Debates of August 21, 2007 (day 14)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today my questions are in following up to the Member’s statement I made about the proposal being put forward by the SideDoor in support of a program that would, I think, create another opportunity for the youth in the community to spend their time productively. Mr. Speaker, I have to say that in my time as an MLA, I’ve had the good fortune of meeting and working with a lot of young people who are doing great things, a lot of positive things, taking full advantage of all the financial assistance and everything available to reach their potential, but we all know that there are youth who could use help with being in more productive places. We need to organize programs that are attractive to them and skateboarding seems to be something that is really attractive to young people. The SideDoor has a good program to do that. They have already done a pilot program on this in April and they want to continue to do this. I know that they have already submitted a proposal to the government, through the Premier, and I’d like to ask either the Premier or any Minister responsible about where they are with this proposal. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. The honourable Premier, Mr. Handley.

Return To Question 165-15(6): SideDoor Proposal For Youth Programming

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have taken this issue up with the Department of Public Works who are responsible for the government warehouse, which is the facility the ministry was interested in. I want to acknowledge first the good work that the ministry does with young people and the efforts they’ve made on this skateboard park idea and King of Kings competition that they’re putting on. Mr. Speaker, it’s all good work for young people.

Unfortunately, when we took a look at the government warehouse then, there were several issues; the primary one being just space. There just was not the space to be able to accommodate what they were wanting to do there. There were also issues that could have been overcome; things like security and safety and liability and insurance and so on. Those are all things we could resolve, but the problem was with space. Having said that, Mr. Speaker, we don’t want to let this drop. I want to see if there are ways that we can encourage the city to make more space available. Mr. Speaker, I just signed a letter to the proponents of this proposal just before noon saying that we would not be able to make space available in the warehouse. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Supplementary To Question 165-15(6): SideDoor Proposal For Youth Programming

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m glad the Premier mentioned that because I checked with them prior to noon and at that time I was not aware that they had made a decision. So it was somehow criss-crossed in our communication. Regardless, I think this is a good issue that the SideDoor ministry is working on and it’s something that the government and all municipal governments should look at; especially our city. So I would like to ask the Premier if he would employ what resource is available in the government, whether it’s somebody in the youth department or MACA, to see if there are any other options we can look to to implement this, The Rock program, because I think it’s a very good program. Could he look into that for me? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 165-15(6): SideDoor Proposal For Youth Programming

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we will take a look at it. As I said, it is a good program. I like what they’re doing with young people. Mr. Speaker, I don’t think the government warehouse is the only space. We do have other space in the GNWT. We might be able to look at something else or work out a deal with the city somehow. I don’t know and without knowing too much about what’s out there, you know, we have facilities out at the airport, we’ve got something that we would like to work with this group on. But, Mr. Speaker, unfortunately there’s no easy answer to this one right now. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Handley. Supplementary, Ms. Lee.

Supplementary To Question 165-15(6): SideDoor Proposal For Youth Programming

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Without having had a chance to look at the letter I don’t know how final it was, but listening to Mr. Premier I think that there might be a wee little tiny bit of room open there. So could I ask the Premier, could I take his answer to mean that he’s encouraging his department to work with this group to see if there are any other avenues and perhaps he could commit to asking the MACA department to look at that further? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Handley.

Further Return To Question 165-15(6): SideDoor Proposal For Youth Programming

Mr. Speaker, yes, she can take my answer to mean that we will not let this one drop. We will see if there’s another way of helping this group. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.