David Ramsay

Mr. Speaker, with the economic activity construction happening in the Mackenzie Delta and also the activity that’s taking place in the Sahtu, it certainly is in our best interest to ensure that, at the high school level, youth have access to getting… One of the fundamentals is a driver’s licence. I think the more we can do that, the better off our young people will be and better able to get employment. I think, at the end of the day, really that is what this is all about, is independence and getting employment for young people across the territory.

On Project Gearshift, that would have to be...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We recognize the regional disparity in numbers of young people in the territory that have a driver’s licence of one form or another, Class 7, Class 5 probationary, or Class 5 licence between Yellowknife, Hay River, Fort Smith and the other communities in the territory. Certainly, we need to do something about that. The department is taking this challenge seriously. We have Project Gearshift that we’re allowing participation in schools. We are going to cover up to $3,000 or 50 percent of the cost for them to host professional driver trainers in their communities. We...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We will continue to make investments at the Prelude Lake Park. You’ll see a number of items addressed in this capital plan, but this is only the beginning and the Member knows that we need to continue to make investments that are going to make a difference. Expanding the parking lot, looking at opportunities, we’re looking at the replacement of the marina complex here in this plan, as well as some fencing and railing replacement and also some improvement to the beach area at Prelude. Also coming soon, in ‘15-16 we’re looking at a new loop to be constructed, loop D, an...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Today with me I have Kelly Kaylo, assistant deputy minister for Industry, Tourism and Investments.

Mr. Speaker, I have been in politics now for about 16 years and I do pride myself on being able to make the right decisions. In the case of having lifeguards at Fred Henne Park, I’ve committed to doing my best to ensure that we get all the answers. It’s not an issue of funding and it shouldn’t be an issue of funding. If it is going to make Fred Henne beach safer, there will be lifeguards at that beach next summer. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, one of those ideas could be to reduce the swimming area. The Lifesaving Society, in conducting the audit, I believe there were divers out there who had masks and snorkels and surveyed the ground under the water at the beach. A lot of this they believe is caused by the way the lake moves and whether or not you fill those holes in one day, they may in fact be there a few weeks later.

There are ways we can mark those holes if they are there. We wouldn’t want to have a swimming area where there were these holes and opportunities for people to get into an area that was with water that...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to welcome the Scott family to the gallery here today and, as well, I wanted to say thank you to the Lifeguards for Lodune, volunteers headed by Tanya Silke. Tanya is a former constituent of mine in Kam Lake. I’m sorry to have lost her to Yellowknife Centre. I also have another constituent that I want to recognize, too, and that is Lindsay Ohrling. Again, thank you so much for all you do. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I could get the detail of that for the Member. We are going to look at the construction of a screened-in picnic shelter area at Dory Point. The exact location of the shelter itself I think we’d be certainly looking towards working with the community to see where exactly they want the shelter and would like to see the shelter constructed. I think that would happen before construction would take place on the picnic shelter. So I can commit to the Member and to the House that we’ll go back to the department and ensure that they have talked to the community so that we make...

As we go forward, I think there are and will be other mechanisms to deal with the situation at Prelude Lake, not specifically to the park, but I know there are a number of other issues due to the use on the lake itself, not exactly in the park. So we would continue to work with MACA to address some of those concerns. We are going to advance the Department of Lands with devolution. So certainly there’s going to be opportunity for us to address other issues as they arise and as they impact the use of Prelude Lake Territorial Park. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is and it remains in our best interest to continue to work with the community leadership in the Sahtu to develop Doi T’oh Park. We will continue to do that, and if the leadership in the Sahtu has a way forward or wants to suggest a new working group to enable us to vet ideas and projects as they move forward with the development of that park, we’d be more than happy to sit down with the leadership and a new working group and sort some of these issues out. There have been a number of issues going back on how things have progressed. I think the more that we as a...