Michael McLeod

Legislative Assembly photo

Roles

In the Legislative Assembly

Elsewhere

Crucial Fact

Historical Information Michael McLeod is no longer a member of the Legislative Assembly.

Last in the Legislative Assembly October 2011, as MLA for Deh Cho

Lost his last election, in 2011, with 36% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Minister’s Statement 127-16(5): Mackenzie Valley Highway March 3rd, 2011

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A diversified economy providing opportunities to all communities and regions, along with sustainable, vibrant, safe communities are the two goals of this Legislative Assembly. An all-weather highway running the length of the Mackenzie Valley will be a major step in achieving those goals. The Government of the Northwest Territories continues to do work to prepare for the future construction of the Mackenzie Valley Highway to Tuktoyaktuk. Since I last updated this Assembly on the highway, we made significant progress.

Through the government’s efforts, we have secured the support of each of the Aboriginal organizations along the proposed highway right-of-way. Memoranda of understanding have been signed with each one, permitting representatives to work together with the Department of Transportation to plan and prepare for construction.

MOUs are in place with the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk and the Town of Inuvik and a project description report has been prepared for the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk portion of the highway. This PDR has been used to prepare an environmental impact statement, which is currently being reviewed by the Environmental Impact Review Board. We hope to have all the other PDR work from Wrigley to the Dempster completed within the next year.

I want to acknowledge the federal government contribution to the funding of these PDRs, which will prepare each leg of the highway for regulatory review. I look forward to a continued positive relationship with our federal counterparts as we move to put in place the resources required for this important undertaking. At the same time, under our strategic initiative of Reducing the Cost of Living, we continue making improvements on the winter road which will benefit the eventual all-weather highway.

One considerable accomplishment this past year was the completion of the 300-metre-long Blackwater River Bridge. This bridge is the largest of the all-weather road crossings that are already in place. The all-weather bridge crossings await the construction of the all-weather road while helping to extend the current winter road’s season.

Mr. Speaker, the Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a motion identifying the Mackenzie Valley Highway as a priority for this Territory. We are moving forward with a purpose to help ensure this highway comes to fruition to ensure the benefits and access that could come from this highway are achieved. Once in place, the Mackenzie Valley Highway will not only strengthen the connections to our communities, but will also support economic developments in the Mackenzie Valley.

Future large projects in the valley, such as Mackenzie Gas Pipeline, energy and mineral exploration, or the installation of fibre optic cable to the Delta, will benefit considerably from the construction of this highway. Year-round access would lower project costs, help mitigate river shipping issues and provide much more reliable transportation system for projects such as these. Public infrastructure that supports economic development projects will help our Territory grow stronger and more capable of supporting itself.

Mr. Speaker, the all-weather Mackenzie Valley Highway has been a dream of our residents for many years. Important progress we made in the past year has brought us closer than ever before to realizing this dream. The partnerships we are building today with Canada and Aboriginal groups to undertake the project’s engineering and environmental work are the same partnerships that will get this highway built. I have met with the federal Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure on a number of occasions throughout the life of this

Assembly and I will continue to do so to move this highway forward.

Mr. Speaker, as this project progresses, I will continue to update the Assembly on new developments. I hope one day to drive the Mackenzie Valley Highway all the way up to Tuktoyaktuk. I am sure that is something we all look forward to. Thank you.

Committee Motion 48-16(5): Comprehensive Animal Protection Legislation, Carried March 2nd, 2011

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have with me today Mr. Mike Aumond, deputy minister of Municipal and Community Affairs; Laura Gareau is the director of corporate affairs at MACA; also we have with us today Ms. Kelly McLaughlin, legislative counsel, Department of Justice. Thank you.

Committee Motion 48-16(5): Comprehensive Animal Protection Legislation, Carried March 2nd, 2011

Yes, I would, Mr. Chairman.

Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery (Reversion) March 2nd, 2011

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also wanted to recognize Margaret Leishman. This is her second visit here during this session and I’d like to welcome her here. Thank you.

Question 576-16(5): Auditor General’s Report On The Special Audit Of The Deh Cho Bridge Project March 2nd, 2011

Mr. Speaker, if there was any potential loss of revenue due to the

contract going past the completion date, we would seek recovery on that. Thank you.

