Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I too am very pleased with some of the reintroduction of some of the settlement maintainers into the communities. One of those positions happens to be in Fort Resolution. I’d like the department to look at the whole issue of apprenticeships. There are 11 apprentices that the Minister indicated in his opening remarks. I think there’s room for more. I think every tradesperson should have an apprentice and that the department could work with the Housing Corporation and MACA to maintain houses, buildings, other infrastructure in the community and use tradesmen to do that and apprentices to work with them. I think it’s got a lot of

long-term benefits, as far as employment goes for educating people, especially at the community levels. I’m thinking of sort like creating a critical mass by putting the Public Works buildings, the Housing Corporation units, and I know that the Housing Corporation do have their own maintainers and so on, but they can’t really afford apprentices, and I’m not sure that this government can really afford apprentices, but I think that we have to bite the bullet at some point and get the apprentices in any event because of the long-term benefits of such actions.

That’s one area that I think maybe it’s not going to be laid out in this budget, but I think that this department could start working towards trying to achieve that. I think there would be enough kids coming out of school and getting ready for trades that, if we’re able to, as some of these apprentices finish their program, putting them into the workforce and, really, this government working as a little bit of a larger unit, I guess, to create a critical mass of work that’s needed in the communities so that these apprentices could complete their programs at the community and regional levels or whatever, ultimately to find employment out there, whether it’s with departments or with private industry.

I’m happy with the way the deferred maintenance, the whole section of deferred maintenance has gone. I’m assuming at this rate we’ll be completed the deferred maintenance that’s currently in the books in about 10 years, which obviously would mean there would be more deferred maintenance issues coming up somewhere between now and then, but I would be curious to know if the government has a plan to address deferred maintenance issues as they come. Like some sort of plan so that there’s no accumulation of deferred maintenance in the future. I think deferred maintenance is an item that cannot be avoided. At some point you do have to replace a furnace and so on and so forth. It’s something that can’t be avoided but it’s something that this department has done a good job of dealing with, a good job of approaching the whole issue of deferred maintenance with their buildings and addressing the issue. It looks like we see a light at the end of the tunnel here and I’m seeing lots of activity in the communities in this area, so that’s very positive.

I think we’re moving in the right direction in the cost of fuel as well. I have a community that has the fuel barged in and two years ago the cost was very, very high. Last year some of the cost came down and the department was able to respond by reducing the cost of the fuel to the communities, and I know the communities appreciated the reduction in fuel costs and trying to level out the costs was very positive. I’m pleased with that.

That’s all I have, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.