Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a few comments for the Minister and the department. First off, on last year’s spending on forestry, a lot of people in my riding would like to see the forestry crews replaced with communities. I know in last season, I believe it was more than $10 million in spending. A lot of that money could be spent within our territory. I know a lot of it went south. That’s one thing we need to work on is creating more employment in the communities and stop a lot of these major fires before they get out of hand.

The other thing I wanted to comment on – and this was mentioned...

A reason a lot of the Members wanted this change in hours was a lot of people are missing their flights to Inuvik because of the delays that happen in the morning.

I’d like to ask the Minister, will these hours be in place this coming spring?

Thank you. I recall last year the Minister was saying that the ferry would be ready for replacement if an emergency was to happen, so that ferry should be operational.

I’d like to ask the Minister, will the Minister replace the Louis Cardinal vessel with the Merv Hardie? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to ask the Minister, what was the estimated cost of damages to the vessel this fall? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure today to wish one of the most respected elders in the Mackenzie Delta a very happy 99th birthday.

Gwich’in elder Mrs. Mary Kendi, from Aklavik, is to be commended for reaching a milestone on living a healthy lifestyle. Mary has singlehandedly raised her children and provided a safe home for them.

Mary, in her life, has hunted, trapped and even owned her own dog team. In her 99 years of living, I wish to acknowledge Mary for promoting the Gwich’in culture and for speaking the Gwich’in language to many of us who know her.

Mary Kendi has a huge...

For a minute there, I thought they were going to replace both those buildings.

Just on another note, it has to do with forestry as well. Two of the communities, Fort McPherson and Tsiigehtchic, are looking to do some preparation around the communities in the way of firebreaks. Both communities are in line with the forest and we need to ensure there’s some kind of break in case of a major forest fire.

Would the Minister be willing to work with the communities to ensure that happens? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Thursday, March 6, 2014, I will move that Bill 18, An Act to Amend the Legislative Assembly and Executive Council Act, be read for the first time.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In January the Minister of Transportation accompanied me on a tour of the Mackenzie Delta and while we were in Tsiigehtchic the community asked a question to the department, so I’d like to also ask the same question to the Minister.

Has the department considered starting at 8:00 a.m. until midnight as suggested by the community of Tsiigehtchic?

That was my next question. When will the department make necessary changes to their policy to allow a nurse to be placed in a community such as Tsiigehtchic? Thank you.

Back in I believe it was 2001 we did have a nurse in Tsiigehtchic that did work very well in the community. I think all we need to do is amend those policies to what we had in 2001 and that will fix the situation. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.