Oral Questions

August 20th, 2007

Page 461

Joe Handley

Joe Handley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have taken this issue up with the Department of Public Works who are responsible for the government warehouse, which is the facility the ministry was interested in. I want to acknowledge first the good work that the ministry does with young people and the efforts they've made on this skateboard park idea and King of Kings competition that they're putting on. Mr. Speaker, it's all good work for young people.

Unfortunately, when we took a look at the government warehouse then, there were several issues; the primary one being just space. There just was not the space to be able to accommodate what they were wanting to do there. There were also issues that could have been overcome; things like security and safety and liability and insurance and so on. Those are all things we could resolve, but the problem was with space. Having said that, Mr. Speaker, we don't want to let this drop. I want to see if there are ways that we can encourage the city to make more space available. Mr. Speaker, I just signed a letter to the proponents of this proposal just before noon saying that we would not be able to make space available in the warehouse. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Return To Question 165-15(6): Sidedoor Proposal For Youth Programming
Question 165-15(6): Sidedoor Proposal For Youth Programming
Item 7: Oral Questions

Page 461

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Supplementary To Question 165-15(6): Sidedoor Proposal For Youth Programming
Question 165-15(6): Sidedoor Proposal For Youth Programming
Item 7: Oral Questions

Page 461

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm glad the Premier mentioned that because I checked with them prior to noon and at that time I was not aware that they had made a decision. So it was somehow criss-crossed in our communication. Regardless, I think this is a good issue that the SideDoor ministry is working on and it's something that the government and all municipal governments should look at; especially our city. So I would like to ask the Premier if he would employ what resource is available in the government, whether it's somebody in the youth department or MACA, to see if there are any other options we can look to to implement this, The Rock program, because I think it's a very good program. Could he look into that for me? Thank you.

Supplementary To Question 165-15(6): Sidedoor Proposal For Youth Programming
Question 165-15(6): Sidedoor Proposal For Youth Programming
Item 7: Oral Questions

Page 461

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 165-15(6): Sidedoor Proposal For Youth Programming
Question 165-15(6): Sidedoor Proposal For Youth Programming
Item 7: Oral Questions

Page 461

Joe Handley

Joe Handley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we will take a look at it. As I said, it is a good program. I like what they're doing with young people. Mr. Speaker, I don't think the government warehouse is the only space. We do have other space in the GNWT. We might be able to look at something else or work out a deal with the city somehow. I don't know and without knowing too much about what's out there, you know, we have facilities out at the airport, we've got something that we would like to work with this group on. But, Mr. Speaker, unfortunately there's no easy answer to this one right now. Thank you.

Further Return To Question 165-15(6): Sidedoor Proposal For Youth Programming
Question 165-15(6): Sidedoor Proposal For Youth Programming
Item 7: Oral Questions

Page 461

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Supplementary To Question 165-15(6): Sidedoor Proposal For Youth Programming
Question 165-15(6): Sidedoor Proposal For Youth Programming
Item 7: Oral Questions

Page 461

Sandy Lee

Sandy Lee Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Without having had a chance to look at the letter I don't know how final it was, but listening to Mr. Premier I think that there might be a wee little tiny bit of room open there. So could I ask the Premier, could I take his answer to mean that he's encouraging his department to work with this group to see if there are any other avenues and perhaps he could commit to asking the MACA department to look at that further? Thank you.

Supplementary To Question 165-15(6): Sidedoor Proposal For Youth Programming
Question 165-15(6): Sidedoor Proposal For Youth Programming
Item 7: Oral Questions

Page 461

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 165-15(6): Sidedoor Proposal For Youth Programming
Question 165-15(6): Sidedoor Proposal For Youth Programming
Item 7: Oral Questions

Page 461

Joe Handley

Joe Handley Weledeh

Mr. Speaker, yes, she can take my answer to mean that we will not let this one drop. We will see if there's another way of helping this group. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Further Return To Question 165-15(6): Sidedoor Proposal For Youth Programming
Question 165-15(6): Sidedoor Proposal For Youth Programming
Item 7: Oral Questions

Page 461

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Oral questions. The honourable Member from Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Question 166-15(6): Deh Cho Bridge Project
Item 7: Oral Questions

Page 461

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When I thanked the Premier for my invitation to the ceremony on Friday, that was my effort at humour and it's a good thing I'm not a stand-up comedian, Mr. Speaker, because it wasn't that great. I wanted to ask the Premier some questions today about the Deh Cho Bridge project again. Mr. Speaker, I, too, want to be able to stand up here and defend this project. I want to be able to stand by the government and say that this project makes sense, but it's much like the discussion we had in Committee of the Whole yesterday about the trip to China. The government expects us to make decisions without giving us the information to make the decision with. The same is true with the Deh Cho Bridge, Mr. Speaker.

