Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to follow up on my Member’s statement when I was speaking about the John Tsetso Memorial Library in Fort Simpson and I would also like to ask a question to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.
I was very pleased that he did have an opportunity to view the facilities in Fort Simpson and he saw the state and condition of the library, which is now a resource centre, and also in meeting with the leadership they have indicated that they would like to move forward, they would like to do something to the library, get it repaired or get a new one built for Fort Simpson. I’d like to ask the Minister at this time what plans has the department been looking at since his visit to Fort Simpson last month, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
The honourable Minister of Education, Culture and Employment, Jackson Lafferty.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Since our last visit to Simpson, looking at the library and the situation it’s in and that the books are stored away, I did instruct my departmental staff to visit the community and look at those options that were put forward by the Dehcho Education Council back in March 2010. They’ve identified four different options and we were waiting for the community to come back to provide us with the options. Now we have those options and my department is going to the community to meet with -- I believe the MLA is arranging that meeting -- the superintendents and the board as well. Mahsi.
Thank you very much. I’m very pleased that departmental staff, especially from libraries, will attend a meeting in Fort Simpson. That’s something that we’re looking at. Knowing business planning as I do, I’m hoping that the meeting that will occur at the end of this month will have enough impact to urge the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment to be getting some financial resources in the business planning for our next fiscal year. Thank you.
These are the discussions we’ll definitely need to have, along with other capital projects that are in the system. But this will lead to our general discussion about the community library. It has been in the works for quite some time now. The discussion has been brought to this level as well. Mr. Speaker, I’m sure the Member will be addressing that issue, as well, as we move forward discussing the capital plans within Education, Culture and Employment. So, Mr. Speaker, yes, we will be discussing this topic along with other capital projects as we move forward. Mahsi.
Once the meeting is completed, is the Minister prepared to provide some advanced funding to start some work on the pre-planning, looking at building size, et cetera, even towards costing out a Class D estimate of a project of this nature? Thank you.
We haven’t identified funding for that particular initiative, but we want to see what comes out of this meeting that we’re going to be having with the departmental staff and the Dehcho board as well, and also the superintendent that’s involved. We need to have a planning process coming out of that so we can involve that into our capital planning process. So I can’t really say that we will commit funds at this time, but that should be a part of the working document that will be put toward us as a department from the DEC. Mahsi.
Final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. It is hopeful that as a result of this meeting at the end of the month, that the community will pick one of the four options and want to begin moving forward with it. So I’m asking the Minister, can he look at his resources and see if he can assist the community of Fort Simpson in moving forward with whichever plan they choose at that time? It will be very helpful as we work towards the business planning this coming fall. Thank you.
Yes, I would commit to the Member that we’ll provide departmental staff to work closely with the DEC, and also the Member, as we move forward developing a package plan for the capital planning and whatever we need at the development stages. So we’ll provide those resources that we possibly can to provide an action plan. Mahsi.
The honourable Member for Weledeh, Mr. Bromley.
