Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Northwest Territories has gone from the worst to the best. In our 18 months of our transportation program, we have had zero fatalities on our roads and our trails.
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A large part of the reason is that people are getting in the habit of wearing their seatbelts in their vehicles, or in the habit of wearing their lifejackets in their boats. The Drive Alive program has challenged communities to buckle up. The Drive Alive program has a challenge and your community can win big. All of the communities that we represent can win big in this challenge program. One of the big prizes is having Leela Gilday have a concert in your community on Aboriginal Day in 2013.
Also, your fire department could win $5,000 to take on this challenge if they win. They say you can win big by promoting safety seats, buckling up and wearing lifejackets in the boat. You can win big by saving lives.
So today I challenge all of the MLAs to encourage their community to get involved. Write to your fire department, e-mail the fire department to say we want to take the challenge and buckle up and water prevention. If your community wins, the Department of Transportation, through the Drive Alive program, would support your community by allowing you to have $500 for the community or the fire department. You can win even bigger by getting $5,000 for your fire department and having Leela Gilday come to your community to play a concert.
I say this to all the people: summertime, we need to save lives. We in our communities, especially when we use our boats, that’s our highway. The communities down south of us, they use the road so that’s their highway. So I ask them to promote this in the community, promote safety on the water, promote safety on the road and that their communities can win big. Get into the Drive Alive program, get onto Transportation’s website and get your communities involved. I challenge all of the MLAs to save lives. Everybody then can be a winner. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
