The information that the Minister provided definitely doesn’t illustrate the picture he’s trying to portray here. There’s been five years of negotiated contracts with the Housing Corporation expending over $12 million in capital investment. Only $800,000 was expended in five years in my

riding. Out of that, $9.67 million went to companies outside of my riding. That’s the point I’m trying to get at. We have negotiated contracts, policies and procedures, we have sole-sourced, we have a whole bunch of opportunities we have to use. So I’d like to ask the Minister why is your department not using those tools and implementing those policies that we have as government to build capacity in communities.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are directed to the Minister of the

Housing Corporation in conjunction to a written question that I requested of the Minister to give me information on the negotiated contracts with Housing. Mr. Speaker, it’s important to realize that capital projects are the means of developing a lot of our community economies, especially building capacity and also bringing down the high cost of living. More importantly, it’s bringing down our social costs for the high unemployment numbers we have in our communities, and also developing the local economies and developing our local workforce to give them the opportunities so that they can build their skills in the areas of apprenticeships, and more importantly, give them the opportunity, in most cases, for their first job.

Mr. Speaker, I’d just to ask the Minister, in light of the information that I received, in five years with three negotiated contracts with an expense of $800,000 or $876,000, but in the same period the contracts for the same three communities were $9.67 million, Mr. Speaker, it shows you that the distribution of wealth in capital projects in the Northwest Territories is not really being expended in our communities but outside our communities. So I’d like to ask the Minister exactly what is his department doing to remedy this situation so that we can see the return of our capital investments in our communities and they stay in our communities.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Contracts are a means to develop economic growth in our communities, but more importantly, government infrastructure such as housing, replacement of schools and public facilities. Mr. Speaker, I’ve asked through a written question in this House how many negotiated contracts were let in my riding, the Mackenzie Delta, for the last five years. Surprisingly, it was $876,000 in five years.

Mr. Speaker, out of a total capital investment of almost $12 million, $9.6 million was expended to contractors from outside my constituency.

Mr. Speaker, economic development is a key component to deal with the socio-economic development of our communities. Without the contracts government lets, capital investment in our communities, those capital investment dollars should be expended in our region and our ridings so that it can generate employment and business opportunities and allow for our workforce to meet its needs by way of apprenticeship programs, skill development and, more important, employment.

Mr. Speaker, in my riding there is some 60 percent unemployment in two of my communities. Mr. Speaker, it is pretty obvious that this government’s policies and procedures when it comes down to contracting, negotiated contracts, sole sourced or even public tendering, is not meeting the needs of our smaller communities. It’s meeting the needs of people in the larger regional centres, where a large portion of our capital investment is being expended to the tune of almost $10 million in my riding alone, where only less than 10 percent is being expended in my riding.

Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time I will be asking the Minister of the Housing Corporation how he can justify this imbalance of capital expenditures in my riding.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On the last point that the Premier mentioned, the work plan, apparently you have only two Aboriginal groups developing a work plan, which you have six groups outside the table who have to follow a work plan developed by two groups that are going to have an impact on their region. I would like to ask the Premier how you explain the lack of Dene participation in the Devolution Agreement to the other parties and to other Canadians.

My question is: what will the Premier do to ensure that the government meets the obligations as set out in land claim agreements and ongoing negotiations on devolution?

One of the issues that the Dene leadership have issue with is why does the federal government still retain one-third of the Norman Wells oilfield in which the Dene-Metis claim clearly identifies the Norman Wells Proven Area as their land claim package.

The other area of contention is this 5 percent cap that’s in place. I’d like to ask the Premier what areas the government is willing to push to improve the devolution package that would satisfy the concerns of the Dene governments.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are directed to the Premier and are in regard to my Member’s statement. It’s a crying shame that in this day and age we can’t sit down with our Aboriginal partners and come to an arrangement on the devolution talks. As I mentioned, this was an issue during the federal election and I believe it will be an issue during the territorial election. The Aboriginal assembly is coming up this summer. I’d like to ask the Premier if it’s possible to look at some mechanisms we can use to try to bring the parties to the table and try to find a mediation or mitigation to resolve this issue. Either go through arbitration or mediation to resolve this issue. My question is: what is the Premier doing to advance talks on devolution with the Gwich’in and other Dene governments, and trying to find a solution to our bypass?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are mechanisms we can use to entice people to the table, but more importantly, mechanisms, if we can’t work with them, let’s find a person who can through arbitration. Bring someone in who can bring the parties to the table, bring the parties with their issues, and at the end of the day, have a deal for all Northerners and have the best deal we can for the Northwest Territories and the people that we serve.

Mr. Speaker, there has to be questions out there and resolutions to these outstanding problems. Mr. Speaker, Dene issues and Dene concerns are valid. They have concerns about what’s happening with Norman Wells and why it isn’t on the table. They have concerns on exactly how management of lands and resources are going to be handled in their regions, regardless of whether it’s the Gwich’in or Inuvialuit or Sahtu or Tlicho or the Deh Cho, so they know that any activities or decisions that are going to be made will be done in consolidation with the people that are going to be affected by those decisions.

Mr. Speaker, we, as government and as a Legislature, have to be attuned to what’s being said out there about the lack of Dene participation in a process of that magnitude in regards to where we are going in the future.

Mr. Speaker, the leadership in the Northwest Territories have made it blatantly clear to the Premier and other northern leaders that if we can’t agree to devolution, why are we even talking about a northern vision if we expect to move forward on this matter.

Mr. Speaker, it’s critical that this Premier ensures that there are going to be meetings held with those groups who are basically outside the tent and are not presently fully participating and willing to sign, but we have to find a mechanism for them to be heard, regardless if it’s the obligations we have in land claim agreements, which clearly stipulated that they shall be involved in these negotiations, in which they are not. Also, the ongoing negotiations of devolution, including a package that will be beneficial to all Northerners, all residents and, more importantly, the Aboriginal people who are the ones who are ultimately going to be affected by what happens on their lands. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In regards to the previous election that took place, one of the predominant issues at hand was the whole devolution process in the Northwest Territories and where a particular candidate stood on the issue. Mr. Speaker, not only in the campaign but also full-page ads, which were paid by this government, to combat certain opponents of the Devolution Agreement, especially the Gwich’in leadership and the Gwich’in people that I represent, which I took offense to the article I read in the paper.

Mr. Speaker, the question that’s being asked out there is how can the Premier explain the lack of any participation on the Devolution Agreement-in-Principle to the federal government and to the federal opposition leader in light of what is happening, where we have two Aboriginal groups at the table, where six are not presently partaking.

Mr. Speaker, the question also has to be asked, exactly what is this Premier doing to advance the talks on devolution with the Gwich’in and other Aboriginal and Dene leaders throughout the Northwest Territories and ensure there is a current outstanding process that they can be involved in. Land claim agreements allow for arbitration. There also are appeal mechanisms in regards to how you

can appeal certain mechanisms in those agreements.

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