Those are all good questions that, hopefully, we’ll get addressed as we do this critical debriefing, as the weather subsided and services restored, and we can take that careful measured look at what happened and what needs to be done to avoid this type of circumstance in the future. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. Your final supplementary, Mr. Jacobson.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last year I brought up the same issue, one year almost to the day in regard to the same problem we had up in the Delta. This debriefing, I’d really like to see if we could bring NorthwesTel in here either with one of the committees or into the House here to get questions in regard to what happened and what they’re going to do to make a better system for the Beaufort-Delta. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I’m sure NorthwesTel would actually look forward to an opportunity to be invited before committee. They’re a private operation that runs... They have contracts; they have services they provide. We have a lot of vested interest with them. We are going to take steps to see how do we avoid this in the future to get a better idea of what steps they’re going to take to address some of the concerns that the Member has raised. At the same time, we’re going to proceed with our plan to see about setting the pieces in place that will allow us to proceed with trying to get a fibre optics line from Inuvik to the south and hooking in the communities along the way. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Miltenberger. The honourable Member for Nahendeh, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much. I’d like to ask the Minister of ITI a few questions. On our last visit to Nahanni Butte they spoke about establishing a nice park area on the other side of where the access road enters Nahanni Butte. I’d just like to ask the Minister what are the next steps that the community has to take in order to make this a reality for them. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, Mr. Bob McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It was a real treat to visit Nahanni Butte and have a nice lunch with the residents of Nahanni Butte. At that time we had a very brief discussion on establishment of a park. I think the very first step should be a letter written to myself and also with some support from the Dehcho First Nations, I think, would be in order. Thank you.

Of course, it’s not in the capital plan yet, but how soon should that letter be in place and when is the next opportunity to put this into the capital plan? Thank you.

Establishment of parks doesn’t happen overnight and it’s a fairly formalized process that has about an eight-step process. A letter would start the process and I expect that with the support of the Aboriginal governments and with devolution, we could move that a lot faster than the existing system. Thank you.

I just realized that when you talk about parks and parking areas, that’s two different things there. ...(inaudible)...parking area and a camping area on the other side of the Liard River from where Nahanni Butte is, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

I’d like to thank the Member for clarifying that. We can begin to establish a parking lot a lot faster than we can establish a park.

---Laughter

That’s probably a three-step process. I think that if we get a letter we can probably take some interim measures to try and do something as early as next year. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. Your final supplementary, Mr. Menicoche.

Thank you very much. It will certainly be something I will support and I will work with the community of Nahanni Butte and we will get something to the Minister’s office so, hopefully,

we can get it into the capital planning process this summer and this fall, if the Minister is willing to work with the community towards that. Thank you.

We would be quite pleased to work with the Member and the community to make it happen. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. McLeod. The honourable Member for Sahtu, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Yakeleya. The honourable Minister of Justice, Mr. Lafferty.

Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. We are always on the lookout for any opportunities that can improve the well-being of our people of the Northwest Territories; that includes the inmates as well. We have initiated the on-the-land program in the Sahtu region. It has been successful to date, but at times it has been difficult finding those inmates within the institution because it would have to be on a volunteer basis. We can’t force them to attend these camps. So those are the areas that we continue to struggle with. It is a real challenging task, but we continue to push with other regions, as well, if they are interested in pursuing an on-the-land program to deal with the inmates, Mr. Speaker. As the Department of Justice, we will continue to work on this area, how to improve the programming. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, I think when you look at some of the inmates that are in the facilities, they are getting fat. They have nothing to do. The lack of programs that are in these facilities are not doing them any good. Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the Minister if he can find any way that could make it easier for these inmates to get on the land and do hard time out there and get some real healing done. The Minister is putting some roadblocks up and I know inmates that do want to go on the land. Can the Minister find a more creative way to get the inmates out on the land?

Mr. Speaker, we are doing that in other parts of the regions as well.

There is a work release in place. The South Slave, Mackenzie, there are different programming that individuals go out on the land, and in Fort Smith and different institutions. They take out the inmates to cut wood for the community. Those are the ongoing initiatives that we continue to support so it keeps the members active in their community or in a community. If it happens to be their community, they are contributing to that community as well.

Mr. Speaker, this is a program that we continue to support in the communities. On-the-land program has been, as I stated, very successful in parts of the regions. We continue to deliver in other regions, as well, as much as we can. Mr. Speaker, we have heard from the elders, we have heard from the people that we need to do more on-the-land programs. That is what we are pursuing, Mr. Speaker. Any changes that we need to make to our policies or our programming, then we are open for that as well. Mahsi.

Mr. Speaker, MLA Ramsay listed off one of the costs to house an inmate. We are paying for it here in society, Mr. Speaker. These inmates at these adult facilities, they have it good. They get their meals wheeled to them. They eat. They get programs there for them. We need to put them out on the land and do hard time. Do the wood cutting, learn this. There is $21 million going into adult facilities, $5 million in the budget for youth facilities, the wilderness camp has $135,000. This Minister says he wants to do it. Let’s put his words to action and say I want to put at least $1 million into these bush camps. Can the Minister tell the House this is what he is going to do and get those inmates out of those facilities, on the land, do some work and that is where they are going to do some healing? Will the Minister do that?

Mr. Speaker, as I stated, this is an area that we need to work together. There are federal laws that we need to work with. They are case by case on an individual basis. Some individuals are federal inmates as well. As I stated, there are at times challenging times trying to find inmates to go out on the land. It is their choice. We can’t force them to go out on the land so we have to follow the judicial system as well. But I am willing to work with the on-the-land program that we internally have and building on the programming that is in place already.

Mr. Speaker, I committed to the Members and also to this House that we need to improve on those programs. We will continue to work towards that as the Department of Justice. Mahsi.

Thank you, Mr. Lafferty. Final supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.