Frederick Blake Jr.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to recognize the former Member for Mackenzie Delta, Mr. David Krutko. I’d like to thank him for all his hard work over the years.

Thank you. No further questions at this time.

Yes, it was to replace the Louis Cardinal with the ferry that’s in Fort Providence at the moment. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just under the marine, I would like to thank the Minister for adding to the expansion of the shop on the Hay River ferry camp, and also stress the need for replacing the ferry at the Mackenzie River.

The bridge is open this coming fall here. It has been brought to my attention that this ferry would better be suited in the Mackenzie River at Tsiigehtchic. This would actually bring down the cost, I believe, to residents in Inuvik, especially in the crisis we are at right now with the fuel situation. I strongly believe that this would bring the cost of living down up in the...

My final question to the Minister is: What level of support is the Government of the Northwest Territories receiving from the federal government?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d first like to start by congratulating the Department of Transportation on winning the Silver Award from the Institute of Public Administrators of Canada for the Mackenzie Valley Highway Project. With that, I have a few questions on the project itself. I know a decision has been made formally approving the Inuvik-Tuk highway, which is the first step of the Mackenzie Valley Highway Project.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to comment on what isn’t in the budget. As I’ve mentioned numerous times, there’s a big demand for a long-term care facility in the Mackenzie Delta, yet I don’t see anything in the budget to accommodate that. I just want to stress the importance of having our elders in our communities. We owe a lot to our elders and I think we should be treating them with the respect they deserve.

In the future years I’d like to see a health care facility within the region, within the communities like Aklavik or Fort McPherson, for example. Not everybody is very comfortable...

The amount of funding provided is clearly the problem. Will the Minister provide the wellness worker position under the Department of Health and Social Services as it was done last year?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s been six months since changes to the wellness worker in Tsiigehtchic were made. In April the wellness worker position was contracted to the community with a large decrease of funds available compared to when the GNWT offered the position.

This government should not set the communities up for failure. As we look to decentralize many of our government positions to the communities, we should be providing adequate funding to the communities so they succeed. Thank you.

Thank you. Long-term care, I feel, is the department’s responsibility and I’m very glad for what Housing is doing, but I’d like to ask the department to actually put it in their budget for next year’s plans to do a capital infrastructure for an actual elders facility.