Tom Beaulieu

I have a question on the demolition of the current structure where the planned office is being contemplated. I was wondering if there was some money put into the capital plan for, I believe, this fiscal year. I was wondering if the department could advise when the demolition will be completed and the land will be ready for a new structure to be put on it.

Okay. The office space that’s been used as the band office, where they have most of the community government…. I wonder if the deputy minister could advise me who owns the office space. Who is responsible for the maintenance on that building?

Thank you, Minister, for the answer. Can the Minister commit to communicating soon with an updated status on what the department considers to be a good solution for residential use by the elders of the Great Elder Facility in as far as scheduling and planning and so on.?

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. In my Member’s statement I talked about the Great Elders Facility and its use. I’d like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services questions on this. Can the Minister advise what internal discussions she has had with her department on the usage of the Great Elders Facility in Fort Resolution? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

Unanimous consent granted.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Basically, I have the same opinion. I think there needs to be more spending on Highway No. 6, Highway No. 7 and Highway No. 8. I think that all those three highways definitely….

As the Member for Nahendeh said, Highway No. 7 was shut down last year. I think the highway was shut down this summer, actually. Highway No. 6 has not been shut down, but it’s a very, very bad highway. When it rains, you cannot exceed 70 to 80 kilometres on the highway without putting yourself in some sort of danger. So it would be good to see something happen to Highway No. 6 as soon as possible.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just looking at the page for Education, Culture and Employment, I see the various school projects. I just wondered if there was a possibility of getting the school in Hay River, DJSS, started earlier by moving the exact same budget one column over to the left, to get all the projects started. It seems like all of these school projects I’m looking at here are going to be started this year, and then there’s some work continuing in Inuvik and also in Fort Good Hope and St. Joseph, except for Hay River, where there seems to be a one year delay. I’m wondering if the...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can the Minister also commit to keeping me abreast of all the plans for the use of the Great Elder Facility so that I, too, can communicate with community governments and elders of Fort Resolution in order that they begin to see some progress on the usage of this as a residential facility?

Can the Minister advise if the department can sit down with the community to hear their solutions and what they think of the usage of the Great Elders Facility and how it could be used as a residence for the elders of Fort Resolution?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. I believe the department must exercise its creative side in this matter and not hold steadfast to regimented policies, legislation, regulations that may work very well elsewhere but not for a small community of 500 in Fort Resolution.

I may have questions for the Minister later on today.