Michael McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to welcome Mr. Lafferty to this Assembly and thank him, because now I will finally get to have my group photo.

---Laughter

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about an issue of great concern to Inuvik residents. This is the ongoing problem with Samuel Hearne Secondary School.

First, Mr. Speaker, the foyer collapsed because of the snow load. It is only by the grace of God that no one was injured or killed. Here we are in October and the school has yet to reopen, because it has been declared unsafe due to problems with the pilings.

Mr. Speaker, I want to...

Mr. Speaker, the area for responding to accidents on the highway is something that falls across a number of jurisdictions. In some cases, the RCMP respond and in some cases some of our highway officials will respond if they are in the area. We have instances where we have our nursing vehicles responding to highway accidents. We have a number of different communities that have ambulances that are responding. We are working with the Department of Health to look at the whole situation to make sure that all lines of communication are clear, that all lines of responsibility are clear. That is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Right now there are only certain communities that have ambulance service. Inuvik is one; the community of Fort Rae, or Behchoko as it is known now; the communities of Fort Simpson and Hay River are the communities that have ambulance service. There are varying degrees on how those communities are funded. Some are funded solely by contract through the Department of Health; others are paid on a fee for service. The responsibility for ambulance services basically falls under the Department of Health. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today my questions are for the Minister of Public Works and Services. We have seen newspaper reports that Samuel Hearne was going to be open later in the month. I want to ask the Minister the question that is on everyone’s mind in Inuvik: When will the school reopen so that teachers and parents can get on with their year? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, on behalf of the Government of the Northwest Territories, I would like to extend my congratulations to the athletes from all over the North who have gathered in Hay River to compete in the 15th Annual Territorial Track and Field Championships. It was my pleasure to attend the opening ceremonies last night, along with a number of Members of the Legislative Assembly.

Madam Speaker, many sport and recreation partners, including Municipal and Community Affairs, community governments, Sport North and the Department of Education, Culture and Employment...

Madam Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to return to item 6, recognition of visitors in the gallery.

Madam Speaker, we already did bring a delegation to Ottawa for a day dedicated to the Northwest Territories. Part of the delegation was the Member for Sahtu. I am not sure if that’s something we have committed to or made any decisions on. I will assure the Member that if it becomes obvious that we need people from the Sahtu to come and fight those battles with us, we will do that. However, we have had these discussions with the federal Ministers. We have had visits in the communities that the Member represents. The issue has come forward as a priority in every case. We hear the message loud...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It wouldn’t be question period without a question on the Mackenzie Valley winter road. Madam Speaker, I certainly can commit that we are in the process of drafting a proposal to bring forward to the federal government. Historically, we have a highway strategy that we use. It was drafted in the year 2000 and is called Investing in Roads and includes the information and dollar amounts that we, at that time, recognized as the need for infrastructure and the road system and the highway transportation system in the Northwest Territories. I will certainly commit to the...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am pleased to recognize a number of northerners present here from all over the Territories, all these people who work very hard to further their education and personal development through training programs that have been offered through the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. I wanted to take a few minutes here to recognize them. I hope I have everybody. I have been crossing out names and adding names as people have been coming and going. I would like to ask our guests in the gallery if they would rise when I call out their names and recognize them....

Madam Speaker, of course we will consider taking a delegation from the Sahtu. Any time we can bring some allies or some of our partners forward to make the argument for us and we can demonstrate that there is a need for this, we will certainly consider that. We will have further discussion with the Member. We will have further discussions with the leadership in his communities and look at how we can move forward and set up a plan of action. Thank you.