Would the Minister also look at preventative measures next year for the Department of Transportation as advising these hotshot rookie drivers of semi-trucks that you need to listen to the people in the North, maybe put on chains and then the tires on some of them? I’m not too familiar with the Sahtu hills and driving through this region here. Can the Minister put together a policy that all drivers would know when they come into the Sahtu, driver beware?

In talking to industry and to the department, we certainly understand that communication is key to the operation of the winter road in the Mackenzie Valley. I think there were a number of lessons learned this winter and this season. This season isn’t quite over but as we get into next season, I think a meeting, a readiness session on the use of the Mackenzie Valley winter road is certainly something we can look forward to helping undertake. Also, again, I think we need to continue that work with industry. I think there’s going to be even more activity taking place next

winter, so the more preparation and communication we can do up front, the better the end product.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Yakeleya.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Also part of the planning is the safety of the roads. I want to ask the Minister if he would seriously consider looking at some routes in the Sahtu where there would only be a one lane section, because these roads are really, some of the areas are real goat trails and we need to really put some strong safety issues into those areas. I ask the Minister if he would consider looking at the route also for safety measures.

Yes, we are looking at that. Again, given what’s happened here this winter with the weather and the traffic, I think we need to be looking at all of that. Certainly, from our perspective, safety of that road and the safety of the travelling public is the number one priority.

Thank you, Mr. Ramsay. The honourable Member for Hay River South, Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to ask the Premier if he could confirm that the 18 positions that are referred to in the budget address yesterday, is that the total extent of the decentralization being looked at for this fiscal year? Thank you.

Thank you, Mrs. Groenewegen. The honourable Premier, Mr. McLeod.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The 18 are the ones that have been identified as decentralization. There are other positions that will be identified through devolution. But for the 18, I can confirm it looks like there are five positions that will be decentralized to Hay River. Thank you.

Again, not wanting to pre-empt any kind of process or notification to employees or anything, but is the Premier able to be any more specific about those positions?

There is one position with liquor licensing and enforcement and four would be the Business Incentive Policy office. Thank you.

I thank the Premier for that. I think there’s actually a lot more but it’s probably not easy with where we are in the business plans to identify all of those, so we will stay tuned and get updates as they become available.

No question. A comment. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In reply to my last question, I heard the Minister of Health and Social Services, in some manner or form it sounded like he blamed the people who attend the day shelter for the, I’ll say, tone and atmosphere.

Maybe the Minister can elaborate further as to the running of the day shelter. Is it blamed on the people who run it there or the people who manage it? Let’s get this on the record and get some clarity. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Hawkins. The Minister of Health and Social Services, Mr. Beaulieu.

Nobody’s really to blame. I’m just saying that this service is needed, and in the facility and how well it runs is largely dependent upon on who’s using the service. Thank you.

To be clear, what role does the management play in the operation and running of a day shelter, if the Minister is blaming the problems on the clientele?

The role of the provider, as I laid out earlier, is to provide a warm place for the individuals to attend, and then they recommended a couple of additional things that they would like to do. Those things were like referrals, and training of staff and so on, and various aspects of the staff.

I’m not really sure where the Member is indicating that there has been blame issued to anybody on the running of the facility. It is what it is. How we provide a service is dependent upon our clientele.

Let’s summarize it this way: If we have deviant behaviour going on at the day shelter, wouldn’t you expect the management to provide a safe and controlled environment that allows people to be there in a warm place in winter that doesn’t have substance abuse of any kind or even violence? Wouldn’t that be sort of a management issue, not necessarily a client-driven issue?

Mr. Hawkins, that is really a fine line where we’re attacking the media; not the media but the people in management in those positions and they’re not here to protect themselves. They’re not here to say anything. But I’d like to redirect your question to the Minister. I’ll give you that opportunity. Thank you. Mr. Hawkins.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate your guidance on that issue. The ultimate problem here is we have well-known deviant behaviour happening there. The Minister has even highlighted it in our discussions. Is the management responsible to provide a safe environment that is free of violence and substance abuse? Thank you.

I think the management’s responsibility is to provide a place for individuals to attend. I think they indicate that if there are other issues, other behaviours of the clientele that they’re looking for some training to deal with it, but I suppose that if you want to indicate that the responsibility of a warm, safe place for individuals to attend the day shelter, then I guess that would be the responsibility of the people operating the shelter.

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu. Short, final supplementary, Mr. Hawkins.

Mr. Speaker, the Minister has spoken about how the management has changed the contract there by changing services or even offering services. Maybe you could elaborate what they are doing outside of the original proposal that we have not agreed to. I am trying to understand what is happening there and I think the public deserves that. Thank you.