Robert C. McLeod

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This is a very important topic across the Northwest Territories. We have heard that in many of our public places they would like to have automatic external defibrillators, AEDs, in their facilities.

Working with the communities, there is an opportunity there for the communities to use the funding that we provide to purchase the defibrillators and then, as we debated in the budget in the House just recently, we had some extra money in there for emergency training and ground ambulance training. That pot of money could also be used for training on the use of defibrillators...

As far as a review, I’m sure the Aboriginal Sport Circle, when they did the initial games last year, I’m sure when the games were over they had a bit of a debrief amongst their own organization to see what worked well, what could be improved, and I’m sure, as a result of that, there was probably some improvements made for the event this year. An official review, I’m not sure one exists. I don’t know, but I’m sure the Aboriginal Sport Circle has their own internal debrief, and if there’s information that we can gather from that, I can share that with the Members.

As far as the Member’s question...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’re proud of our involvement in the Traditional Games. They had the first Traditional Games last year and there was an excellent turnout, from my understanding. I apologize for missing the opening ceremonies yesterday, but my understanding was that this year’s turnout was just as good as last year. The kids had a fantastic time, and this is a great opportunity for them to interact with kids from the other communities.

As far as the Member’s question about a handbook of some sort, I’m not aware of one. I will do some checking and see if one exists. As part of our...

I can’t speak for the Minister of Education. I can have a discussion with him. We’re fortunate that we have elders that are willing to share their vast knowledge of the traditional games and their beginnings. As far as making it mandatory in the schools, again, that’s a conversation we’d have to have with the Education Minister and the district education councils.

There’s another traditional game, I think, among the old traditional games that we don’t hear much anymore, and it’s called the lip pull. We may have to start practising that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Starting from the 16th Assembly and then Assemblies before, the funding contribution that we make to the youth across the Northwest Territories, I think, is unmatched anywhere in the country. We go a long ways to try and develop our youth, and I think we’ve seen in this last budget that we just debated there was an additional $500,000 that’s earmarked for youth development.

Our youth in the Northwest Territories have a fantastic opportunity. We have some great sporting partners such as the Aboriginal Sport Circle, who I believe are the ones that are putting this event on, and they receive a lot...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’d be more than willing to work with the community; however, at the end of the day, the decision is usually made by the community as to whether they’re going to have a gravel haul or not. They will canvas other departments to see if there’s need for gravel. You did say Municipal and Community Affairs…

---Laughter

…and I have to get on TV.

---Laughter

So we’ll work with the community and they will identify their gravel needs and we’ll continue to work with them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The community does have funds available. They are able to use the money provided through our department. Again, they will work with a number of the other groups. They may check with the NWT Housing Corporation to see if there might be a requirement for gravel. If there is, it will give them a pretty good indication how much they want to stockpile. They, in turn, would sell that gravel to whoever needs it in the community. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

This is something that’s starting to develop and is a concern. It is an issue we will have to have a look at. Once we educate ourselves more on the potential risks of this, we will start educating the public out there.

I wanted to use this opportunity to assure the public that our tenants, at this point, there is really not a big risk. Most of our units being above ground helps lessen that risk. As we get into new construction, units are sealed fairly well and, again, that limits the chance for radon gas to accumulate. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Again, it is early in the stages. Once we do start the testing, we will be providing the Member and committee with updates as we go forward on this. Again, I just want to assure the public out there that this isn’t a crisis and they don’t need to run out and buy gas masks or anything like that. It is under control and the Housing Corporation will ensure that there is no risk to the tenants in our units. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Because of the fact that most of our inventory is above ground, it’s really not a factor at this point. Plans are being put into place to look at our inventory and we want to develop some plans to do some testing for radon gas in some of the NWT Housing Corporation homes. That way we’ll have a better idea of the risks that are there and whether there is a presence of radon gas or not. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.