The Minister alluded to the Building Canada Plan and the fund that he’s looking at in terms of building some of these new infrastructures but also putting money towards our existing infrastructure.

Can I ask the Minister for an update on where this government is in negotiations about the Building Canada Fund that’s going to improve our highway systems and also start building on these new infrastructure projects? Can I get an update on that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I’d like to recognize two of our hardworking Pages who are from the Inuvik Boot Lake riding: Mr. Tanner Gillis and Ms. Kristen Harder. They’re not in the House at the moment, but I know they’ve been doing a lot of great work over the week, and I hope they really enjoyed their experience here at the Legislative Assembly. To all other Pages, as Members, we really appreciate the work that you did for us over the last couple of weeks.

I’d also like to recognize Ms. Lillian Elias, who has been interpreting this past week. Good job. I know she’s getting out the message...

I did speak to Mr. Brewster, and he just wanted to acknowledge that Inuvik and the Northwest Territories has been his home for the past 31 years and still is. When people ask where he’s from, Inuvik is what he answers, not Nova Scotia. I think that Mr. Brewster might have only put me in the corner just once in his whole time teaching.

I would like to wish both Ms. Kaye and Mr. Brewster and their families the best of luck on their retirement and that they will truly be missed at East Three Elementary by students and staff. Combined, the two have been providing guidance, leadership, developing...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Ms. Beverly Esau, who’s up in the gallery today. She stepped up to the plate and brought two of our Pages from Inuvik to chaperone. I just want to thank her for taking the time and watching over some of our youth during this very long sitting. I appreciate your patience.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think it all begins right on the onset of when an inmate comes to the institution system and developing that case management assessment. But, more importantly, the case management plan, not having those in place doesn’t help the inmate look at what programs will benefit him the most, and being institutionalized for a certain amount of time, it’s the perfect opportunity to get some of those who are of the highest needs, whether they’re mental health issues or alcohol and drug related, to get them to the right and proper rehabilitation programs or any programs that can...

Thank you. I just want to make some comments in terms of the audits that weren’t meeting the deadlines. Before we began this process, a lot of agencies and government departments weren’t. This was almost a common practice. I just wanted to make the comment that since then, and since the practice of public accounts that Government Operations has been doing, there have been some huge improvements. But still, again, we want to ensure that agencies do meet their legislative requirements moving forward and we also do understand that there are challenges throughout the Northwest Territories in terms...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank Mr. Hawkins for bringing the motion forward. He makes some really good points, some pretty clear points there, and once again, we’re trying to make a decision here on something that’s not even happening in the Northwest Territories. The economy is so bad right now worldwide, we don’t even know what’s going to happen in the next government. There’s going to be a cost effect to it, no matter how low it is. We’re still going to make a decision, throw money at it, and we don’t even know what’s happening.

The main problem that I have with this plebiscite is...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the mover and the seconder for bringing this motion forward. Obviously, it has been a big issue, and we did have a little bit of a theme day on this during this sitting.

On April 9th, during my Member’s statement that I made in the House on the community engagement that I attended in Inuvik, I mentioned there was a lot of participation. There were over 30, as I mentioned. But we also had a lot of leaders from the communities come and show their concerns. A lot of it, as you heard from my colleague Mr. Blake, was concern over downstream, should there be...

I was hoping for more of a timeline when we can expect answers. I know there are a lot of companies out there that are really eager to get started on some of this work. With the time frame that we have in the Northwest Territories because of the extreme weather conditions, I think people like to get ready for that type of work…(inaudible)…time.

One of the sections in the strategy discusses incomplete highway infrastructure to maximize opportunities. One of the priorities in the 17th Legislative Assembly was the Mackenzie Valley Highway up the valley from Wrigley to the Dempster. In our...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday the Minister of Transportation tabled in this House the 2015-2040 Transportation Strategy, which also includes four-year action plans along the way.

Going through the priorities, and we’re also looking at maximizing opportunities and creating new infrastructure, can I ask the Minister, in terms of priorities, where does the aging and underdeveloped system that we have throughout the Northwest Territories right now sit on that priority? Is it the number one priority that we have within this government? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.