Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, since I have been elected, over the last couple of years in the 14th Assembly I have been raising the issue and trying to demonstrate the need that we have to spread our resources from this government across the board, and not pool all the facilities, all the infrastructure into a few major, larger centres. Judging by the capital plan this year and for the next couple of years, it is pretty obvious that I have not been successful.
It really bothers me because there is a methodology that we could utilize to encourage and stimulate the economy in our communities, but that would mean devolving some of these responsibilities into the smaller communities. Unfortunately, the capital plan was set, for the most part, in the 13th Assembly for the capital projects, especially in the area of Justice and a few of the bigger projects. We really did not have a say or any type of debate where the new jails were going to go, or where the new facilities were going to go.
I wanted to ask the Department of Justice if they could explain to me why none of the smaller communities, such as Fort Providence or Fort Simpson, or Rae-Edzo or Fort McPherson, is ever considered to house these facilities, the new jails or the new youth centres?