Michael McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think it would be premature for me to commit to installing traffic lights at the intersection of Behchoko at this point. We weren’t aware that there was a safety concern at that intersection. We are doing a review of what roads are public access roads that we have on inventory. We will certainly look at the request from the Member. Other communities have also requested to have lights installed at their intersections. That is something that we will have to take into consideration as part of a review. We will also start looking at what public access...

Mr. Speaker, the signs were put in place so that the motorists and the traffic along the highways, if they came upon an emergency, and if they had access to a satellite phone or some of the mobile phones entrusted had a number readily available, or once they come into the first community in the case of Highway No. 3, whether it is Fort Rae or Fort Providence, they would know the number and it would be available to them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the comments. We always get a good report from the Member on some of her trips along our highway system. However, on this issue of the ferry information not being available during the holidays is not something I was aware of. Our department considers traffic information and maintenance crews an essential service, so I will have to commit to getting back to the Member to see why that information wasn’t available for those days that she mentioned. Thank you.

People in the communities always look forward to a visit from Mr. Tuccaro. My personal favourite is a jigging performance.

Billy Day is a well-respected Inuvialuit elder from Inuvik. He was part of the Committee for Original People’s Entitlement, which was established to protect our culture, political rights, and our lands. They negotiated the Inuvialuit Final Agreement and from that came the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation. He participated in a meeting in California, which resulted in the founding of the World Council of Whalers. Billy still continues to live a traditional lifestyle...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister talks about regulations. I'm sure these regulations aren't written in stone, and I'm sure we do have the authority, or I'd like to know if the Minister has the authority to overrule some of these decisions, based on facts, not on regulations. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, that is our concern, also. We had some of our people, our staff, go onto the boat last night, and we are taking the steps to ensure that this vessel is safe. It is an asset that is owned by the government, and we will do everything in our power to make sure that it's safe and the security is there. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yesterday we indicated to the House that the ferry was going to be shut down yesterday evening. That did happen. The contractor did park the ferry at 6:00 p.m. yesterday, so the service was discontinued. Operations are now suspended until further notice. We are considering the actions of the contractor to be a breach of contract and have notified the contractor, or are in the process of notifying the contractor, that it is so. We will look at ways to continue the service sometime early next week. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Minister look at establishing regional offices that have the authority to make decisions for the students, once these regulations are changed? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I look behind me and I see all these students from the school here in Yellowknife, and some day they'll be applying for SFA when they go to college. I'm sure people here wouldn't want to have their decisions made from an office in Inuvik or Fort Smith. So I would like to ask the Minister of Education, why are there no regional offices in the NWT with the authority to make decisions? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, Mr. Speaker, we have spent a lot of time looking at the different ways we can have the service back in operation, and the time frames around it. Early next week, Monday or Tuesday, is probably the earliest we're going to be able to get the service back in operation, if we can get it back in operation. That's all I can commit to at this point, Mr. Speaker.