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

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will refer the question to the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Handley.

Thank you. The honourable Premier is referring the question to the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Handley.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The reason that route was chosen is our proposal, called Corridors for Canada, looks at two corridors, one into the mining area and one into the oil and gas area. The only current route into the mining area is through Highway No. 4, Tibbitt Lake and up into the area. There is no road through the Dogrib area. There is not any agreement that I have right now from the chiefs to even build a road through that area, although we did take some steps to set up a steering committee to begin looking at it. We could not include that as an alternate route when there was no agreement to have one. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi. I have to direct it to you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of Transportation has indicated, we have to expect that the federal government is not going to be that receptive to totally financing new roads, especially into areas where there is already existing infrastructure. In our case, the Ingraham Trail is there, it is being used by industry and it is an existing road. What we have indicated is we want to rebuild and make sure it continues to have the proper maintenance for access into the mining area that requires this service. We believe that is something that is perfectly rational and can be substantiated to the federal government. This is what our proposal had indicated. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As we have indicated, the Dogrib chiefs had been invited to work through a committee to look at the issues of building infrastructure within their region. This committee has not been active. In fact, I do not know that it has even been activated. In the meantime, time was of the essence. When the federal government indicated they were interested in seeing us put a proposal forward in very short order, we took literally about two weeks and built on what we think is a well-substantiated, rational argument for getting infrastructure dollars to enhance, maintain and improve our existing infrastructure. In large part, this is the proposal that we put forward. As Members who have travelled with us to Ottawa have indicated, it is being well received. It is seen as a well-substantiated proposal. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Final supplementary, Mr. Lafferty.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. The honourable Premier, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Premier. Item 6, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions today are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. The Hay River Community Health and Social Services Board finds itself in a unique situation at this time. Hay River was, for many years, somewhat of an anomaly with health services being delivered under contract, most recently with the Town of Hay River. That contract no longer exists. Every other health board consists of members appointed by the Minister on the advice and recommendation of the MLAs, local governments, aboriginal governments, et cetera.

Today, there is an opening on the health board in Hay River. I want to know, who is going to have a say in the appointment to that vacancy? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Minister responsible for Health and Social Services, Mr. Miltenberger.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is my understanding that there was an ad placed in the paper for the public to submit names. The Member is right, the board in Hay River is an anomaly. It is from the Societies Act. At this point, we are in a state of transition as we move to a standard nomination process for the health authorities across the Northwest Territories.

It would be my hope that people with the common interest of having the best service possible and the best people on the board, there would be consultation with the board, the mayor, and the MLAs so they can get a full look at the names being submitted and the best name chosen. Thank you.

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

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister, how long will Hay River be in this state of transition? Mr. Speaker, we have some really serious concerns about the delivery of health and social services in Hay River right now, so it is very, very important who is on that board and who chairs that board.

Although I could refer to what the Minister said about taking a collective approach to this, I would like something more definitive from the Minister. How long is Hay River going to be in this state of transition? Thank you.