Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I request to go back to written questions. I had my hand up, but not far enough, I guess.

Recently, very recently, Mr. Speaker, this government made a decision to build a new capital project in Yellowknife. Does the Premier understand the difference? Does his government understand the difference between a new capital project and a renovation? A very simple question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A supplementary to the Premier. Mr. Speaker, the Premier kept talking about decisions made, decisions made, decisions made. Those decisions were made in isolation of each other. There was one decision made to move a young offenders facility to Yellowknife.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Normally a capital project is put in a five year capital plan within the budget. It is identified as renovations or a brand new building. It is just like apples and oranges. There is a big difference between the two. Through that process of putting things into the budget capital projects, there is opportunity for Members of the Legislative Assembly and the public at large to let their views be known to the government. The government then does not only have to take into consideration their briefing notes, and their studies and what the Minister of Justice brings forward, but they can also take into consideration what the people of the Northwest Territories think and the other elected Members of the Legislative Assembly.

Now the Premier has had the opportunity these last couple of days to hear a little bit through us what the public and what Members of the Legislative Assembly think. Yet he stands and says, decision made, what you are saying is irrelevant. Where in this process did the public have the opportunity to enter the debate, and where in this process did MLAs have the opportunity to enter this debate and give some advice, whether it is taken or not to this government? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question will be to the Premier. Did your government follow the proper decision-making process as well as informing the Ordinary Members of this Legislative Assembly on the major change of the scope of work of the Yellowknife Correctional Centre from renovating the building to building a brand spanking new building in Yellowknife? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the Premier, I guess I should make it clear in case he was not listening. I never ever did say to renovate the existing facility. I do not believe that makes a lot of sense from the information that I see. It makes sense, it makes all the sense in the world to build a new facility. When you change the scope of work of the project from a renovation of an existing facility in any community to building a brand new facility that will house people for the whole Northwest Territories it is something completely different.

This Cabinet had the opportunity to show some political will and strong political decision making. It has happened in the past, Mr. Speaker. When I first became a Member of the Legislative Assembly, I remember River Ridge being moved to Fort Smith. It did not make economic sense, it was a hardship on all the professional people that were based in Yellowknife, but the Cabinet of the day made that decision because it diversed the economy to other regions. Is the Premier now saying that Cabinet is not willing to do those things anymore, is everything going to be built in Yellowknife? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Everyone in this House and everyone clear across the Western Territories has heard the Minister of Finance say that we have a limited amount of dollars. Cabinet is well aware that you have a limited capital budget, but yet, they choose not to look at other regions. You choose not to consider other communities to try to spread out the wealth and share with other people in the Northwest Territories other than spending the majority of our dollars in the city of Yellowknife? Is this what the Premier is saying? Ultimately, on any decision, it is my understanding that Cabinet, that is what we put them there for, is to make those decisions, make those political decisions. So, to the Premier, did you make a political decision to increase

the capital expenditures in the city of Yellowknife and ignore the other regions of the Northwest Territories? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The decision had been made to renovate an existing facility, so Cabinet had the opportunity to consider other regions. Cabinet had the opportunity to consider spreading the wealth. Cabinet had the opportunity to consider boosting up other economies other than Yellowknife, other regions. Did Cabinet consider any of those things when they made a decision on building a brand new correctional facility and was it a political decision? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Premier on the new building for the Yellowknife Correctional Centre. Did Cabinet have an opportunity when they were considering building a new correctional centre in Yellowknife, did Cabinet have an opportunity to make any other decision other than to award this multimillion dollar capital project to our capital city? Thank you.