Debates of November 29, 2007 (day 5)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to continue to ask some more questions about the Diamond Jenness Secondary School in Hay River. Maybe this time I’ll direct my questions to the Minister responsible for Public Works. We have a lot of capital infrastructure as a government and there’s kind of an alarming trend I’m seeing here which I don’t like. When we have a building, we are the stewards of that building. We are required, like any homeowner or anybody who owns anything, to maintain that. Now, if we’re not going to be tearing down the Diamond Jenness Secondary School and we’re going to be renovating it, why are we letting it go so far into disrepair? I mean, the roof is leaking, the pipes are inappropriate, there’s rust in the water. I mean, there’s so many things wrong with it. Why are we letting it go so far? Some of these are not big ticket items to fix. Why can’t we do more maintenance on it? Do we have enough PWS tradespeople and resources in Hay River at the current time to maintain and keep in good repair the buildings that we have there? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister responsible for Public Works and Services, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Return To Question 69-16(1): Diamond Jenness Secondary School Retrofit

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we did do a technical review and identified a number of areas that there are deficiencies on this infrastructure piece in Hay River. We’ve scoped out the project; we’ve put a price tag in 2006 dollars at $22.5 million. That information has been passed on to the Department of Education. This is a fairly old building. It was built in 1972. There has been a number of renovations since then. The latest one was in 1995 where we replaced the roof and did some work in the student service area and home economics room and resource centre. So we’re doing ongoing maintenance of the facility; however, it needs a serious retrofit and we’ve made those recommendations to the department and are waiting for their response. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 69-16(1): Diamond Jenness Secondary School Retrofit

Mr. Speaker, my question is, do we have enough staff and enough resources in Hay River to try and maintain this building so that it does not deteriorate further and fall into further disrepair? If we’re going to do a retrofit on it, wouldn’t it make sense to try and stop damage from getting worse, from deterioration occurring? I mean, that’s kind of how I think. We’re supposed to be stewards of these resources that we have. That would make sense. Take the hospital, for example. They have a dedicated maintenance staff. There’s at least three or four people at the hospital who are dedicated to maintenance only. Who’s responsible for maintaining the high school and would it be worth looking at a dedicated maintenance person in that school? I mean, obviously the janitors can’t do the maintenance, the teachers can’t do it, so who’s going to do it? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 69-16(1): Diamond Jenness Secondary School Retrofit

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we’re not talking about minor repairs here for a facility. We’re talking about a major midlife retrofit for this facility. That has to go through the capital planning process and that’s what we’re proposing to do. We’re waiting for a response and would like to move forward on it. Until then, all we can do is the minor repairs as they are identified. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 69-16(1): Diamond Jenness Secondary School Retrofit

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know a little bit about building maintenance and let me tell you, some of the pictures in the review there, there is a penetration through the wall in the boiler room where pipes and where holes are that haven’t been filled and there’s nothing in the hole anymore. It’s just a breach of the firewall in the boiler room. Surely for the price of drywall and something to seal around a pipe we could do a little preventative maintenance, fill that in, so if there was a fire in the boiler room it wouldn’t spread to the whole school and burn it down. Those are the kind of things I’m talking about. Those are not expensive items. Those are basic…

Question, Mrs. Groenewegen.

…abandoned light fixtures. Let’s take them down. That is not big ticket stuff. Can we maintain the school, at least?

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 69-16(1): Diamond Jenness Secondary School Retrofit

Thank you. I would beg to differ that that stuff is not being done. I would also commit to having our staff going and looking at what the minor repairs that may be being neglected, as the Member has indicated. If there is anything that is minor repair that we can do through Public Works, we will do it. However, the major retrofit has to go through the capital plan and that’s what this facility needs, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Final, short supplementary, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Supplementary To Question 69-16(1): Diamond Jenness Secondary School Retrofit

Mr. Speaker, my point is that if we take care of the minor things, the major retrofit will be less of a challenge. Would the Minister of Public Works and Services commit to forming a working group between perhaps the MLAs, the local school authority, somebody from Education, to take a look at this facility and see what kinds of things that we could identify that we could do now while we’re waiting to get a major retrofit done? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Mr. McLeod.

Further Return To Question 69-16(1): Diamond Jenness Secondary School Retrofit

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We’d be glad to look at the facility and see what could be done. If there’s other people that want to work with us on it, if the Member can identify who they are. The retrofit is still in the works. We’re not sure how far down the road it is and we’d be glad to sit down with whoever is interested in talking about doing some of the minor repair and how to do it. Thank you.