Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned, the graduation is on Saturday, and I would like to ask the Minister, does he think that the ferry will be ready for people to travel on Saturday? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Just over lunch today I got the latest update from Tsiigehtchic and the water level is very low, you can see the landing.

What is the status on the landings right now? Are there people working on it, building it up, getting it ready for the ferry? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It gives me great pleasure today to let you know that this coming Saturday we have two graduates from Tsiigehtchic.

Deron Andre and Vanessa Lennie will be graduating this Saturday in Inuvik. Family and friends will be travelling to Inuvik to help celebrate this occasion.

As you may know, at this moment we are isolated. The ferry will be launched tomorrow, from what I’ve been told, and hopefully we can have the ferry in operation by this coming Saturday.

I will have questions for the Minister later today. Thank you very much.

Mr. Speaker, I give notice that on Friday, May 29, 2015, I will move the following motion: Now therefore I move, seconded by the honourable Member for Kam Lake, that pursuant to Section 61 of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, that Ms. Elaine Keenan Bengts be reappointed for a term of five years as Information and Privacy Commissioner;

And further, that the appointment be effective October 30, 2015.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

That was going to be my next question, but the Minister answered most of it. What is the holdup on the ferry? Is there welding still needed? I didn’t really get that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This spring we had an early spring up in the Mackenzie Delta, about a week early actually, and over the last few days the water has dropped a lot, there’s no more ice on the river, and as far as I know, the ferry is supposed to be launched tomorrow.

I would like to ask the Minister of Transportation, will the ferry be launched tomorrow? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a few questions for the Minister of Transportation. Earlier this session I did a statement on the need for funds to install a bridge at Willow River.

As we speak, the community is doing a gravel haul up to Willow River. It’s a perfect opportunity to put this bridge in place. Over the last couple of weeks we’ve had a chinook up in my riding and with this warm weather we’re expecting an early spring, so this work needs to be done before April.

Will the Minister work with the community to ensure that we can spend these funds before April and invoice later? Thank you...

Thank you. That’s great news and I look forward to this bridge being hauled into Aklavik and later to the work site.

With these funds, the community can start putting this bridge in place, and also I mentioned they were doing a gravel haul. At this time of year, the departments usually are on a spending frenzy here.

Will the Minister work with his department to ensure that they stockpile gravel in the community of Aklavik in order to fuel projects this summer? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As spring is in the air, our communities in the Beaufort-Delta are preparing for the annual spring jamborees. On March 27th Inuvik will be hosting their jamboree, followed by Aklavik on April 3rd, Fort McPherson on April 10th, Tuk on April 17th and then Tsiigehtchic on the 24th of April.

This is a time when everyone in the delta gathers in each community, touring around the communities of the Beaufort-Delta. Good times, dancing, activities – people are active and enjoying the spring weather. I encourage everyone in the Legislative Assembly to come and join us this spring...

We have just over a month of time to do this work. That’s not a lot of time, especially with the warm weather coming closer. As I mentioned, Housing actually is stockpiling gravel in the community, but the contractor is not planning to put this road in place due to the cost of the next couple of years. So I strongly encourage the Minister and the department to ensure that they stockpile enough for the next couple of years here. They will be making the road up to the bridge site, but it’s not planned up to the gravel source. Thank you.