Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You never know what will capture the nation's attention. Unfortunately, this week, it was outhouses. The questions I asked two days ago about the state of the GNWT-owned outhouses at the border have generated more comments on social media and more news articles than anything I have ever said in this House before. I have even had an interview request from a national news program, so because of that, it is time for round number two of questions.
From all the comments I have seen on social media, two things have become clear: first, I owe an apology to truckers. I don't blame truckers for the state of the bathroom. The problem is obviously a lack of maintenance during a spike in usage, but I see how people could have taken my statements that way, so I apologize.
Second, residents are not happy with this issue coming up year after year with no resolution, so I have some questions for the Minister of ITI. The first question is: was that state of that outhouse acceptable to the Minister? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I like how the Member is trying to spin his Facebook problems back on to the department, but the answer is no.
I agree 100 percent. Everyone agrees that is not acceptable, so because the Minister has admitted it is not acceptable, can I get a guarantee from the Minister that this is the last winter where we are going to see toilet paper breaking the plane of that toilet during the winter months? Can I get a guarantee that we are never going to see this outhouse in this state of repair ever again?
No, I can't guarantee that. As I said in the House the other day when the Member asked me these questions, this is a very challenging situation for us, and I might not even be the Minister of ITI after September 1st. Who knows who is going to be here trying to deal with this situation, but I said we are doing our winter strategy review and we are having to look at the situation and trying to come up with a solution to deal with this. As I said before, if the Members across the House want to get behind me and they ask for more money for this initiative, please do so.
I recall that the Minister the other day said that the Member should get behind him and request some more money. The Minister knows full well that the Members on this side of the House don't control the money. It is the Cabinet that controls the money and Cabinet has to put forward money bills, so I am sure that we can get Members on this side of the House behind the Minister if he puts forward a supplementary appropriation to take care of this problem this winter. Will the Minister put forward a supplementary appropriation to take care of this problem once and for all?
I think the Member is getting a little ahead of himself here. As I have said, we are trying to find a solution to this. Money is not just going to clean up the border, I will tell you that. I told this House there is no power out there. That is the first big challenge around this whole issue in the middle of winter. We are looking for solutions and we will continue to work with that and, if Members want to work closely with me on this issue, I will be glad to take their input.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Hay River North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I understand that this is a challenging issue. There is no power out there, but this isn't a new issue. People have gone to the bathroom since the beginning of time. It has been winter, you know, every year for us since the beginning of time, so there must be a solution out there. I am not even sure what else I can ask the Minister. He is unwilling to put money forward. He is unwilling to commit to anything. Will the Minister commit to this, then? Will he commit to coming back at the next sitting with a concrete plan to get this issue dealt with once and for all? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As I have said, we are having a look at this. There are a number of options that are available on the table and, if the Member has any solution besides just throwing money at this, I would gladly ask him to come down to my office and give me some solutions that will work on this, and any Member on the other side of the House. This is not an easy problem to solve. Sure, we may kind of make a laugh and a joke about it in the House, but this is a situation, as the Member said, that has been going on for a long time. It is going to take some money and some ingenuity and some innovation to figure out how we are going to solve this problem, and we will continue to do that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