Question 576-16(5): Auditor General’s Report On The Special Audit Of The Deh Cho Bridge Project March 2nd, 2011

Thank you. I’m glad the Member pointed out risks. Mr. Speaker, this is the risk of asking for an Auditor General operational audit a few days after we assume the project completely in the responsibility of the government. The Auditor General did a lot of this work as we were putting our team together, as we were putting our plans together, and this document reflects that, Mr. Speaker. It’s unfortunate. Our preference would have been to have the final audit at the end of the project. I stated many times before that it’s really stretched our resources. We’ve been audited for eight months out of the 12 months that we’ve had this project in our hands. However, we are managing and we are moving forward.

As to the question about who would pay for this project, Mr. Speaker, this is a government project. We’ve assumed full responsibility for this project and if there is a cost overrun, if we go into December or into January, for that matter, we would have to see if there are any dollars left in the construction budget. Failing that, we would have to look internally to see if there’s any slippage on any other projects, and worst-case scenario we would have to come back to this House through supp. Thank you.

Question 576-16(5): Auditor General’s Report On The Special Audit Of The Deh Cho Bridge Project March 2nd, 2011

The Auditor General identified the risk matrix as being weak. It didn’t cover some areas that we consider as low. There’s also been concern from the Auditor General that the wording itself was too general when we used the best efforts or best practices and those types of terms, she figured that we should have it word-specific to an actual response, Mr. Speaker.

We have a contract, we have a plan to deal with any issues that come forward and there may be issues that are unforeseen, but for the most part, Mr. Speaker, we’ve engaged risk management experts to put this plan together, they’re the best in the country, best in the world and they’ve put together... I’ve put together a very efficient project management team. We have engaged more project managers than we had historically. We require industry best practices for quality control, quality assurance and we now do and have spent a lot of energy identifying any potential risks and incorporated tracking mitigation measures to ensure that it's followed. So, Mr. Speaker, we’ve done everything we can possibly. I’m not sure what

more we can do. Maybe there could be some suggestions from the Member that has taken the Auditor General’s recommendations and raised the concern. Thank you.

Question 576-16(5): Auditor General’s Report On The Special Audit Of The Deh Cho Bridge Project March 2nd, 2011

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’ve put together a team of experts from across the country, I should say across the world, that are very experienced, probably the best in their field and they’ve put together a risk matrix that identifies all the potential challenges that are out

there. Anything that may happen, they develop an action plan that would require a response and this is the area that the Auditor General has flagged as having some concern.

Mr. Speaker, we should, I guess, put into perspective first of all what risk means to the Auditor General and everybody else, the ordinary person on the street. The Auditor General assumes risk to mean potentially delaying a project by a month. I would assume when people hear the word “risk” -- and I’ve had a few comments -- it’s an issue with the construction and then maybe the bridge will fall down. That’s not the case, Mr. Speaker. We have a team that’s put together a very good plan. We’ve identified all the risks that could be attached to this project. There are certain areas that have some risk having been identified that are considered low. I mean, we’re not going to put a risk to identify an action plan if a buffalo walks into a construction yard. Those types of things are not realistic. I think we have a very good team, a very good plan and a very good response program. Thank you.

Question 568-16(5): Completion Of Highway No. 6 March 2nd, 2011

Certainly, Mr. Speaker, it’s our practice to work with communities and in some cases we’ve been able to combine efforts and lower the cost of chipsealing. In some cases we’ve actually stepped in and provided some of the technical expertise that the community was lacking. We’d certainly want to sit down well in advance of this project moving forward, to have that discussion and see if there’s any way that the community can take advantage of the work that’s being done in the area. Thank you.

Question 568-16(5): Completion Of Highway No. 6 March 2nd, 2011

Thank you. I can assure the Member that the $15 million requirement is in the needs assessment, the five-year needs assessment. It will be the decision of the next government to ensure that these dollars are indentified and invested into that stretch of road. I can’t commit that that’s going to happen, but as I pointed out to the Member, that’s what it’s going to need and we are aware of that and that’s what we’ve put in our transition documents. Thank you.