Frieda Martselos

Thank you, Madam Chair. My first question is the extension of hours within the parks. At Queen Elizabeth Park, they close on September 1st, and not this past year but the year before we didn't have snow until November 3rd and we had warm weather until almost the end of October. So I'm not asking that it open until the end of October but at least until the end of September. It's really important that we encourage more tourism; we encourage people to use our parks as much as possible. And I'm just wondering how the Minister feels on this. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell us, based on current capital needs assessment figures, when does ECE anticipate that JBT School is expected to be replaced? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in June 2021, I questioned the Minister of ECE about the state of JBT School in Fort Smith. Today I am going to carry on with that questioning. At the time, the Minister stated that the last time a technical assessment was done to JBT was in 2005, almost 20 years ago.

Can the Minister tell us if a technical assessment of JBT was done in the last two years or if one is planned to be done soon? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

One last comment. My last comment is I want to thank the deputy minister visiting Fort Smith. All the leaders that she approached and went to visit were very, very pleased with her visit. Thank you, Madam Chair.

So, Madam Chair, Conibear Park used to have a visitor information centre and it was burnt down. It caught fire and was burned. It was during the winter. And since that happened, there's not been any centralized visitor information centre in that park. That park was donated by a family to the town of Fort Smith, and it had a kind of a log structure. And I just want to mention to the Minister, Madam Chair, that I'd like to see an erection of a visitor information centre within that park, along with a stage that they used to have many years ago. Since that left, we haven't had that in the...

During your recent discussion about the information visitor information centre, so Fort Smith doesn't get funded for a visitor information centre? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Speaker, of the 49 schools across the NWT, there have been several new school replacements built in multiple communities where their schools are actually younger in age than JBT in Fort Smith. For example, in Yellowknife, the former JH Sissons School was only 45 years old when it was demolished and replaced with a brand new school just a couple years ago. And I'm happy for them. And that school was 20 years younger than JBT.

Can the Minister explain what is the necessary criteria to replace a school when the community wants one as soon as possible? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, in June 2021, the Minister said that the Department of Infrastructure has a database that produces a rating for schools, and JBT was rated 0.52. The Minister said that that was an "okay" rating.

Can the Minister tell us if JBT's rating has changed since then and to please explain the process for how ratings for schools are actually produced? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, Fort Smith is home to some of the oldest school infrastructure in all of the NWT. Not only that, but Fort Smith is also home to three buildings with a residential school legacy and all of them are still active in use today. The three buildings I am referring to are PWK High School, JBT Elementary School, and Breynat Hall at Aurora College. To be perfectly clear, all of these structures are either former residential schools or former federal Indian day schools, and they're the only remaining of such structures left standing in the NWT.

Mr. Speaker, JBT was...

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, earlier today, the Government of the Northwest Territories announced the recipients of the Order of the NWT for 2022, and among the names listed includes a very special Fort Smith constituent. And that person is Paul Kaeser Sr. II.

For those who don't know, the Order of the NWT recognizes people who have served with the greatest distinction and excelled in any endeavour benefitting the people of the NWT or elsewhere. This is the highest honour awarded to NWT residents.

Madam Speaker, Paul Kaeser and the entire Kaeser family have lived in Fort Smith for...