Shane Thompson

Thank you. I thank the Minister for that answer. I think it is great that the federal government and territorial governments are working with these communities, especially with some issues.

I have a couple of other questions. Are the communities able to save these funds to do one big project at the end? I believe the Minister was talking about it in the House today, and I was kind of smiling when she was talking about it because I had this question written down. Are the communities able to do that, and where do the funds stay in regards to that? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I thank the Minister for his answer. I guess I am probably going to have to disagree with him. I understand it is not the 20182019 capital plan, but we need to help get this community build capacity, and the quicker we start talking with them, the Department of Infrastructure and the Department of Health and Social Services, talking to the community and start working with them. Will the Minister make a commitment to work with the Minister for Infrastructure to get their regional staff in there so we can start working on this so that they can build a health centre that is...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I will try to be brief with my comments and questions today, since a number of my questions were answered during the meeting yesterday.

First of all, I would like to thank the department for providing funding for the communities and allowing them to make their own decisions regarding the capital. Can the Minister explain how the funding works for designated authorities, since I have a number of those communities? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I guess my first question is we have heard some concerns, and maybe the Minister can alleviate some of the concerns out there with the new Yellowknife hospital being built, with the insulation. Has that been a concern that people should be aware of, with this insulation being exposed to all this weather out there? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I thank the Minister for looking into that. As I was driving down the roads, I also noticed that there are certain sections where the grass was creeping up onto the roads and causing a little bit of poor sight where wildlife can cut in front of you, but then other sections were clear. Can the Minister advise the House what the policy is as it pertains to clearing the ditches and, if they have a schedule for the various roads and, if he could share it with us?

I thank the Minister for that. I greatly appreciate that. The Blackstone Territorial Park, when we were talking about employment for Nahanni Butte, is there some component in there for the brushing and clearing of that site that could be done by this community? Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this past summer I had to opportunity to travel on about 92 per cent of the allweather roads in the southern part of the NWT. This works out to be about 1,155 kilometers. Some of the roads were in great shape, better than others. As I traveled, I noticed a number of concerns I would like to address with the Minister for Infrastructure today.

Mr. Speaker, on Highway No. 1, from approximately kilometre 205 to 220, I noticed that the staff from Fort Providence were doing their regular maintenance this section of the chipseal. It is the last section of chipseal...

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I understand you're going to re-evaluate and you're going to look at your 20-year plan, but the community would like to see a VIC centre in there, and a lot of the tourists who are coming through there are looking for that when they show up. I have to applaud the department for putting a pavilion there and it's greatly appreciated, but a VIC centre would have a huge impact on the community and also the region in the southern territories, if people would be going up there and have that opportunity. Will the Minister work with the community to see the feasibility of putting...

I thank the Minister for that answer. I guess my next question to the Minister is: are we going to allow Yellowknife to apply for small community employment funds?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last week the honourable Member for Deh Cho asked the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment a series of questions about the Small Community Employment Support Program. I would like to follow up with some questions here today. Mr. Speaker, last session, the Minister said the department was reaching out to various organizations and business communities to see how the Small Community Employment Support Program could be improved. During the budget session, I made the recommendation that we use the new influx of money to do that as job creation because...