Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to speak about the lack of a central switchboard and the confusion that it is has been causing. Mr. Speaker, last year this government discontinued our central switchboard services in Yellowknife to save money. People used to be able to phone one number and get phone numbers of staff, MLAs, or even to be transferred to those numbers if they were in Yellowknife. I recently received complaints from several Yellowknife North constituents. As a result of that I did a survey by phone and there were 78 residents who were consulted and 75 of them said that we do need a switchboard.
When they were informed that they could get the numbers on the Internet, the majority of them said they could not access the Internet and in fact many of them do not even have a computer or know how to use a computer.
I also talked to several of the staff in different departments and a lot of them said they were wasting time phoning around and could not find the right person. They said that this is a waste of time and money and it is very demoralizing to be reminded of how many people are being laid off. It is so hard to find people. As an experiment I tried to use the blue pages in the phone book and just about half of the numbers I called were no longer in service. It was very difficult. I got switched around to here and there and I am sure that most of it was primarily because I was an MLA, people were trying to be courteous, but it did not work. Finally I had to phone the Legislative Assembly for the number that I wanted to find.
Mr. Speaker, our communities are vast distances apart, and long distance is expensive, but phone calls are necessary to do effective business with the government of the Northwest Territories. We should have a central switchboard. It would cut out needless waste of time and long distance cost while trying to find the proper person to do business with. People call from across Canada and indeed from across the world, they should have a central number to call which can direct them to the appropriate person or department they wish. Mr. Speaker, at the appropriate time I will direct some questions to the appropriate Minister. Thank you.
