Mr. Speaker, as I said in my Member’s statement, I don’t wish to cause any undue alarm in Hay River. However, if I were the parent of a student who had been attending the school and now they knew there were issues around air quality and possible asbestos particle contamination, this week would seem like a very long week, waiting to find out if in fact there was the presence of this in there.
I would like to ask the Minister of Health and Social Services if she is aware of any kind of testing that exists that would definitely determine if people had been exposed to asbestos particles in the air — any kind of medical test.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the Member for the question.
It is my understanding that tests have been done but the results are not out yet. We are expecting the results today.
I wasn’t referring to the tests of the air quality in the school; I was referring to any test of the students and the staff that might indicate if they had been exposed to any kind of asbestos contamination. Is the Minister aware of any such medical test?
Mr. Speaker, I should advise the Member and the House that this matter is within the jurisdiction of the DPW and WCB at the moment. They are doing studies of the level of asbestos in the building that’s suspected. Once these results are out, we’ll be moving to the next stage. The Department of Health and Social Services will become involved at that time.
Mr. Speaker, I don’t know if I can switch to a different minister on the same topic or not. I was going to ask the Minister of Public Works some questions on the same topic, but I’ll have to get back on the list again. Thank you.
