Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up on my Member’s statement with respect to the John Tetso Memorial Library closing in Fort Simpson. I sent numerous e-mails and memorandums to the government and particularly to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment to assist the community in this matter. I would just like to ask the Minister: what stage or how far has this department gone in successfully dealing with the community organizations in addressing this very important matter for residents of Fort Simpson? Thank you.
The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Certainly, we have been working closely with the community of Fort Simpson on this particular area. We have been working with various organizations in the community. As you know, the Deh Cho Hall is in the process of closing down because of the inspection that took place. At the same time, Mr. Speaker, we are working…I appreciate all of the correspondence that the MLA has sent to my department, to my attention. We are doing what we can to work with the community on finding solutions to have this community library based on if there are any vacant working units. At this time, we are exploring options. ECE is also working closely with DDEC and also Public Works. There are scheduled meetings on February 10th with the mayor of the village, the district education authority, school staff and the ECE library services to explore additional options. One of the options is a library in the school area. Mahsi.
The issues are twofold with the closing of the library. One, of course, is short-term space and a long-term solution which is providing resources to do renovations to a school and an additional building that can house a library. I’d just like to know, once again, how far has the department been successful in looking at short-term solutions and maybe even using the new government office building that’s in Fort Simpson. Have they looked at any engineering plans? Can that building sustain library services, and include, as well, resources to upgrade the current existing Village of Fort Simpson building to renovate and beef up that structure so it can house a library? Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, with our department we did explore various options in the community. The first option is, of course, the Member identified the new building if it could hold the library books and so forth. Certainly, the second floor, there’s space available but the weight of the books certainly cannot be feasible to having a library on the second floor. Also, PWS, I’ve been working closely with them and they confirm that Fort Simpson doesn’t have a suitable rental space available in the community.
We’ve done what we can as a department in working with the community. We do continue to work on an option of the school modification, but we have to work with the DEA because we have to respect their decision as well. The school operates within the community, so we continue to work closely with them and there is a planned meeting to discuss further options.
I would like to reiterate that the Department of ECE is responsible for library services throughout the Northwest Territories and they have made provision to assist other communities. Once again, this issue has been...We really felt it was on the backburner for awhile; they knew it was coming. I think the important thing here, Mr. Speaker, is where is the Minister looking at providing any resources in the community in the short-term to provide for library space?
Mr. Speaker, we did look at, like I said earlier, options in the community, whether it be a rental space, but we haven’t had success to date in that respect. Certainly, we have to keep in mind about the capital planning process. Once the discussion takes place with the DEA and the school staff and also the parents and the community, we can certainly move forward on that. Again, I have to respect the wishes of the community of how we can proceed with this. I’m more than willing to hear more from the MLA on how we can proceed with this from the community’s perspective.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
The Minister mentioned the capital planning process, so there’s indication there that he’s willing to help the community with the long-term space needs of the library. I’m really pleased to hear that. When does that capital planning process begin?
First and foremost is the consultation process with the community and how that structure’s going to look, if there’s space availability within the school, the modifications, the cost factor. Those are the issues that we need to take into consideration. I will keep the MLA in contact and in the loop with the community as well. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.
