Rocky Simpson

Thank you, Madam Chair. So if somebody in Stanton wants information from Hay River or Inuvik, they can pick up that information and that information in those other two communities would be able to them. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this government talks about reconciliation. Our communities talk about reconciliation. However, when I review the legislation concerning the makeup of Hay River District Educational Council, there is no requirement to ensure diversity. Hay River has a number of Indigenous governments but these governments have no seats allocated to them on the education board while our neighbors in Fort Smith have seats set aside for Members appointed by the town, by Salt River First Nation, and the Fort Smith Metis Council. I believe if we would have some diversity, this...

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one request I hear raised by many who cannot afford the busing fees put in place by the DEA is can this government do away with the busing fees for students. If we ever expect NWT students to be at par with their southern counterparts, then we must do everything we can to give them a leg up. Additional fees is not one of them.

Mr. Speaker, can the Minister confirm if his department is willing to consider doing away with student busing fees, not only in Hay River but throughout the NWT, by taking that option out of the Education Act and regulations. Thank you...

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I guess I would just urge the Minister to maybe to reach out to the Hay River Health Authority because as far as I know they put together a discussion paper or some numbers down on what it would cost to find a place or build a place to store those files closer to the health centre. Thank you. That's all the questions I have.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And prior to my question, I would just like to ask, you know, people in the NWT that aren't vaccinated to consider getting vaccinated as soon as possible. You know, it will save a lot of headaches for them and allow them to, you know, get on with life in some way.

So, and for the question, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister tell us what the impact on employees and contractors working at the MTS shipyard yard in Hay River will be if they are not vaccinated. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. One other I guess point I'd like to bring up  or issue as well is that on that  on the land where the new  where the extended care will be going and the hospital's coming down, there is also an old medical clinic on there. And my understanding that it's only used for storage of medical files right now. And will that in any part, I guess, you know be part of this, taken down and constructed a new facility, new extended care facility? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, under the airports division, can the Minister please tell this Assembly what the impacts of federal and territorial COVID vaccination policies will be on employees and contractors at the Yellowknife gateway airport, the regional airports in the larger centres and the smaller community aerodromes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, I appreciate the work that's being done. And I understand that, you know, the projections you came up with was actually based on  on, you know, the number of beds required and also the decrease was partly due to providing more support to home care. Is that still the case? Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I want to raise the issue of student busing. As you may be aware, student busing was suspended in Hay River for the first month of this year, school year.

Mr. Speaker, it was unfortunate how the cancellation of busing materialized. What it did was create a possibility that some students would have no means of transportation to get to school. This forced the Minister of Education to conduct an investigation as to whether or not the decision by the Hay River DEA to suspend busing was a sound one.

Mr. Speaker, the decision by the Hay River District Education...

Thank you, Madam Chair. No further questions, thank you.