Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Madam Chair. And this will be, I guess, more of a comment and a suggestion. I just want to put a plug in for Hay River.

When I was at the airport the other day, I looked out at the runway and I noticed that two of the runway lights were kind of off, and it looks like they probably should be straightened out. So whether it's the base that has to be fixed. So I would just maybe check with the guys there. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm what aftercare supports for substance abuse are available for those returning from treatment in southern Canada? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to talk about highway operations. This year, we all know that there's been fairly heavy snowfall in the territories which will which may cause some drainage problems come spring. So I'd just like to ask if there is any work to be undertaken to address I guess the draining and ditching prior to melt. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to acknowledge my wife Betty who is here. I think she is very excited to be here today because she told me this morning that it's very exciting that she gets to come and watch her son R.J. today. And she asked us to be nice to him. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And no, I wasn't in the conversation, and I was just talking to some people up around Inuvik, so. And they just raised that question to me.

The other thing about the you know, we talk about going green. We talk about, you know, electric conversion. So, yeah, I look at the four ferries that we have out there and the Abraham Francis ranis probably being the smallest. I would like you know, it would be interesting if we were to possibly look at turning that into converting to electric because it would do two things. It would reduce fuel consumption thus reducing...

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I'd be remiss not to mention ORC. I'd just like to know what is happening with that contract, if it's coming up for renewal or is there an extension on it? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And has there ever been any interest shown from any of the Indigenous organizations with respect to looking for funding for the Michif language? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'd like to, I guess, talk a bit about MTS, and I'm hoping this is the right section, or maybe we passed it. But nevertheless, I've got ten minutes so.

There was a loss shown for MTS of around $5.8 million and of that, about $4.3 million, I think, was with respect to operating losses. Can the Minister just talk a bit about that, and I think it was partly because of the properties and that, just give me an explanation to, you know, why that loss was there. Can we expect something in the future with the number of properties that they took over from NTCL? Thank you, Madam...

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm just looking at these numbers, and I notice that if you add up the arts council support to northern performers, arts organization operating fund, and there's one more in there. But anyways, they come out to about $1.6 million. And then we have heritage centres. Like, I understand, you know, putting a lot of money to the a lot of funding to the art councils and to the performers and organizations. I think it is very important. But just as important as well is heritage centres.

You know, we have in heritage centres throughout the territories, we have, you know...

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I will.

The next item is Students Against Drinking and Driving. You know, we talk about drinking and driving. Is there any I guess program that's equivalent to that for drug use? Thank you.