Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I live at the end of the rail line. Now that the winter roads are open, every time I look out my window I see a lineup of Super Bs waiting to fill up with fuel brought north via the rail. As soon as one truck fills up it heads down the highway and another one takes its place. I like to see this because it means people are working.
You know who doesn't like seeing those trucks? Anyone who's walking to the new health centre in Hay River. That's because the health centre was built with absolutely no safe pedestrian access. Everybody who has to walk to the hospital, including seniors and parents with young children, has to dart across the highway at a point where there are no pedestrian crossing signals, no crosswalk, and not even enough light cast on the highway from nearby streetlights to assure anyone that they'll be seen.
If they manage to dodge the Super Bs and cross the highway safely, and luckily so far everyone has, then they'll make their way onto a road with no shoulders and no sidewalk. From there, they have to traverse an uncontrolled railroad crossing and make their way further down the road with no sidewalks and through a parking lot before they finally reach safety. If they want to get home, they have to do the same thing again.
Mr. Speaker, this is a serious public safety concern. For those who don't drive, can't get a ride, or can't afford a cab there is no choice but to walk to get where you're going. In many cases, those people are our elders and often the most frequent users of the healthcare system.
In order to access an essential service, they're being placed in danger because of a failure in government planning. We also have to consider the safety of the employees at the health centre, many of whom walk to work. If I brought this up yesterday when WSCC was here they might have tossed a couple of the Ministers in jail. That's how serious an issue this is.
---Laughter
Frankly, Mr. Speaker, I'm baffled that we built a hospital that is not safely accessible by foot. It was my understanding that we were supposed to have some lights installed last year. What happened? I know the health authority in the Town of Hay River has been fighting hard to get the lights installed, but as far as I know the responsibility lays with Public Works and Services.
So, Mr. Speaker, how much longer must our sick and elderly dodge traffic on a dark and often icy highway? We need the lights installed and we need them installed three months ago. While they're at it, how about a sidewalk, as well? I'll have questions for the Minister of Public Works and Services at the appropriate time. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.