Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, one of the goals we set for ourselves at the beginning of the 15th Assembly was youth, parents and adults who see wellness as a preferred alternative and who make healthy and productive lifestyle choices for themselves and their families. We regularly hear our Health and Social Services Minister and now our MACA Minister, lecturing to all the smokers and the drinkers and the couch potatoes of the Northwest Territories to change their unhealthy ways.
That is why, Mr. Speaker, it is so difficult for the people of Nahanni Butte and for me to understand why this government has not put a higher priority on building a gymnasium for Nahanni Butte. Despite all the announcements in the budget yesterday about capital investments and infrastructure, there's no mention of it. Kids in larger centres take gymnasiums and hockey rinks and swimming pools for granted. In fact, the budget speaks to some communities getting new schools and second gymnasiums, and there's none of that in Nahanni Butte, Mr. Speaker.
In a small place like Nahanni Butte that doesn't have much for recreation facilities, it is easy for people, especially youth, to get bored and slip into the couch potato lifestyle. That's when a lot of the unhealthy habits Minister Miltenberger warns us about get started. You can't expect kids to be shooting baskets or kicking a soccer ball around outside at a playfield at 40 below. They need an indoor place for their sports and games. Exercise and social activities aren't just a nice thing to be able to do. They are critical for children's physical, emotional and social development, and get them into a healthy lifestyle that hopefully they will keep throughout their lives.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister's answers to my questions last fall weren't very encouraging. But with the recent announcement of the municipal rural infrastructure fund, I believe this government now has the means to build a gym in Nahanni Butte, long before 2017; 2017, Mr. Speaker. A little boy or girl starting kindergarten this fall still won't get to play in a community gym until Grade 12. We can do better than that. At the appropriate time I will have questions for the Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause