Mr. Speaker, our Premier has stated that the dreams of Northerners are dying. If that's the case, then to many residents, the answers this House received yesterday on questions of government procurement must have sounded like hammer strikes, each one driving yet another nail deeper into the coffin of those dreams.

Despite the fact that four Members of this House, all Members of the Standing Committee on Economic Development and Environment, raised concerns about government procurement, the Minister of Infrastructure denied the existence of any problems. This stance is based in part on his claim that only two or three people have contacted him personally about this issue. Mr. Speaker, as MLAs, we are the people's conduits to the government. To me, if an MLA brings an issue to a Minister, that's the same as a constituent speaking directly to the Minister. That's Democracy 101.

The Minister also cited the numbers of complaints received through the department's vendor complaint process as proof that there are no issues, 22 complaints since 2010 and only two deemed valid. Mr. Speaker, that process is designed to ensure that the very practices that we are criticizing are followed. It's not designed to address the systemic issues we're concerned with. A complaint can only be made about a specific RFP by someone who bid on that RFP. The department can dismiss the claim without consideration.

However, there was a glimmer of hope during question period. Over the pounding of the nails, the Premier heard the dreams of Northerners clawing at the lid of the coffin. He was open to listening to the concerns of MLAs and admitted that it is in the realm of possibility that procurement practices may not be perfect. This harkened back to 2015, when then MLA McLeod, in his bid for the office of Premier, stated that "The Government of the Northwest Territories needs to look at its own procurement and contracting practices." There is hope after all, Mr. Speaker.

It's good to hear that the Premier is open to change because Infrastructure isn't the only government entity involved in procurement. The Housing Corporation does its own procurement, and it has actually made some of the changes that we are asking for to the benefit of Northerners.

Finance is also involved in procurement by housing the GNWT's Procurement Policy, negotiating P3s, and setting sole-source procurement thresholds.

Today, I will have questions for the Minister of Finance about those thresholds and how it is ensuring they are not doing a disservice to Northerners. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.