I want to ask the Premier, once again, how come there is no cost-benefit analysis on the Deh Cho bridge project based on the $150 million and the $6.75 per tonne? Mahsi.

Question 166-15(6): Deh Cho Bridge Project
Item 7: Oral Questions

Page 462

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Return To Question 166-15(6): Deh Cho Bridge Project
Question 166-15(6): Deh Cho Bridge Project
Item 7: Oral Questions

Page 462

Joe Handley

Joe Handley Weledeh

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm glad to hear the Member has a sense of humour and I certainly hopes he takes up the offer to come to the opening.

Mr. Speaker, I don't know what happened. I think the Member has convinced himself that there's some devious plan here and that the cost to consumers has gone up. Well, he's listening to himself too much.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, let me say again, let me say the cost to consumers, the cost to industry, is $6 a tonne based on 2002 dollars, or $6.75 per tonne. It doesn't matter what the total cost of the bridge is. That's how much it's going to cost those who use it. It's $6.75. It doesn't matter what the total cost is. Mr. Speaker, the balance is paid for by others. Let me explain that again. It's $6.75 a tonne to consumers. There was a report done by the co-op stores and others in 2002 saying this is a savings. That remains.

Mr. Speaker, the other money that goes into it, we, as a government, are putting the costs for operating the ferry and the costs for building and maintaining the ice road into the pool of money to pay for this bridge. That will go in annually. That is indexed, as is the $6.75.

Mr. Speaker, in addition to that, the federal government are putting a little bit of money right now through the Aboriginal Business Development Corporation. They are also considering the P3 money and we hope they provide that. In the event that they don't provide that, the government, out of our increased fiscal resources, are putting up to $2 million in to pay for our additional costs to balance it out. So this doesn't go directly on the backs of consumers. Mr. Speaker, how much is that $2 million worth? Well, if you took 25,000 people living north of the river, then that's roughly $80 a person per year, but you can't do it that simply because there's also the benefit to the mines. So that $2 million could be argued it costs somebody something, but it's going to be marginal, Mr. Speaker, but that's the only piece that's in addition to what was there in 2002. It's still the $6 in 2002 dollars, Mr. Speaker. It's very simple. It's easy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Return To Question 166-15(6): Deh Cho Bridge Project
Question 166-15(6): Deh Cho Bridge Project
Item 7: Oral Questions

Page 462

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Mr. Ramsay.

Supplementary To Question 166-15(6): Deh Cho Bridge Project
Question 166-15(6): Deh Cho Bridge Project
Item 7: Oral Questions

Page 462

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Kam Lake

Yes, I thank the Premier for his economics lesson, Mr. Speaker, but the problem is, and the fact remains, that the last cost-benefit analysis that was done on the project was done in 2002 at 60 to 70 million dollars. The project has more than doubled in price. The totals were, at the time, $4.50 to $5 a tonne, that's what the cost benefit analysis was based on in 2002. Totals now are going to be $6.75 a tonne. All I'm asking, Mr. Speaker, is where is the evidence? If the Premier can stand up here today and say that that is in fact the truth, show us. I haven't seen anything that would indicate that prices aren't going to increase here in Yellowknife. The reason why is because the government, now that the project has changed in scope, hasn't gone back out to the transportation companies, hasn't gone back out to industry, hasn't gone back out to the chambers of commerce, hasn't gone back out to the municipalities. That's why, Mr. Speaker. So where is the evidence? Where is the proof? Thank you.

Supplementary To Question 166-15(6): Deh Cho Bridge Project
Question 166-15(6): Deh Cho Bridge Project
Item 7: Oral Questions

Page 462

The Speaker

The Speaker Paul Delorey

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Mr. Handley.