Kevin A. Menicoche

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I think I’ll just wait until further details on the other pages that do show better numbers for regional positions. I’ll ask further questions at that time. Thank you.

I certainly look forward to the Minister’s response and, as well, we’ll have another opportunity to discuss this during his departmental business plans in Committee of the Whole. I just wasn’t clear; did the Minister say that the contract was up this year or was that for the information that he requires to see?

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation some questions regarding the Liard River ice crossing. In November I raised the issue that the department had plans to use their own forces to build an ice bridge. That’s certainly something I don’t support. I’d like to ask the Minister what the plans are for this coming year’s ice construction schedule.

I think the Minister made a soft commitment here and the parents group are looking for something stronger. They thought that he had said something stronger back in the October meeting. That’s the type of commitment that I’m looking for here today, and the parents group is really looking forward to the Minister helping out with this very important issue for the children in Fort Simpson.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I want to ask the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment follow-up questions from my Member’s statement on the lack of playground equipment over at the Bompas Elementary School in Fort Simpson. The parents group has been fundraising. The Minister was in Fort Simpson. We spoke to the group. I believe there was a commitment at that time by the Minister to the parents group to say that he would assist in purchasing the playground equipment. Will the Minister be considering that?

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. For sure the parents have been raising money. I’m going to use $10,000 as an estimate. They’ve been working very hard, the parents, the children, the teachers. I’d like to ask the Minister to acknowledge that, that they have been working hard and they will be looking for matching funds.

That’s exactly what the parents are looking for, that the Minister is willing to work with the community, because now it’s a community-based organization; the work with the DEA, the Dehcho Divisional Education Council as well. Once the collaboration continues, will the Education, Culture and Employment Minister be contributing to the Bompas Elementary School playground initiative?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [English translation not provided.]

Last October at a public meeting in Fort Simpson with the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment in attendance, parents raised concerns about Bompas Elementary School playground. The old playground was pressure-treated wood and had to be removed for safety reasons. The play area designated for kindergarten and grade 1 children is equipped, but the area designated for grade 2 and 3 is empty. The area designated for grade 4, 5 and 6 has only a few structures that are in rough shape. This is a bad situation.

As we all know, the...

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to reflect on some of the issues I’ve been working on and have been raising with the Minister over time and I think the most recent was in my Member’s statement today where I was talking about the Bompus Elementary playground and the efforts of the parents group to raise funds for it. I think the department really went out of their way when they assisted Fort Liard enough to extend that over to Fort Simpson and do what they can there to replace that playground, because it is pretty sad when I think this is almost the second year for those children...

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The single students, the single-family students, the couple’s students with children all are waiting for this review. The most important question: will it be completed enough to impact students who are going to return to school this coming fall? Thank you.