Thank you, Mr. Chairman. At this point, I just wanted to reiterate a couple of points. First and foremost, as we kind of forge ahead in terms of trying to get the government operational, I think this exercise is very interesting, at least for myself. This is my first budget that I’ve been witness to in terms of how the government operates. Despite the move forward, there are still some aspirations of communities that I represent, some real capital infrastructure needs. Communities are wanting to become more independent in terms of trying to be self-sustaining communities. Recently I talked about communities initiating gardens so they can grow their own food and trying to get a level of independence.
In that light, some communities have expressed the desire to see if there could be some investments made and established in their own water treatment plants. Along those lines, too, there are still, I believe, some technical challenges in terms of trying to do some complete repairs for that. The water intake lines that are remedied so that they consider and uphold the safety and confidence of the public that their water is still useable and safe to consume. There needs to be some efforts to work with local governments to ensure that those projects carry forth. Perhaps they’re not in the immediate future, but at least efforts are made to work with local governments so that they can start identifying some priorities in their capital plan.
Apart from that, I don’t really have a major concern in terms of how this budget is going to go forth. It’s just, again, reiterating that if it’s infrastructure down the road, I’ve raised it before as a sidebar from the whole thrust to get the bridge complete, I would like to think that the public safety will become an issue in terms of the increased volume of traffic in the Fort Providence area passing through. Similar to how other communities that are situated on a highway, but more so for Fort Providence, because I think we’re kind of in an area where there’s a blank space in terms of when you drive through, you don’t have cellular service. That’s one thing that I’ve mentioned before, whether this government could help out, or at the very least and at the very minimum, to discuss with community leaders in terms of how it is that it could happen.
We just recently saw industry open up and provided more industry prospects of establishing a telecommunications network here in the Northwest Territories. Surely there must be a company out there that could work with the community, whether it’s going to be a joint venture locally or just the private industry that comes into the community to help out and step up to the plate and at least provide some assistance. At least a framework of possibilities, or even scope out the possibility of establishing a cellular service in Fort Providence. I think if that happens, then of course it’s a plus for business and for tourism. People will enjoy their time in Fort Providence and the surrounding area, whether it’s for sport fishing or sport hunting. If that at the very minimum could be done within this period I’d really welcome that initiative to ensure that we work closely with the communities. That’s all my comments.