Kevin A. Menicoche

Especially this time of year, of course, I pride the ferry captains and all staff that do everything they can to extend the ferry day by day. But in this case it was the failure of a piece of equipment that confused everybody. Everybody thought definitely that the ferry was being shut down.

Perhaps the Minister can issue a public statement to the residents of Fort Simpson apologizing for the confusion this year, and even with that little simple statement. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I wanted to ask the Minister of Transportation about the policy about ferry closures at this time of year. It’s very stressful for all the residents that are on the ferry system. I had a couple of calls from residents of Fort Simpson that indicate there was a bit of confusion this year.

I would like to ask the Minister, what policy does the Department of Transportation have for notifying the general public about ferry closures? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I think it begins at this point, I am not too sure if there will be another post-mortem with devolution with the federal government, but perhaps the Minister can raise this with his colleagues or else the Minister of Public Works and Services and say there is definitely a need. I know that in Fort Simpson, if we converted them over to the local housing organization, it would certainly alleviate a waiting list that is almost five years long. Thank you.

It was brought to my attention that this is a huge opportunity to alleviate housing needs in Fort Simpson. I understand there are other communities that do have some federal housing that’s still maintained by the federal government. I think it’s Hay River, Inuvik, there might even be some in Yellowknife, but it’s huge opportunities.

I would like to ask the Minister responsible for the Housing Corporation, what process would our government undertake to see if we can get these houses from the federal government? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Not everything federal got transferred to the GNWT with devolution. In Fort Simpson there are about eight to 10 housing units and land that remain with the federal government.

The federal government has always held on to these homes, many of them empty, stating that they’re keeping them for future needs or federal staffing. Well, we now have many, if not all, federal responsibilities through devolution and these homes in Fort Simpson can alleviate a housing need to residents and for the future government jobs that will get devolved to Fort Simpson.

Given the...

Perhaps I can ask the Minister if he can initiate the next set of discussions with Public Works and Services of the federal government and see what can be done about these units in these communities, because they can help our residents I am sure.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Earlier in the day I spoke about federal housing that was owned by the federal government that was not transferred to our territorial government.

I would like to ask the Minister of Housing, in his capacity does he know why we didn’t have access to that available housing? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. We all know that in small communities and regions the cost of electricity and fuel is very high. We know that it makes it difficult for working families and individuals to balance their household budget and for local businesses to be competitive.

We also know that the costs differ from one community to another. For instance, the cost of power for Tuktoyaktuk residents is more than twice what it is in Fort Smith. The rates for residents in Nahanni Butte, Jean Marie River and Liidlii Kue are among the highest five in the Northwest Territories.

Small and remote...

I too spoke with the provider of the course. Shakes the Dust Hope Consulting provided it, and members of the community, too, saw growth in those young students that participated.

As part of the assessment, will he be rolling this out in other regions as well? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This past July and August, a total of 22 youth from the Deh Cho participated in an on-the-land pilot program that could serve as a territorial model for early intervention of alcohol and drug use among the youth. This program was delivered in two sessions. The first two weeks were geared towards youth aged 12 to 15 and the next two weeks were for youth aged 16 to 19. The camp was held at Six Mile, approximately six miles up the river from Fort Simpson. The historic site was inhabited for hundreds of years.

The pilot program was designed to build youth culture and...