Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister responsible for Education, Culture and Employment. It is Education Week and clearly there are a lot of things affecting education in the Northwest Territories. One of them, in my opinion, is infrastructure. We’ve done a lot of great work with infrastructure but here in Yellowknife we’ve got a couple of the schools that need a little bit of work. They were on our capital plan once upon a time but they’ve both kind of disappeared. I’m wondering if the Minister can give me a bit of assurance that we’re going to see in the transition documents that the department is working on some attention put on Sissons School, which needs some significant renovation, as well as the back side of Mildred Hall, which needs some upgrading.
These renovations will save us money over the long term, money that we can roll into the actual education of our children. If I can get some comments from the Minister, that would be great.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. At one time these were part of the capital process, but due to other pressing issues we had to deal with… But as we move forward for next year’s capital planning process this could be part of the initiative that we need to bring forward along with other capital project initiatives. We’ve talked about the Sissons Schools and also Mildred Hall, completion of the Mildred Hall and different aspects.
Mr. Speaker, during the transition period we’ll be talking about what needs to be before the 17th Assembly, but it will be up to the 17th Assembly to decide as we go forward, but this summer we’ll be discussing that capital planning process. Mahsi.
I appreciate the Minister’s response. I know that we’ve had a lot of conversation about Sissons and Mildred Hall and I’m happy to hear that it’s going to be in the transition documents. At least I think that’s what I heard. Can I get a little bit of confirmation that indeed this department will be putting a specific reference to Sissons’ renovations and the back side of Mildred Hall, the windows and whatnot, in the transition document? I know it will be the responsibility of the 17th government, but I know this department has done some work, has done some costing and had a conversation with the board. I want to make sure that that is built into the transition document so it’s highlighted as a priority coming into the 17th Assembly. Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I did state that this will be part of the discussion that we need to have as we discuss all the capital projects for the Northwest Territories and we need to prioritize what needs to go in place for next year. Definitely, the Sissons School and Mildred Hall will be part of that discussion and we’ll keep the Members posted as we move forward. They will be part of the process as well. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.
