Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Minister, in order to resolve the issue of whether there would be busing in Hay River, had to take the unordinary step of conducting an investigation where it was stated that the Hay River DEA made a difficult decision on student transportation on the premise that it had no other option. And the report went on to say in doing so, the Hay River DEA failed to meet its legal and procedural obligations in making policy under the transportation of students regulations and delivered a decision that fails to meet the standard of reasonableness.

Mr. Speaker, I...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I have questions for the Minister of Education. Mr. Speaker, Hay River was fortunate to have busing restored this school year. We can go back and forth pointing fingers but it's best to learn from what went wrong and how to avoid those mistakes in the future. Our decisions must not take away from what works but to make what works better.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm if the $400,000 the DEA received from the DEC can be used for busing in future years or does that $400,000 have to be spent this fiscal year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Yeah, I guess with respect to the  old clinic and the storage of files there and, you know, I know it's problematic, you know, where to store these, and knowing that the government is looking  the department is looking at ways to digitize or another way to store, you know, to keep them, I feel that I guess that's going to be quite a few years down the road, whereas that building could be repurposed, in my mind, probably for a permanent day/night shelter, and what would have to be looked at is another facility or to store these files, which I understand is a combination...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, barging is very important to the economy and wellbeing of the NWT. Particularly in Hay River, the community that I, along with the Member for Hay River North, represent. Can the Minister tell this Assembly how the crews working on the tugs and barges will be impacted by federal and territorial COVID vaccination policies. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I see the estimated completion date is 20242025. I'd like to know if we're still on track for that as we have not started taking down the old H.H. Williams Memorial Hospital. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to follow up on my questions earlier this week on the impacts of COVID vaccination policies on employees and contractors who may be unvaccinated if they're working for the GNWT in areas that are under federal regulation. I have additional questions for the Minister of Infrastructure.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell this Assembly what the impacts of federal and territorial COVID vaccination policies will be on employees, contractors, and users of the marine service ferries. Thank you.

Knowing that the longterm care facility  one's going into Hay River, and it was initially supposed to be a 48bed facility, and it got decreased to 24 beds. And there was lots of discussion about that and  back and forth. I guess what I'd like to ask is, you know, has there been any more analysis done on whether that 24bed is acceptable or should we be looking at a 48bed facility. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this, but I think my colleague from Yellowknife North mentioned day shelters. So I just wonder if  like, you know, we have an issue wth day shelters and night shelters, and I guess I'm concerned about the cost, that the amount of money we're spending on them in smaller communities when we have an opportunities to actually maybe sit down, take a look at it, and make something more permanent, because you know, we go year after year, you know, scrambling, looking for money. So I'd just like to get a sense of if the...

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just to get back to the body holding rooms, I don't think these are the first ones that we've seen the department build. I just want some idea of are we looking at additional communities that are going to have that requirement. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So if somebody in Stanton wants information from Hay River or Inuvik, they can pick up that information and that information in those other two communities would be able to them. Thank you, Madam Chair.