This is page numbers 2283 – 2332 of the Hansard for the 17th Assembly, 4th 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 college.

Topics

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Range Lake, Mr. Dolynny.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The people have been very concerned in the aftermath of the Highway No. 3 accident. They are wanting answers to their questions. I think Members are wanting answers to those very same questions such as why was the air ambulance told to stand down when it was clearly the obvious choice and proper patient triage and extraction. Another question such as why are there gaps in our emergency ground ambulance and air ambulance protocols. Keeping in my continued theme of this accident and trying to get to the bottom of what happened and what are some of our gaps, my questions today will be for the Minister of Justice.

In relationship to this most recent highway accident, will the Minister of Justice formally report to this House the full RCMP investigation that resulted in two deaths and a significant delay in patient care for the remaining victim? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Dolynny. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Abernethy.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Minister of Justice

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The RCMP is investigating the accident and will determine a cause. If necessary, charges may or may not be laid. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Mr. Speaker, we have some of that recorded here. Will the Minister of Justice formally commit to a report of all communications to and from the RCMP, when the RCMP incident command officer called for medical help, and all communications involving this accident? Thank you.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Minister of Justice

Mr. Speaker, the RCMP will conduct their investigation and what can be made public will be made public. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Mr. Speaker, again, we are waiting for this RCMP incident report. I just want to make sure that that report will be shared with everyone here in the House. It appears that the Minister of Justice is willing to accommodate or at least, by his response, to a certain degree to these questions.

Will the Minister commit to a third-party audit of the event’s scene, the security of the site, the first aid responders, the responses by all respected agencies and all comments from bystanders? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Minister of Justice

Mr. Speaker, the RCMP are professionals. They have professionals who took care and control of the scene. As I have indicated, they are doing an investigation and the aspects of that investigation that can be shared will be shared. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Dolynny.

Daryl Dolynny

Daryl Dolynny Range Lake

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister indicate to this House when we may be able to see this RCMP investigation? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Glen Abernethy

Glen Abernethy Minister of Justice

Mr. Speaker, as I have indicated, the RCMP is doing a thorough investigation into this incident. Once they have completed that investigation, after they have gathered all of the evidence and they’ve done all the analysis that needs to be done, what can be shared will be shared. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In 2010 Ruskin picked up the defunct contract on the Deh Cho Bridge and took the price from $167 million to $182 million. In less than a year we needed an additional $10 million that pushed the contract to

$192 million. In the spring of 2012, the McLeod government went even further by demanding $10 million that brought the project up to $202 million.

The question is to the Minister of Transportation. What value and services did the taxpayer of the Northwest Territories receive over and above the original 2010 signed contract with the GNWT and Ruskin? In essence, did we get anything more than a bumper sticker that said open 2012 instead of 2013? Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The honourable Minister of Transportation, Mr. Ramsay.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Minister of Transportation

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The public in the Northwest Territories, the transportation companies, everybody has access to the Deh Cho Bridge. It has been open since November 30th . That is a great benefit to the

residents here in the Northwest Territories. We got the bridge open on November 30th of 2012. Had we

chosen a different path as the Member suggests, we would still be in court, the bridge wouldn’t be open and we’d still be asking ourselves many questions. Thank you.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Mr. Speaker, what were the costs and savings realized when this government drove the contract from $192 million to $202 million? Thank you.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Minister of Transportation

Mr. Speaker, that horse left the barn about six years ago. There have been a number of questions that have been asked over the years. I don’t believe it does us much good to be beating a dead horse. The bridge is open. If the Member wants specifics on what exactly that $10 million was used for, that money was used to get the contract complete by November 30th so that the

bridge could be put into service and that’s exactly what we did. The government was intent on getting that bridge put into service on November 30th .

There was a cost to do that. That is what we did, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Mr. Speaker, in the Minister’s mind, that horse may have been gone six years ago, but I can tell you it’s before the taxpayer for the next 35 years, if not longer.

Why didn’t the Minister of Transportation mention that we saved approximately $2.4 million on the operation and maintenance of the ferry and the ice road services? If I have to answer my own questions in this House, I’m going to ask the Minister what was left over with the $7.6 million needed to open up the bridge a year earlier. What were the benefits of opening it up a year earlier other than spending $7.6 million uselessly? Thank you.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Minister of Transportation

Mr. Speaker, it would have been a year worth of tolls on the bridge. It would have been a year’s worth of interest paid on that money which would have well exceeded the

$7.6 million the Member talks about. That bridge is open. Again, it’s serving the public of the Northwest Territories doing what it was supposed to do and intended to do. Thank you.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Robert Hawkins

Robert Hawkins Yellowknife Centre

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Paying the interest on the loan is actually a bit of a misnomer. We would have had to pay that fee anyway. Where did the money really go and what benefit did the territorial citizens receive? The Minister is correct about the tolls being a wash when it comes to the money, but the tolls themselves wouldn’t have added up to $7.6 million of slush money to open up this particular bridge.

Where are the facts of where the money went to and what was the received benefit by opening it up a year early? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

David Ramsay

David Ramsay Minister of Transportation

Mr. Speaker, the benefits are that we’re not waiting, there is access to the North Slave region 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There is convenience. It’s good for transportation companies. It will be great for university students coming back from university in May. They won’t have to face leaving their vehicles in Hay River and fly to Yellowknife and then fly back to Hay River to pick up their vehicles.

It went into the contract. There were extra costs associated with accelerating the contract in order to get the bridge open by November 30th , and if the

Member wants to find exactly where that $7.6 million went, we’d be happy to share that information with him. I believe we have shared that information with him and committee at a previous meeting. I’d be more than happy to pick up that presentation that was provided to his committee.

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.

Alfred Moses

Alfred Moses Inuvik Boot Lake

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m just going to continue on the same theme here with the Mental Health Act. I have questions here today for the Minister of Justice.

I’d like to ask the Minister of Justice what is the number of psychiatrists and psychologists that we have in our current corrections facilities right now. How many psychiatrists and psychologists are there in the facilities?

The Speaker

The Speaker Jackie Jacobson

Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Abernethy.