Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. Some people are living in poverty in this wealthy Northwest Territories, but it shouldn’t be the case, and we here in the House have the responsibility to be creative and do something to change this. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Member for Tu Nedhe, Mr. Beaulieu.

Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Today I would like to talk about establishing a new territorial park in the Tu Nedhe riding near Fort Resolution. Having recently returned from a community visit to Fort Resolution, I met with a group of residents who informed me of their desire to establish a new territorial park. Currently, I believe, there has been some discussion around establishing a territorial park at Mission Island; however, there is some concern over this, because Mission Island holds significant spiritual interest for the community.

Mr. Speaker, many residents do not want to see this sensitive area turned into a tourist attraction. The community would like to see a new territorial park established elsewhere. They have identified a location just outside the community, along the Slave River.

Mr. Speaker, being raised in Fort Resolution, I am familiar with the area and I can say it’s a beautiful, scenic spot and would make an ideal location for a territorial park. Both the Slave River and the community of Fort Resolution have equal historical significance in the Northwest Territories. Fort Resolution is the oldest community in the NWT, first established in the late 1700s. The community has been designated as a national historic site, only one of four in the NWT. The Slave River has played a key role in opening the North. Famous explorers such as Samuel Hearne, Sir John Franklin and Alexander Mackenzie travelled this river enroute to their historical journeys.

Today, Mr. Speaker, the Slave River area supports a strong traditional subsistence activity of hunting, trapping and fishing for many residents. The basin area of the Slave River of 616,400 square kilometres and, again, I repeat, is one of the scenic jewels of our North.

Mr. Speaker, establishing a new territorial park will have both immediate and long-term significance in economic impacts for the community, immediate benefits during the construction phase and long-term benefits for maintenance and use for the park. One of the issues I have been raising in the House is a lack of employment and economic opportunity for the community.

Mr. Speaker, there will be increased revenues from tourists using this park. This project is a win/win for everyone; for people who live in Fort Resolution and for people that will use the park. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. The honourable Member for Great Slave, Mr. Abernethy.

Mr. Speaker, this will require individuals to ask hard and, occasionally, controversial questions. For the sake of the children and their quality of education, I’m willing to ask these hard questions so that the relevant information can be collected and help decision-makers make informed and responsible decisions. Mr. Speaker, I will continue to encourage this government to think outside the box and challenge the status quo. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. The honourable Member for Nunakput, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my Member’s statement is on the Local Housing Subsidy Program. Several sessions ago we gave the government instructions to review the Public Housing Subsidy Program, because since transferring administration from local housing organizations to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment there has been some serious problems on the delivery of the program.

Years ago when the government was first considering transferring the administration to ECE, many local housing organizations told the local government what the real problem was, and that was that the local housing authorities did not have the adequate resources to properly administer the programs. Mr. Speaker, however, the government is convinced that only the Department of ECE can properly run the program.

Over the years my constituents have expressed concerns with the way the public housing rental subsidy has been administered. Francis Wolki has

been very vocal with her community and how it has affected these changes. She’s concerned with the people who have been in the same houses for years, never giving their LHOs any problems and recently getting letters of eviction.

Mr. Speaker, our region has a petition circulating to review all the regional leadership, urging all MLAs to work aggressively with this government to develop a solution to these issues. Housing is a core responsibility of the government. However, I expressed previously, recently developments of the government seem to contradict this principle. The housing conditions or the program implementation, especially for small and remote communities, has been in a crisis situation for quite some time. The recent changes of the Income Support Policy in relation to the community housing support has only created a worsening situation. The housing conditions in small communities such as Paulatuk are facing serious problems that the government must address.

Mr. Speaker, I urge this government to transfer the administration of the Public Housing Subsidy Program back to local housing authorities, with adequate resources to properly administer the program. Local governments know their communities’ issues best.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.

---Unanimous consent granted.

Mr. Speaker, I urge this government to transfer the administration of the Public Housing Subsidy Program back to local housing authorities, with adequate resources to properly administer the program. Local governments know their communities and issues best. They know the best ways to administer the programs.

Mr. Speaker, I’ll have questions for the appropriate Minister. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Jacobson. The honourable Member for Kam Lake, Mr. Ramsay.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today marks the first day of a mass vaccination against the spread of H1N1 -- Swine Flu -- in our Territory. Nationwide, this will be the largest mass vaccination and immunization program in Canadian history.

