Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the office of the fire marshal became involved in May of 2002. There have been ongoing discussions with that office in trying to get agreement as to what needed to be done with that facility to get the fire marshal to agree with the occupancy. There were some orders for immediate corrective action and that was done initially and, at that time, the office of the fire marshal determined that the building was not in compliance with a number of applicable National Building Codes of Canada and the National Fire Code and directed that specific improvements be made as a condition to remain in the building until 2006. Beyond 2006, at that time we were informed that we would have to do full code compliance. Full code compliance means exterior wall upgrades, vapour weather barriers and insulation upgrades, new floors designed to carry commercial office space loading, new and renovated foundation to support increased loading, all new windows, doors, sprinkler and fire alarm systems, renovated heat system, new ventilation system, all new electrical and plumbing systems, new firewalls in some areas, asbestos abatement, additional exterior door for fire safety reasons. Those were the items that we were told we would have to bring up to full code compliance. Based on that, Public Works looked at the estimates, brought that to Education, Culture and Employment and looked at what options were available. Upon further discussions with the office of the fire marshal to see how much longer beyond 2002 we could use the facility and if we had a plan in place to replace it, what we would have to do to meet the minimum requirements. That's what we have brought forward now. This facility has been looked at, reviewed, discussed with community, with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment. Unfortunately, no satisfactory result came about until we were in the situation now with the fire marshal in having to do a minimum amount of work until we can get ourselves, or get the department, into a new facility. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If that long list you read off to bring it up to code is considered a minimum amount of work at a price tag of $3.5 million, I would say that that has been...So it wasn't that list that you read off then. Okay. I understand my time is running out, so I want to tell you what I think you should do. I think you should go right away to tender for a private developer to build you the space to replace the required square footage in that building. You know what? I

guarantee you they will build a whole building for $3.5 million and you can lease it for a reasonable rate. Talk to the fire marshal. It's our government to our government. Talk to the fire marshal. Go to tender right away for office space. A private developer, I guarantee you, will come in there and give you a reasonable deal. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Next on the list I have Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I haven't been a resident of Fort Simpson for quite a number of years myself. I know basically the Deh Cho Hall inside out. I know it's an old building. Half of it is storage space. I don't think the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, the education council, Justice and community wellness are all departments that take up...Some of the offices in there are 20 by 40 feet offices in that building. That's way overkill. I think that the government could use something that is probably half the size and just as functional for the same cost. Just a question to the Minister, is the upgrade going to keep the library open, the Multimedia Centre and the day care centre. The bingo hall that's in there, are they going to benefit out of $3.5 million, or is this just for the government portion of the building and the Deh Cho Hall itself? Is it for the whole building upgrade or just the government's section? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The requirement for the upgrades that we're requesting here would be to allow the occupancy of all those that are presently in that facility. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Villeneuve.

My next question is how much of this $3.5 million is the government contributing in-kind to all these other facilities to bring them up to standard to keep their doors open? Thank you.

Mahsi, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, for the record, again, the occupants within that facility are the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, Dehcho Divisional Education Council, Aurora College and the Department of Justice. There are non-government occupants; the John Tetso Memorial Library, Open Door Society Family Resources Centre, Multimedia Society, cultural centre, day care centre and then there's a community wellness worker and the Fort Simpson Historical Society with approximately 27 staff working in that facility. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Villeneuve.

Yes, I guess it's quite obvious that the other community societies that are occupying that building comprise more than 50 percent of the whole building itself, just thinking about the building itself. Is the government going to be looking at ways to recoup any of this $3.5 million, or is roughly $2 million of that $3.5 million going as a grant-in-kind to all these societies, the historical society, the Multimedia Centre and the library? How much of that money is going as a grant-in-kind?

Mahsi, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the money right now identified to keep the facility open would be charged against Education, Culture and Employment. There is no grant-in-kind being proposed to those other organizations. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Mr. Villeneuve.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If there is no grant-in-kind, if you bring the library up to standard, the Open Door Society up to standard, the cultural centre and the Deh Cho Hall up to standard, who pays for that? Is that coming out of the government coffers because we are such good people or the building is of such high sentimental value to the community? What are the reasons for the government to agree to do all these upgrades at no charge? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mahsi, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the total amount to keep the facility open as it stands now, the parts that are being used, is $3.5 million. If we decide we are going to shut other sections of the building down, then that's what we would be doing if we decided to just upgrade the main departments. The decision, as the facility is constructed, your heating system is going to run throughout, your existing fire suppression system would have to be maintained, those things, electrical would have to be maintained as well. So the amount requested for keeping that facility open, as has been discussed with the fire marshal's office, our estimates are $3.5 million. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Anything further, Mr. Villeneuve?

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just one more quick question. If you are going to run a sprinkler system through the library and the cultural centre and the Open Door Society offices, you don't have to if you didn't want to keep them open. So why incur that extra cost if the government isn't going to recoup it somehow through their community capacity building initiatives or all this Northern Strategy money the government is throwing around, the gas tax money? Why don't we get a contribution from the community on that portion of the building that we are paying for to keep them open? Why haven't we looked at that and downsized this supp? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mahsi, Mr. Villeneuve. Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the work that's been done with the fire marshal on continuing the occupancy for a minimum amount of time to get us to the situation where we would have a new facility in place, the required amount of work based on our estimates and in discussions with the fire marshal's office as well as electrical inspectors is going to cost $3.5 million

is our estimate. Whether or not we decide we are going to shut down other portions of the building, I am not sure what the impact would be on these estimates. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Minister. Anything further, Mr. Villeneuve?