Mr. Speaker, last Friday, I was asking some questions about the government's plan to shut down the Deh Cho Hall. It's in Fort Simpson. I just wanted to address this issue today in a Member's statement. The Department of Public Works and Services and Education, Culture and Employment are meeting to decide the fate of the hall today. Mr. Speaker, I received a letter from the Village of Fort Simpson and they are concerned that Public Works and Services is going to tear down the Deh Cho Hall in 2006, based on some phantom report that no one in my community has ever seen.
This is a very serious issue for my constituents, Mr. Speaker. We are talking about 30,000 square feet of prime real estate. I am glad the departments are meeting about the building because they talk about shutting it down, but we need community input too, Mr. Speaker.
To all the people of Fort Simpson, Mr. Speaker, Deh Cho Hall isn't just some line item on a department's to do list. When Simpson looks at the hall, we don't see a dilapidated old building. We see a place where our people can go to get training in order to make better lives for themselves and their families. The people in Fort Simpson say the hall's foundation is good and with a little fixing up, we see that hall standing for another 50 years.
Mr. Speaker, I think we will be sending a bad message to the community in order to tear down a perfectly good building, especially when our need for infrastructure in Nahendeh is so high. Mr. Speaker, wasn't it the Premier who said not so long ago that he can't understand why there are so many buildings left empty in communities when they could be fixed up for families to live in. I would use the same argument for Deh Cho Hall. I can't understand why this government would abandon a perfectly serviceable building when it, too, could be fixed up.
Deh Cho Hall, to my constituents, represents 30,000 square feet of training space and we want to see the government do everything possible to save it. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause