Mr. Speaker, we have been pushing for a meeting since the announcement of these dollars was made, and up to now it’s been challenging to get all the schedules to coordinate. We’ve indicated we would like to have the mayors from Tuk and from Inuvik join us, and we again today reinforced that we still would like to have a meeting, and we’re hoping to have positive feedback on that.

I hear the Member loud and clear. The reality is there are a number of initiatives that we have to embark on to get the information that is required to help the 17th Assembly make the decision on a going-forward basis. We want to ensure that they have the best information in front of them as possible. If I was to commit to finishing some of the work on source 177, then in all probability we wouldn’t have the money to do the environmental impact report, which is close to a million dollars.

I can commit to the Member that we’ll look very closely. The money that’s required will have to come from internal sources, and at this point we don’t know if it will be available for contingent work in that area.

First of all, the money identified in the federal government’s announcement is to start next year. The decision whether construction can start will be done and made by the 17th Assembly. We as a department

and all our officials along with other departments are working towards doing all the legwork that’s required, all the discussions that need to happen prior to the election, and during the election the work will continue. We want to have the information available for the Members as they return or the Members that are part of the 17th Assembly.

I’ve also asked Minister Aglukkaq to have a meeting. We don’t have a whole lot of time, but I’d still like to have the opportunity to sit down face to face, whether it’s in the territories or in Ottawa, to discuss the terms of the funding. That hasn’t been sorted out completely. Our officials are having those discussions, but we would really like to have a better handle on how the money is going to be flowed, to who and how much. There are lots of things that have to happen and they all have to be paid for from internal sources within our departments. Whether I can commit to the Member that the work will happen this year on the request he’s just made is difficult. We are trying to fund a number of initiatives on this project with a very limited source of funding.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There are a number of things that we would like to continue doing and working on. Source 77 road is, of course, always on our agenda. We also want to do more work on the Environmental Impact Review Board submission. We’ve earmarked some dollars internally to address that and we want to continue those discussions. We also need to start our discussions with the Inuvialuit on some of the gravel sources that we’re going to need, and use of the land, and purchase of the land. There are a lot of things we’d like to do. We want to keep the momentum going on this project. Of course, the final decision will be resting with the 17th Legislative Assembly to decide

whether this all-season road goes ahead or not. Thank you.

I want to quickly thank my constituents for the support they’ve shown, to all my friends in the communities of the Deh Cho. I will be seeking support for running another term. I will be back in the community starting Friday and be gearing up for the election.

I want to say in closing, best of luck to all my colleagues who are running again and best of luck to all the candidates who are planning to put their names forward.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s good to see you were saving the best for last.

I considered making a response to the opening address yesterday and I crafted a long list. Then I looked at it and it was all about me. Since I don’t like to brag about myself, I’ll just keep it short.

I did want to say farewell to a number of people who are leaving us today, and best of luck. First of all to yourself, Mr. Speaker. I think we’re the only two left from the people who were elected in the 14th Assembly. I thank you for your time here and

working with you. I want to wish you the best of luck.

Of course our Premier, who has decided not to run again. It’s been a real long eight years that we’ve worked together, especially in our time on Cabinet. We didn’t always see eye to eye, but we’ve managed to resolve issues and move forward.

I also wanted to wish David the best of luck. I think David is one of the few people that can still wear his moosehide jacket after all these years. The rest of us no longer fit them.

Most of us will be travelling home to start our campaigns, to start connecting with our constituents, and get our teams together, and start putting our platforms together if we haven’t already done so.

I wanted to say thank you to my staff over the years. I’ve had a number of constituency assistants. Lately Cynthia’s been working with me and she’s done a very good job and I’ve been very happy with her work. I also have to thank Doug Pon, who’s been with me for the whole term that I was a Minister of the last eight years. He’s always been very loyal and helped me steer out of trouble. Also Rachel, who has been with me in the last while and is doing a very good job; I’m very happy with her work.

I also have to say a special thank you to my family, who has stuck with me for these many years. It was interesting to hear my daughter at a federal candidates forum in Fort Providence who was there representing the youth and asked questions to the candidates. She did an interview with CBC later on and they asked her, they made the point of indicating to her that she seemed fairly familiar with territorial issues and wanted to know when she developed an interest in politics. She answered by saying that she was born into it. I think she was a young baby when I got involved in politics, and today she left for college. I’m very proud of her.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to read this statement on behalf of the Premier who is currently attending a government business matter.

Mr. Speaker, later today the chair of Caucus will be tabling a results report for the 16th Legislative

Assembly. It highlights activities this government has taken to support strong individuals, families and communities sharing the benefits and responsibilities of a unified, environmentally sustainable and prosperous Northwest Territories.

I will not try to list all these activities, but rather would note that we all should take some pride in the achievements of this Assembly. There have been considerable investments and strategic actions that have been undertaken to support our goals of:

• healthy, educated people;

• sustainable, vibrant, safe communities;

• an environment that will sustain present and

future generations;

• a diversified economy that provides all

communities and regions with opportunities and choices;

• a strong and independent North built on

partnerships; and

• effective and efficient government.

We were able to make significant progress on these goals, while managing our way through a major global economic recession that significantly impacted our economy and the government’s fiscal capacity.

Mr. Speaker, the work of government is not always easy, and as Members we do not always agree on the best approach to move the Northwest Territories forward. However, I would like to thank all Members of the 16th Legislative Assembly for

their contributions over the past four years. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mahsi cho.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wish to table the following document entitled GNWT Response to Committee Report 1-16(6), Report on the Review of the Report of the Auditor General on the Northwest Territories Deh Cho Bridge Project - 2011.