Frederick Blake Jr.

It's good to hear that there's a number of boats in Inuvik. So what's the Minister's plan? Is he going to transfer a boat to Aklavik for the RCMP there?

As you may recall, the former Minister committed to actually replacing this school, and so I ask the Minister: will the Minister commit to red-flagging this project in the capital plan, so that the students can get into a safe, modern school, without the aging relic of a bygone era that they are currently stuck in?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As a follow-up to my Member’s statement, I have some questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. As I mentioned, my constituents also want a school that could provide subjects -- for example, automotive. You know, many of our schools in the territory do not have, whether it's a two-bay garage or anything like that, that students can actually bring vehicles in and do automotive work or welding, carpentry; that sort of thing. I'd like to ask the Minister: the 20-year capital needs assessment dated 2011 showed a $24.8-million replacement of Moose Kerr...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for those of you old enough to remember, 1969 was a big year. The Vietnam War was on, Nixon was in office, The Beatles released Abbey Road, and the world watched Neil Armstrong take those first historic steps on the moon. Know what else happened that year? Moose Kerr School was built in Aklavik.

---Laughter

While all those other things have passed into history, Moose Kerr School, nearing 50 years of age, is still expected to serve the 160 students and 14 teachers working there. Samuel Hearne High School, which was also built in Inuvik at the same time as...

We have less than two months here to figure out a solution, otherwise, as the Minister identified we'll have no ice road to actually ship the boat over. We can bring it over in the summer, but then we won't have a trailer to take the boat out of the water. Will the Minister ensure that by the end of the ice road season there is a boat in Aklavik for the RCMP, in case we have an emergency over the spring breakup? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have a few questions for the Minister of Justice. During my last tour of my constituency, I visited the RCMP in Aklavik and found that they actually don't have a boat in the community, which, as you may know, is isolated for a good portion of the year, mostly during the summer. If there's any search and rescue or issues like that, how will the RCMP respond? I'd like to ask the Minister: what are the plans for getting a boat for the RCMP in Aklavik? Thank you.

Will the Minister ensure that a planning study is undertaken as soon as possible, as the community of Aklavik expects?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you, colleagues. Specifically, I was told in this House on February 21, 2014, that Moose Kerr School was scheduled for replacement and renovation in 2019, which is 20 years after its last major retrofit in 1999, and in keeping with capital planning specifications. Later today, I will have questions for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment on the status of this project.

That sounds great. It would be great if we could do that over the next couple of years here. That opens up a lot of our territory to development. But the biggest challenge is to ensure that we do this. I would like to ask the Premier: Will we be changing our negotiating mandate to ensure that we have a common interest to settle both land claims and self-government agreements?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I want to talk a bit about the negotiations we are currently in. As you know, we have a couple outstanding land claims negotiations that have been underway for a number of years, but also self-government. We have a couple self-government organizations that are very close to an agreement. We have the Inuvialuit. Also, the Gwich'in are working towards an agreement-in-principle. There are number of challenges that our governments are facing under negotiations and some of them range from taking over programs at current levels. It's very difficult for our...