Like many parents, my wife and I find ourselves struggling over whether or not to give our two-year-old son this H1N1 vaccine. We’re even wondering, Mr. Speaker, whether or not we should get the shot ourselves.

I want to be clear that the Department of Health and Social Services is doing a great job at providing information about H1N1, and their website and public announcements have been good. I’m concerned over the fact that Health Canada is supplying the vaccine that our Minister of Health likes to refer to as the Cadillac version of a vaccine, to our residents and to the people of Canada. This vaccine, known as Arepanrix, contains such ingredients and formaldehyde and potassium chloride. Are we getting that information out to our residents?

Mr. Speaker, in the United States many parents are saying no to this vaccine. In China, over half the population says they don’t want it and, indeed, there are many Canadians and residents here in our Territory that will say no to the vaccine.

Mr. Speaker, I know that these vaccines are different, depending on which country you live in. For example, in Australia they were using a vaccine called Panvax. This vaccine does not contain formaldehyde, like Arepanrix does. So there certainly are differences.

Mr. Speaker, like any vaccine, there are side effects associated with Arepanrix. I would like to advise those residents that want to know more about the vaccine, to visit Health Canada’s website for a product information leaflet on the Arepanrix vaccine. It certainly is enlightening.

It’s certainly not my intention today to scare people away from getting the vaccine, and at the end of the day, when you weigh the odds and the fact that I couldn’t stand to see my son become sick with H1N1 and hospitalized, he’ll probably end up getting the vaccine.

Given the fact that getting this vaccine can, in rare cases, cause serious issues with the nervous system and paralysis, I’m wondering will those adversely affected have any legal recourse with the government. Do people receiving this vaccine have to sign a waiver, are people fully informed of the ingredients of this vaccine prior to it being administered, and are they asked about allergies, especially to eggs, Mr. Speaker? At the appropriate time I’ll have questions for the Minister of Health and Social Services. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This afternoon I’d like to talk about barrier-free schools and playgrounds. It is my understanding, Mr. Speaker, that this government stands for inclusive education and has for a long time. The issue being raised today is that some parents recently

requested money from the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to improve accessibility at one of the Yellowknife schools, because at least one of their students is confined to a wheelchair and they wanted to make sure that the playground was as accessible as possible to them. However, Mr. Speaker, their funding was denied. Mr. Speaker, it’s my view, to deny one child the ability to play and certainly enjoy fun time with their fellow friends is certainly one child too many from enjoying these lively and important activities.

If we want education to be inclusive, we need it to be fully barrier-free at all levels, from door to door, and that includes the playground. Mr. Speaker, buildings being built today are certainly taking these considerations into effect, but the old schools that have been built years ago do not necessarily have all the standards to meet the modern needs of today. Mr. Speaker, this is a territorial problem, not just a Yellowknife problem, and I would say that every school should have the ability to say their school and playground is as accessible as reasonably possible. I cannot say that enough, that all schools need to have this, again a territorial program.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment needs to work to develop a long-term strategy that ensures that all schools and playgrounds are accessible. I realize funding just doesn’t fall from the tree, but I certainly know that some strategy could be developed.

Mr. Speaker, the call to arms to deal with this problem was when the parents decided to set up a link on the N.J. Macpherson website to get parents to help vote to get funding for their program. There is a group organization called Aviva Community Fund and they, based on votes from parents, will give away money to schools to help them with this problem.

Mr. Speaker, our playgrounds are special places for our youth as they grow up. I know that the Minister understands this, having so many children himself, the importance of good education and children having fun. So, Mr. Speaker, I urge this government to take this problem seriously and to do what it can today to help those kids of our tomorrow. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. Item 4, returns to oral questions. Item 5, recognition of visitors in the gallery.

Colleagues, I’d like to draw your attention to the gallery today to the presence of Mr. Gerry Gerrand, our Conflict of Interest Commissioner. I’d like to welcome everyone in the gallery today. I hope

you’re enjoying the proceedings. It’s nice to have an audience in here.

Item 6, acknowledgements. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Mr. Speaker, today I would like to recognize and send my congratulations to Mr. Glen Guthrie of the Sahtu.

