Kevin A. Menicoche

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Further to my Member’s statement and questions earlier today, I wish to table an article from the September 2, 2010, edition of the Deh Cho Drum entitled State of School Playground Sparks Parent’s Concern. Mr. Speaker, the article describes the hazardous conditions of the Bompas Elementary School’s playground in Fort Simpson and calls upon school, government and community groups to pull together to solve the problems being experienced at the playground. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In the case of a community, if there are no eligible clients for a particular unit, what is the Minister’s plan to allocate for that particular unit in the community? Thank you.

During my constituency tour this fall many of my constituents continued to tell me that because they’re being in arrears, that they’re not eligible and they actually didn’t want to apply again this year. What kind of flexibility in terms of eligibility does the NWT Housing Corporation have when they are viewing a client’s application if they have some arrears or big arrears? How do they manage those?

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to give my condolences to our cousins, family and friends who lost their loved ones in the Nahendeh riding over the summer and fall. In great sadness I want to say that it was a particularly difficult one for the communities as we lost a total of 11 this summer. I would like to note that nine were elders.

Most recently, Ms. Corinne Modeste from Fort Simpson passed away last week at the age of 81.

Bella Norwegian of Jean Marie River died on September 22nd at the age of 94. Ms. Norwegian had been a midwife and healer for many years. She was...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It takes a whole effort of the Assembly to work towards our capital budget. I am very pleased that we are able to get through it earlier, just because of timing in some of the communities that don’t have roads and have only access by winter roads. If you get the materials and supplies in at an earlier time, I am going to be pleased with that aspect of our capital estimates. As MLAs, we work hard in lobbying the Ministers, lobbying the government in writing or raising issues in the House and trying to get our fair share of resources for our constituency. I can say that...

Mr. Speaker, I, too, look for some success in this intake period during the fall time. However, those constituents that do have arrears, Mr. Speaker, still speak to me about their disputing how those arrears occurred, how they happened. Some of them are very old. I have raised continuously with the Minister and in this House about it and an appeal mechanism within the Housing Corporation. When is the Minister going to enact such a committee? Or, actually, it should be an independent committee, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. This question is for the Minister responsible for the NWT Housing Corporation. He actually preceded my Member’s statement which I had scheduled for next week on vacant housing. Nevertheless, it’s a serious concern in my riding and we’d still like to address it.

The Minister does say that the intake period ends today and I hope that many of my constituents did file applications and make the effort to get in. I’d just like to know, will the Minister be able to compile intake numbers and provide those numbers to myself?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, further to my Member’s statement and questions earlier today, I wish to table two documents that relate to the disrepair and poor driving conditions on Highway No. 7, also known as the Liard Highway. The first document is a letter dated September 29, 2010, from the Western Arctic Member of Parliament, Mr. Dennis Bevington, to the Honourable Jim Prentice, federal Minister of Environment, seeking much needed assistance for making repairs to the highway.

The second document is a CBC Radio transcript dated June 29, 2010, in which Ms. Joanne Deneron of Fort Liard...

Thank you very much. I think that’s a strategy, I think there’s got to be federal involvement. Can I ask the Minister when is his next opportunity that he would be meeting with his federal counterpart or federal-provincial meeting of Transportation Ministers, because I think that’s the point that it’s important to raise the condition of Highway No. 7, especially in light that we want Canadians and tourists to visit our new Nahanni National Park Reserve and get them there and make it easier for them, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Earlier today I spoke about the condition of Highway No. 7. That’s the highway that runs from B.C. over to Fort Simpson, and of course the proximity community is Fort Liard. I’d like to ask the Minister of Transportation, can you please provide me an update about the status of the repairs to Highway No. 7 for this construction year? Mahsi.