Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] I am glad that I am able to make a statement on the 16th Assembly. In the 16th Assembly they said that

there would be a health centre that can be worked out in Fort Providence and with the new health

centre the Town of Fort Providence would benefit from that. [Translation ends]

…use of local expertise. There should be good local jobs and business stemming from this project. This is the kind of development the community will be proud of. The health centre is the only real capital project being carried over from the last Assembly, but there is a lot of other work that needs to be done in all Deh Cho communities.

I spoke recently about developing mine mass resources in Fort Providence. Just down the road, the people of Kakisa want to build a central heating centre for the community. They envision burning wood or wood products such as pellets. I strongly support the use of local resources to lower costs and create jobs in the communities. In this case, we would also replace fossil fuels with a renewable source of energy. This is part of managing our land. I hope this government will work with Kakisa on this project.

The need for capital is somewhat different in Enterprise. As Members know, there is no school in Enterprise. Each day all of the students are bussed to Hay River. People in the community understandably worry about having all the local kids arriving in one bus every day. This problem could be solved by adding classrooms to the hamlet building, particularly for the younger students. I will be raising this matter with the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment.

Finally, there is a need for a swimming pool at the Hay River Reserve. The community proposes that an addition be built at the Chief Lamalice Community Centre to house a pool. I am proud of these proposals from the Deh Cho communities. They are not huge projects; they are all practical and they all represent economical ways to meet the communities’ needs.

I look forward to working with these projects into our capital plan and getting the building itself underway. Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.