Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just to the motion here now, I will be supporting it, but I don’t see why we need to support the existing daycare facilities. I’m not sure if the mover of the motion would be able to amend this, but the real problem that I see is in the small communities… I know in a lot of the tax-based communities like Yellowknife, Inuvik and Hay River it’s not an issue when it comes to daycare because you have the numbers of children to fill those buildings, but in the small communities you’re constantly losing money when you’re running a daycare because you might have one or two...

That’s really good news, by the way. I’d also like to ask the Minister, I know when we do get new units, a lot of times they’re just replacements, so in the future, when are we going to get more units as add-ons?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I, too, would like to join my colleagues on Anti-Bullying Day today, the theme day. A lot of great practices by our territory today on anti-bullying. A lot of the schools are getting involved. For example, Fort McPherson yesterday celebrated this Anti-Bullying Day by showing their support for children who are being bullied. The reason they celebrated yesterday was because there is no school in the Mackenzie Delta for the next three days. So they were doing their part yesterday in their fight against bullying. I’d like to share my support with them and that is why I also...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Going through all the information that we’ve gotten for this department, there’s a lot of savings that have been made through this department. Just an example is the readiness for school. One of the positive things you can see out of that is this junior kindergarten, in my opinion. They’re addressing a lot of the needs in the small communities. You know how many times you hear, whether it’s Regular Members or Cabinet saying, we need to do things differently. We all know that a lot of the programs and services we provide in this territory aren’t really provided properly...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Over the years I have brought up the concern from the communities that there’s a lack of housing that’s needed. As we just passed the budget for this upcoming year, I’d like to ask the Minister of Housing, how many units are planned for the communities in the Mackenzie Delta?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last week I spoke about the timeline for replacing Moose Kerr School in Aklavik. Today I’m continuing this theme.

Moose Kerr was constructed in 1969, exactly the same time Samuel Hearne High School was built in Inuvik. Samuel Hearne was demolished and replaced a couple of years ago. My constituents would like to know why Moose Kerr School is still standing. At 45 years old, it’s overdue for replacement.

The Minister of Education stated in the House last week that Moose Kerr School is slated for replacement or major renovations in 2019. That’s five years from now.

I’m...

Mr. Chairman, just along those lines, I have maybe more of a recommendation that maybe the Minister work with the Minister of ENR to try to work out some sort of an increase in price for beaver pelts. Many people in the Beaufort-Delta will know the population has really exploded up in that area and I’m sure it’s the same in all areas, but there is just no demand for those pelts right now. Instead of letting the population double and double, I think we need to help manage that resource and try to put I don’t know whether it’s a bounty to help harvesters try to harvest those furs. Thank you.

Just on another note, under the Community Harvester Assistance Program, I will use the same community as an example, Fort McPherson. This program, by the time you break it down to each community, I believe they get about $12,500. When you have 50 harvesters in the community, for example in Fort McPherson which has just under a thousand people, it’s very difficult for the local RRC to divide that amount of money. At the end of the day, harvesters only receive maybe $100 or $200. That doesn’t go a long way when you are buying gas; that is barely a 45-gallon drum. I think we do need to take a...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just a few questions on 12-30. Under the disaster compensation, I see you have only budgeted $15,000. As you may recall, in this past year there was a number of people that were flooded out in both Fort McPherson and Aklavik that needed this funding. I believe out of 20-odd claims only one person was approved, so I would like a little information on that. Thank you.

As I mentioned last week, as well, most of our buildings, their life expectancy is 35 years, yet Moose Kerr School is 45 years old. When will this school be replaced? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.