Robert Bouchard

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m a little frustrated with those answers about the maintenance because I’m getting a different story from the Sahtu than what the department is giving us.

But I guess my next question is: What is the department’s communication protocol? I know the Minister indicated in his speech about the website, but how else is the public to know that these roads are shutting down to nighttime only and eventually when they’re getting ready to close? What kind of information are we giving them and what kind of lead time are we giving that it’s going to be shut down within 24 hours or...

Thank you. In the Minister’s statement he talked about ConocoPhillips and industry participating in the road construction. I’m just wondering what kind of feedback we’re getting with these closures from industry. Are they concerned about the length of time and the early closures of these roads?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last night the community of Hay River had another meeting about the school swap. This one was at the Ecole Boreale with the parents, teachers, some students and some residents of Ecole Boreale, and as well, some regular members of the public.

The people there indicated that they did not support the swap. They felt that Ecole Boreale was going to get a benefit, but they didn’t want to see that benefit on the backs of other students in the community. The other reason that they didn’t support the idea is Ecole Boreale has ownership to that school. They’ve been there since...

My next question is about motorcycles. I was driving home the other day and this guy was talking to me about motorcycles and the fact that we don’t have a permitting process for off-road motorcycles. In order to register your motorcycle, you need a Class 6 driver’s licence. You legally shouldn’t be riding a motorcycle, not on a highway, but even in the ditches or like we use them in Pine Point. There are no regulations or no way to get an off-road plate. Has the department looked at this and is this the appropriate bill to be looking at that?

I guess the issue that came up was that the owner of a company doesn’t actually get a notice that there has been an infraction put on his company. It’s been done through the driver. Obviously, if a driver has an infraction, there is a potential that as the employee he has concerns about reporting this to the employer. The issue was brought up by a company owner and he said, how do I know that I’ve been charged with something? The onus is on the driver to report it to me, but it is to their disadvantage to report it to me. I am just wondering how we’re going to clarify that.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just had a question about the $35,000 in the Office of the Speaker. Does the Minister know the information on that?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know they’ve put some deadlines on the DEA, and obviously, I look forward to hearing what happens in Hay River tonight. I apologize, I can’t make it, but I guess the question is that, going forward, we know that there are some dates coming up in March that are very important and key.

When will the Minister get back to us on these numbers and on the decision going forward on this issue? Thank you.

I would like the Minister to also include some of that analysis of the costs, I guess the cost of the whole process. What have they put into legal fees, what are they going to have to put into the school swap? We know the cost, $28 million for both schools in both communities, $13 million for Hay River.

Would the Minister commit to giving us a full analysis of what the government has spent on this whole fiasco, I guess?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Like my colleague, last night I attended a meeting on the Hay River school swap. I’d like to thank the DEA for hosting this meeting; it has been a meeting long time coming. The community was glad to hear all the information.

I can probably sum up the message that should be sent to the Department of Education and maybe my colleagues across the way. From Facebook, a comment from one of my constituents: “It’s a bad idea, just a quick fix, but it puts more students out without a gym. They should just pony up the dough and build a French school gym.”

The whole concept of the...

Then I guess the other information I was looking for is how does the driver inform this? If you become a commercial driver of a vehicle… If you all of a sudden become a driver of a commercial vehicle, do you know… Like, I wouldn’t know unless I was reading this amendment here, but the average person driving a commercial vehicle doesn’t know when there’s an infraction to contact the owner that the infraction has happened. Thank you.