Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Again, I think it’s in the department and the government’s best interest to continue the dialogue with the community when it comes to placing infrastructure in and around communities. In this case it would be no different. I think if the community is interested in talking, we’ll be there to listen, and that’s our role and I know the picnic shelter in this case was supposed to be built on the south side of the bridge replacing the structure. But, again, I want to reiterate that we need to know exactly what the wants of the community are and in this case we’ll find that...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We’re not anticipating any fee increases this year. For Members’ knowledge here, I should also mention that we’re introducing some regulatory improvements in the parks to allow for greater enforcement of the rules that we have in place there, primarily around the use of alcohol, ATVs, as well as the permitting of vehicle traffic in the park itself, which we think will certainly help the situation at Prelude. Thank you.

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...

Mr. Speaker, we have to just continue with developing industry best practices when it comes to developing the resources that we have here in the Northwest Territories. I think that will bode well for us.

There has been a lot of research done on the integrity of wells that have been drilled and fracked. Again, I think it all comes down to putting the facts on the table. I know the United States government has done a great deal of work in that regard in trying to identify any contamination of groundwater from the drilling and fracturing of wells. I don’t believe in a million wells that were...

Mr. Speaker, responsible oil and gas development has the potential to grow and diversify the Northwest Territories economy, and help create a sustainable, prosperous territory. Nowhere has this reality been more apparent than in the Sahtu region. There is a lot to learn when it comes to ensuring our residents are prepared for rapid development, and any development continues to minimize environmental and social impacts. Today I would like to share the lessons learned during a recent trip to the Bakken oil formation in Saskatchewan and North Dakota.

I recently led a tour of the Bakken oil...

We’re going to keep all of our options open, and again, I think this will certainly become much clearer as we get closer to April 1st next year.

Thank you. A lot of this remains undecided today. However, my belief is that we need to be making decisions here in the Northwest Territories related to the development of our own resources and we’ll see where we get with the discussions.