Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Public Works and Services concerning the Hay River hospital and the design/build contract that’s closed just over a month ago. Does the Minister have any information to provide this House about that public tender?
Thank you, Mr. Bouchard. The honourable Minister responsible for Public Works and Services, Mr. Glen Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The applications that have come in are being reviewed and we’re hoping to have a decision soon.
My question to that response would be soon and what kind of timeline soon is.
I imagine it’s going to be in the next week or two, and as soon as we have that information and a decision is made, it will be posted on-line and be available for everybody to see, but I will absolutely let the Member know as soon as I know.
My next question is as soon as that is completed, does the Minister have any commitments to have a public meeting in the community of Hay River on the building?
I’m not sure what the Member means. Does the Minister have a meeting in the community about the hospital, or the department have a meeting in the community about the hospital? The department will be meeting with the successful candidate, or the successful bidder, and they will be working out the details, so I will certainly share that information with the Member.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bouchard.
I’ll ask my question a little differently. Some of the concerns in the community are about what’s in the building and what’s not in the building, so there is a great deal of concern in the community and that’s what I am referring to, is if the department is planning to have a discussion on what is going to be incorporated in the building. It’s a design/build, how the building is going to look, and get some feedback from the public on this future building in the community of Hay River that’s supposed to represent us for the next 50 years.
The program content and, therefore, the design is actually a responsibility of the Department of Health and Social Services, who is responsible for the program. I’m not sure if the department is going to be going into the community to talk about the program content, but I will certainly talk to the Minister of Health and Social Services about what their plans are. Technically the department will be meeting with the builders who are building it based on a design.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.
