Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I want to follow up on a statement and lend my support to a statement made by my colleague from Frame Lake, Ms. Bisaro, yesterday about the situation presently at play with Northland Trailer Park located in her riding of Frame Lake here in the city of Yellowknife.
Northland Trailer Park is home to close to 1,000 residents, Mr. Speaker. They are sitting on top of infrastructure that should have been replaced well over 15 years ago. Just last week a section of sewer line failed and 300 feet of aboveground line was put in as an interim measure. Make no mistake, Mr. Speaker, the water and sewer lines located beneath these homes is a potential disaster in the making. The infrastructure needs to be replaced as soon as possible. Has our government got any plans to house these families and individuals should the worst-case scenario present itself?
Mr. Speaker, we need to help facilitate the replacement of this infrastructure, to work with the residents, the City of Yellowknife and help find funding sources to complete the $18 million worth of work that’s required.
Mr. Speaker, our government needs to be there for our residents when emergencies arise, and in life, Mr. Speaker, emergencies do happen, whether that’s in Fort Smith, Inuvik, Tulita or here in Yellowknife. As government, Mr. Speaker, we need to be watching the situation with Northland very closely. Planning has to be undertaken on how to deal with the potential emergency of health and social issues that a collapse of these pipes would cause. Mr. Speaker, I’m not trying to scare anyone. The reality is that this is an emergency and we, as a government, need to get to the table to help in whatever way we can.
To add to the complication of this situation, Mr. Speaker, the trailer park is not owned by the City of Yellowknife but the Yellowknife Condominium Corporation No. 8. The residents obviously can’t take on the costs themselves and, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mayor Gord Van Tighem, Councillor Brooks and other councillors as well as the administration at city hall for advancing this issue on behalf of the residents of Northland Trailer Park, and Mr. Wade Friesen, as well, for his help.
We will need to step up to the plate, Mr. Speaker, and I’ll be asking the Minister of MACA how the government plans on addressing this very real and urgent situation. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
