Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The infrastructure within the affected communities of the closures of the community centres could and should benefit the community and its residents. There are a lot of aging infrastructure within these communities, and these buildings could help in that area. With all the affected communities within the Northwest Territories, how many organizations have expressed interest for the use of these buildings for the benefit of their respective communities and its residents? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member from Mackenzie Delta. Minister of ECE.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we've certainly received interest from multiple communities in regards to the community learning centres. In some communities, the answers and the next steps have been easier than others. So, for example, if we have a community learning centre that's found in a school already and the school needs that infrastructure returned for their higher capacity, we've done that already. In other communities where there's school infrastructure improvements going on, we have maintained the presence of students in the community learning centre in order to prioritize the delivery of education in those communities. In some instances, though, Mr. Speaker, multiple Indigenous governments or community governments have expressed interest. And so it's not as easy as picking one over the other. And I have been approached by different levels of governments from some communities and have as a first step asked for them to work together and to return with a collaborative application if that's a possibility. So that's the first step, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. How many consultation meetings was there between the Minister and interested organizations to discuss the plans for these buildings for community use? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when I was asked for meetings, I certainly was able to attend them and happy to do so, but for the most part these meetings happened between officials, because a lot of the times, the information that's being requested is operational and fairly in the weeds. People are looking to understand the cost of operating these buildings and more finer details about the infrastructure itself. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of ECE. Final supplementary. Member from Mackenzie Delta.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To be more specific, I was contacted by three organizations within my riding and asked to advocate on their behalf, and I did. How successful were the interested organizations from Tsiigehtchic and Aklavik been conducted? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, when I'm talking about competing interests in some communities, that is relevant to some of these conversations, and so that's why I've asked to make sure that all of the interested parties are on the same page before picking one over the other because I think in some instances there's an opportunity for collaboration in some of these communities. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister of ECE. Oral questions. Member from Tu Nedhe-Wiilideh.
