Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’d like to thank the Minister of Public Works and Services for his very comprehensive Minister’s statement today: Diamond Jenness Secondary School Renovations.
It just seems like yesterday that I was standing up in this House waving that thick volume of material that was the technical review of the Diamond Jenness Secondary School and I guess lobbying hard on the government to get that midlife update done on it, and I’m happy to celebrate with the citizens of Hay River on June 29th when we have the unveiling, the reopening of the new and improved Diamond Jenness Secondary School. This event will take place on June 29th and it will coincide with probably the biggest ever homecoming hosted by Hay River. Many, many former graduates of Diamond Jenness Secondary School will be there to celebrate with us, and we have a graduate of that school with us here in the Chamber today, a fine specimen of the GNWT education system, my colleague from Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
I’d also like to say that maybe we can televise the grand reopening of the high school on our new Bell Vu channel. I would like to thank again the GNWT, the contractors, the staff at Diamond Jenness, the teachers. About midway through the renovation the Minister was down and we did a tour, and we saw boxes and incoming supplies and everything all over the place. So although it’s a happy thing to get your school renovated, it does take a lot of patience for the staff and the teachers who work around a major renovation like that all the while keeping the school open, and for the students as well, I’d like to thank them.
So now we have the Purple People Eater, as it is fondly known, that will remain on Hay River’s landscape as a landmark, as a tourist attraction and probably the most remarkable purple school anywhere. Now with this new improved school, with decentralization, we just need more government jobs so more people can fill it up. Thank you.
Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The Member for Thebacha, Mr. Miltenberger.
