R.J. Simpson

Mr. Speaker, Hay River was waiting a long time to get a Minister so we could get the kind of perks that Fort Smith and Inuvik have been getting.

Laughter

So we are all waiting for that Minister to step up and make that happen. Related, like I mentioned, to get to the health centre you have to walk down a road with no sidewalks, not even any shoulders. When can we expect some other improvements in terms of sidewalks and controlled rail crossings at the health centre? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Minister said they are reviewing it, so I am not sure if he will be able to answer this, but when can we expect some lighting to be installed?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I live at the end of the rail line. Now that the winter roads are open, every time I look out my window I see a lineup of Super Bs waiting to fill up with fuel brought north via the rail. As soon as one truck fills up it heads down the highway and another one takes its place. I like to see this because it means people are working.

You know who doesn't like seeing those trucks? Anyone who's walking to the new health centre in Hay River. That's because the health centre was built with absolutely no safe pedestrian access. Everybody who has to walk to the...

I'm glad we got a commitment to put some lighting up there. Now I'm looking for a commitment to put some additional signage up there so that people coming down the highway are aware that there are pedestrians possibly crossing?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Earlier I spoke about the lack of lighting and signage signals at the highway crossing to the health centre in Hay River. The Minister said that there's, "A ton of signs." I just sent a scout out. There is one sign.

---Laughter

This is a description of what the sign does, "To warn road users making a turn that they will encounter a highway/rail grade crossing soon after making a turn." It says nothing about pedestrians. There are actually two signs. There's another sign indicating that's a new sign. There's one of those coming from each direction.

My point is there's...

That is a shame because the lights are most needed when it is dark out, in the winter. It sounds like we are going to have to wait until the spring. In the interim, I know the Minister is the Minister of Public Works. He is the Minister of Transportation. With all the resources of these two departments at his disposal, can the people in Hay River South get some sort of temporary lighting system so that the Super Bs can see our grandparents crossing the highway on the way to the health centre? Can we get some sort of temporary measure in the meantime?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier I spoke about the lack of signal lights, sidewalks, and adequate lighting at what has become the unofficial highway crosswalk to the Hay River Regional Health Centre. I keep an eye on all the RFPs that the government puts out, and last year I saw one stating that a crosswalk signalling system was supposed to be installed at that location by November 2016. We've seen nothing as of yet. For my first question, I would like to give the Minister a chance to explain why. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll be following up with the Minister to get some specific numbers for Hay River. Another issue is that in Hay River the buses are full; there's not room for another 30 kids. So is that factored into the funding for JK or is that something the school board is going to have to deal with either by cancelling busing or buying a school bus or some other means? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The fact is, in the classroom or in the room that these children are in, there's going to be less supervision. Will the qualifications for a JK teacher be any different than our other elementary school teachers because we are dealing with an age with different challenges than any other age in the school system?

The Hay River Playschool takes three- and four-year-olds. It's probably going to shut down after decades. That's an option. That's a real option that could happen. So I just want to make this as simple as possible: are kids coming out of JK going to be smarter than if they were in a playschool or a daycare program? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.