Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the requests made of me in regard to the possibility of a DEC after a study was done regarding the fair treatment of Hay River in regard to being a member or being a non-member of the DEC, was that what would it cost to establish a DEC in its own right? I have provided that information, Mr. Speaker, to the Hay River DEA as well as the DEC, and there is substantial cost involved in order to establish a separate DEC.

Additionally, I informed the DEC, who is my appropriate channel of contact, that if there was a possibility of some discussion of commonality to discuss with me concerning representation, then I would be more than willing to do so. I did not receive word back. Initially, that is what was wanted but I did not receive word back that they could proceed on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am under the impression that the Hay River DEA requested a joint meeting with the South Slave Divisional Education Council, the deputy minister, and members of the Hay River board. In a response to them, it was suggested that this could be costly and it was not a good expenditure of school's limited resources. Would the Minister confirm that he considers this to be a waste of money, to meet with the local Hay River board and members of the South Slave board to discuss Hay River's issues?

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No, it is certainly not. I do not consider it a waste of money and I would be more than willing to meet. What I did indicate to the DEC was could I get some message back if they were interested and had agreement amongst themselves that we should meet on this subject, but I did not get word back from the DEC. I have met with the DEA directly, but I also need the cooperation, as the Member can appreciate, to meet with the DEC. I did send them a letter approximately a week ago, Mr. Speaker, because they were meeting on the weekend. I thought that would be a time that they may wish for me to come forward. There was a proposal to look at various possibilities, but the DEC did not indicate back to me to attend. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I was wondering if the Minister could clarify whether he has been requested to facilitate a meeting between the parties involved and actually agreed to that meeting, then withdrew his agreement to meet? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, originally, I did receive a comment from the DEC that perhaps there should be a meeting, but we verbally contacted them back and I asked them if there was any possibility for them looking at a proposal by the Hay River DEA. The word I got back from the chair was that no, there was not an interest in that by the other members.

What I did then was send a letter to the chair of the DEC suggesting that if they wanted me to come, could they please put the issue on the table. I encouraged them to continue the process of rebuilding relations and I wrote to them to meet with the DEC about any proposed change in government or any other function that is agreed upon by the DEC and all DEAs in the division, and I would be more than willing to come and meet with them on that. I received no word back on that. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Final supplementary, Mr. Delorey.

Thank you, Mr. Delorey. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not sure how the DEC members feel about the creation of a separate DEC for Hay River. I am not sure what the issue may be for them regarding that. What I did do from my side was because I had the request from Hay River on what would it cost to establish a separate DEC, we provided that information to the DEA in Hay River, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for North Slave, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the question. I thought I was going to be shut out today. Yes, Mr. Speaker, in response to the Member's question, I will look at it and see whether or not the hours are appropriate, given the needs of the community. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Yellowknife South, Mr. Bell.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is also for the Minister of Transportation today. Recently, I was very impressed by a presentation made by MLA Michael McLeod and a community corporation from Fort Providence on a proposal to build a Mackenzie River bridge. It seemed like a winner all around and certainly does not look like it will cost us much more than it costs us to run the ferry and build an ice road every year.

I am wondering when we will get a formal indication of support for this Mackenzie River bridge from the GNWT.

Thank you, Mr. Bell. The honourable Minister responsible for the Department of Transportation, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly our initial view of the proposal was very positive. There are some outstanding issues with regard to the price, costing, the interest rates, a couple of other policy issues. My department is currently doing an assessment of the proposal. I expect that within a month to six weeks we should be able to give the proponents to the proposal some response.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Bell.

Thank you. I would certainly like to urge the Minister to move as quickly as possible. Given the current low interest rates, it seems like an opportune time and it may not always be so. I thank the Minister for that commitment.

Thank you. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Delorey.