Thank you, Mr. Chair. Just to clarify, so when you mention one page we’re also including the descriptions that are on the following page? Yes.
I don’t have a question particularly about these projects. I do want to state again that I’m very pleased to see that we have planning study money for two schools in Yellowknife. Particularly, in my mind, J.H. Sissons is very much overdue. Mildred Hall is a continuation of a renovation from quite some years ago. But if we could get Sissons on the renovation list in terms of capital planning sooner rather than later,
I think it’s something that is
definitely needed. I’m glad to see that there is planning money there and I hope it will come to fruition as a capital plan in the capital plan in the next budget year.
I just want to comment, as I did in my opening remarks,
about
the
amount
of
education
infrastructure in general, and there just is not much in this budget. We have some 45 or 49 schools; I can’t quite remember. But you look at this page and there are really only three schools that are getting any kind of an infrastructure boost, so to speak. We’ve got a mid-life retrofit in one school, we have an addition in another, and we have some interior upgrades in a third one. Everything else is bits and pieces. We’ve got planning studies, we’ve got the sewer line at Sir John which is being fixed, and Lord knows it’s been talked about by YK No. 1 for probably 10 years now, so I’m very glad to see that in there as well.
But there’s minimal large infrastructure projects for education in general, and out of our 40-some schools to have only three on this list and one of which is interior upgrades tells me that we’re not doing enough to maintain our schools and we’re not doing enough to make sure that our schools are kept up to the standard that they need to be.
I just make that as a general comment, and I would hope that in the next couple of capital budgets that there’s going to be an awful lot more money put into school additions, renovations, new schools where necessary. Thank you.