Mr. Guthrie was awarded the Lloyd Cook Award for his commitment to further educate the public on wildlife management.

Mr. Speaker, this award is a national recognition with the Fur Industry of Canada, and we offer our heartfelt thanks to Glen for his hard work with people, especially with the youth. Mahsi cho.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. Item 7, oral questions. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister of Transportation. I, in my statement, thanked the Department of Transportation for their responsiveness to issues. The issue of icing, whether it be on airplanes, on highways, this is the time of year it would seem that there is a great potential, when the temperature is hovering around zero, for there to be icy conditions.

Mr. Speaker, between the NWT border and Enterprise is a very long stretch of highway which does not have good cell phone service. I know this because when we came upon this rolled truck last night at 8:40, and by the time we checked under it and around it to see if there were any victims at the site, until we got to report it to the RCMP over an hour had passed, Mr. Speaker. So I’m asking the Minister today if he thinks there would be merit in having an energized solar power-supplied sign at the border and one at Enterprise that could be remotely programmed to contain information about that long stretch of highway, so that if someone going over the road discovers an accident or discovers hazardous road conditions, if that could be programmed to send that message out to prevent someone else from getting in that accident. Even stopping on the highway to check out an accident creates another potential for vehicles to get into difficulty on black ice. Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. Honourable Minister responsible for Transportation, Mr. Michael McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Member raises an important safety concern that we have on all our highways, especially the highways that have chipseal. We have been looking at a number of ways to try to deal with this issue, and then try to raise the awareness through the public and the people on the highway system during the times when we have challenges. We’ve incorporated a maintenance schedule that would allow us to have staff on the highway system seven days a week so that they can closely monitor, especially during the winter months, the events that are happening.

We’ve also brought on stream, over the last couple of years, a number of traffic signs, lit variable signs that we can use, and this year we’re going to have a number of new ones, with a total of eight signs that give a number of responses to the travelling public, including bison locations, speed limits, it will measure how fast you’re going, and we think it has merit. I think the Member’s suggestion is a good one. We can certainly take a look at it.

We are trying to do other things that would help us in this area, including we’ve installed a road weather information system that runs on solar energy and would provide information back to our maintenance camps so that we have information readily available. That may be something that we can incorporate on Highway No. 1 that would help us out with this issue of black ice. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I mentioned, as well, that when one has the unfortunate experience of coming upon an accident that’s already occurred, there are no shoulders on the road on that stretch of highway I’m talking about. So for an example, last night we had to basically stay right in the lane with our four-way flashers on, and someone coming around a curve, and they touch their brakes, you have the potential for another accident. So I guess I’d like to ask the Minister, in that particular stretch of highway, what are the plans for expanding the shoulder? There are no shoulders on that road now. They go to the edge of the pavement or the chipseal and it’s just a straight drop-off on the gravel. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we’ve incorporated a four-year plan to deal with the issue that the Member’s raising on Highway No. 1 from the border to Enterprise and further down towards Highway No. 3. The road width is, I think, eight metres and we are planning to expand and widen the road to a 12-metre roadway system that will allow us to park on the shoulders. We’re also looking at ways to incorporate a number of pull-offs that would assist people that are travelling and want to rest or stop for various reasons. Thank you.

Another feature that the Department of Transportation instituted at the ferry crossing was a live camera, a camera where people could go on line, go to the Department of Transportation website on the Internet and actually view what was happening with the ferry crossing. Is there any anticipation of the department expanding the webcam network so that more points on the highway system can be viewed by those who are thinking about venturing out and travelling? Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, as of now, the request for a camera at the ferry crossing has been something we were considering. We don’t have it built into our budget yet, but we certainly can take a look at it.

Yes, we continue to look at ways to expand our information collection through the intelligent systems that we have. If the Member had driven in, I am not sure if she drove into Yellowknife yesterday, but as she turned onto Highway No. 3, her vehicle would have been weighed, her speed recorded and the classification all documented. We have cameras on Highway No. 3. We have two cameras set up in Yellowknife that collect information. We have video collection units on two of the intersections here in the city that study traffic volumes, turning patterns and also vehicle classifications. There are a number of things that we have on the go. We would like to expand that to other road systems. At this point, some still are in the early testing stages. We will continue to monitor that. Thank you.