Thank you, Mr.

McLeod. The

honourable

Minister responsible for Education,

Culture and Employment, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. Ever since there was a petition from the students of Inuvik that came in late last year, my department has been working with the community of Inuvik and the different departments of ENR to try to find a solution, because we know that in August of 2008 there will be the closure of the facility. We’re doing what we can as a department to come up with a solution.

We’re working on some options, and we’re also working with the Beaufort-Delta Divisional Education Council, possibly using some classrooms in the interim. Also, we’ve identified an ENR building that’s going to be vacant, so we’re exploring that option as well. We’re exploring the college campus as well. Those are the options that we’re working with. Then there’s also a leased space managed by Inuvik Commercial Properties. Those are just some of the areas that we’re exploring at this point.

I think the big thing here is that we have to find a suitable location. I know for a fact they need about seven rooms. They operate on timetable schedules, so having classes in different locations throughout the community isn’t very much of an option.

Going back to the centre itself — I may have asked the Minister this before —was the engineer’s report done by DPW, or was that done by an independent engineer?

Mr.

Speaker, through

PWS and our department it was a contract for the inspection of the building.

We have staff who are leaving next week, and they’re coming back in September. They’re not sure if they’ve got a facility to step into when they get back.

The facility has been safe for them to occupy in June; it should be safe in September. I’d like to ask the Minister if the department would consider deferring demolishing the Adult Learning Centre until a suitable location is found.

Mr. Speaker, one of the options that we did work with was PWS having another inspection done on the actual building itself. The building is an old building, so it was a safety factor. The foundation is rotting away. At the same time, that was one of the options we were working on.

The next option, in the medium term, will be to do a lease agreement with the college campus, because we know that the students need to enter the fall school year. That’s one of the short-term solutions that we are working on. After July 30 I do believe there will be space available for them. That’s one of the areas that we are focusing on as well. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr.

Lafferty. Final

supplementary, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Minister for that. There’s a lot of uncertainty as far as students and staff go.

Inuvik is starting to remind me of Jericho in the Old Testament, but in this case you walk around the building seven times and walls come tumbling down.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to ask the Minister if a contract has already been put out and awarded for the demolition of the Adult Learning Centre. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, the building itself is scheduled to come down in August. As far as I know, it’s not out there yet, but I believe it’s in the process.

There was a request to PWS to have another inspection done on the facility itself, so we’re in the process of pursuing that. We do have some time until then, so we are looking at other options as well. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr.

Lafferty. The

honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my questions are to the Minister of Justice. I’d like to ask some questions about the RCMP’s DARE program.

Mr. Speaker, we all know how successful the DARE program has been in many communities. I would like to ask the Minister if he can look into having the DARE program delivered to my constituents and to students in Nunakput. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Jacobson. The

honourable Minister responsible for Justice, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program has been very successful in the North. In fact, we do have approximately 20 RCMP members who deliver the program in the communities. They are situated in Inuvik, Aklavik, Whati, Yellowknife, and Fort Smith.

There have been some programs undertaken in the Member’s riding. This was for a short period. Certainly, it’s one of the areas that we can talk about with the Member —it is a G Division area — if the community is interested.

When the officers are in the community, they get trained. It’s a specialized training area. If an individual constable would like to get training, I think the opportunity is there. Certainly, that is one of the areas the department can work with. Mahsi.

My final question for the Minister. I know the members are assigned to the different detachments. Can the Minister look into having members with DARE training appointed to Nunakput, if he can do that? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr.

Speaker, we can

certainly work with the one who is based out of Inuvik, who specializes in delivering the DARE program in the communities. If we can do up a schedule rotation through the communities of Sachs, Paulatuk, Ulukhaktok and Tuk, I’m sure it could be pursued, depending on their rotation schedule and their line of work.

Certainly, that message will be passed on through the G Division expeditiously. Mahsi.

It’s “Uluk-HAK-tok.” Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr.

Jacobson. The

honourable Member for Inuvik Twin Lakes, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr.

McLeod. The

honourable Minister responsible for Public Works and Services, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The inspections that have been done on the facility indicate a number of safety concerns. We have advised the department that the building should be vacated and that the facility should be dismantled. Thank you.

In response to my question before, the Minister of Education said that another engineer’s study is being planned. I’d like to ask the Minister: is there a second engineer’s report or study being planned, and when can we expect the results of that?

Mr. Speaker, we did have a request to have a second opinion on the safety and structural concerns of this facility. We did hire a third party to do that for us. We recently got our results in, and they indicate that the facility has become a safety issue and that we should move forward on the recommendations.

In fact, the assessment raised the level of risk from substantial to considerable, and we’ve recommended to ECE that the building be vacated and demolished by sometime this fall. Thank you.

I think the Minister can understand my concern about a facility that these folks need in order to have a place to do their studies.

I’d like to ask the Minister if in the report there are any recommendations that may have been made by the engineers as to a temporary fix or being able to get maybe another year or two years of use out of the building until they find a suitable location for the Adult Learning Centre. Thank you.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, there was some costing assessed to see if we could do some temporary fixes to bring the facility to a stage where we could continue to use this facility. These costs were in excess of $7 million, and it’s not an option we’d like to follow.

We would prefer that ECE look at either a new facility or modular units. We were considering Arctic Tern, but I think that’s not an option anymore, not for the time being.

There are a number of options that are under review. ECE is looking at different ways to do this, and we will be working with them to try to locate another location, including the one that the Minister of Education has mentioned: the ENR building. Thank you.